Many of the puzzles listed on this site are patented. On the page of any particular patented puzzle it usually mentions the inventor and the patent publication date and number, and has a link to a pdf file of the patent itself. On this page I have collected all those links together.
All the patents listed here are of actual puzzles, or are patents of historic interest that are mentioned in the Cubic Circular or the Circle Puzzler's Manual. Many patents exist that have never been made into real puzzles, or that are minor variations of existing ones. For a nice collection of such patents, you should visit Joshua Bell's Puzzle Patents page.
Polyhedral |
|||
| Pyraminx | Uwe Meffert | 30 December 1981 | EP 42,695 |
| Skewb Puzzle Ball | Uwe Meffert | 25 October 1994 | US 5,358,247 |
| The pocket cube 2x2x2 | Ernő Rubik | 29 March 1983 | US 4,378,117 |
| Eastsheen 2x2x2 cube | Chen Sen Li | 27 October 1998 | US 5,826,871 |
| Mickey Mouse puzzle | Francisco Josa Patermann | 22 May 1996 | EP 712,649 |
| Darth Maul puzzle | Thomas Kremer | 17 April 2001 | US 6,217,023 |
| K-ball | Saleh Khoudary | 11 May 2000 | WO 00/25874 |
| Figurenmatch / Pyramorphix | Manfred Fritsche | 11 August 1982 | DE 3,245,341 |
| The Rubik's Cube 3x3x3 | Ernő Rubik | 30 January 1975 | HU 170,062 |
| Cube precursor | Larry D. Nichols | 11 April 1972 | US 3,655,201 |
| Cube precursor | Frank Fox | 16 January 1974 | GB 1,344,259 |
| Cube precursor | William G. Gustafson | 12 March 1963 | US 3,081,089 |
| 4x4x4 Rubik's Revenge | Peter Sebesteny | 20 December 1983 | US 4,421,311 |
| 5x5x5 Professor's cube | Udo Krell | 15 July 1986 | US 4,600,199 |
| Brain Twist | Charles Hoberman, Matthew Davis | 12 May 2005 | US 2005/098947 |
| Jackpot / Platypus | Yusuf Seyhan | 16 January 2003 | WO 03/004117 |
| Alexander's Star | Adam Alexander | 26 March 1985 | US 4,506,891 |
| Dogic | Zoltan and Robert Vecsei | 28 July 1998 | HU 214,709 |
| Impossiball | William O. Gustafson | 2 October 1984 | US 4,474,376 |
| Thomasball | Zdenek Blazek, Miroslav Jandora | 13 February 2003 | US 2003/030,212 |
Dihedral |
|||
| Smart Alex | Dumitru A. Pop | 26 May 1992 | US 5,116,052 |
| Brainball | Andreas Unsicker | 21 Dec 1999 | US 6,003,868 |
| Kép Korong | András Végh | 30 June 1987 | HU 184,418 |
| Rubik's Cheese | Ernő Rubik | 18 October 1983 | US 4,410,179 |
| Rubik's Domino | Ernő Rubik | 29 March 1983 | US 4,378,116 |
| Gerdig Ufo | Gerhard Huncaga | 6 December 1994 | US 5,370,394 |
| Hockey Puck | Zoltan Pataki, Udulo Mszmp, Geza Csomos | 7 March 1991 | WO 91/02574 |
| Kép Korong | András Vágh | 30 June 1987 | HU 184418 |
| Masterball | Geza Gyovai | 15 August 1989 | US 4,856,786 |
| Logi Vip ball | Hubert Petutschnig | 11 June 1981 | WO 81/01638 |
| Roundy | Fritz Gruber | 7 December 1993 | US 5,267,731 |
| Tricky Disky | Universal Connections Steckverbindungen Vertriebs GmbH. | 28 December 1989 | DE 3,821,297 |
| Ufo / Varia-Disk | Imre Peredy | 31 March 1983 | WO 83/01009 |
Bandaged / Blocked |
|||
| Rotascope | Raoul Henrique Raba | 10-10-1977 27-02-1981 05-03-1982 19-03-1982 |
FR 2,405,077
FR 2,463,632 FR 2,489,164 FR 2,490,102 |
| Square-1 | Karel Hrsel, Vojtech Kopsky | 16 March 1993 | US 5,193,809 |
Sliding with gaps |
|||
| Atomic Chaos | Christoph Hausammann | 5 January 1993 | US 5,176,382 |
| Babylon Tower | Arxon Spiel + Freizeit | 2 December 1982 | DE 3,104,021 |
| Backspin | Ferdinand Lammertink | 22 December 1992 | US 5,172,912 |
| Bolaris | Hannu Hjerppe | 4 June 2009 | WO2009/068726 |
| Cubedron | Pantazis Houlis | 10 June 2010 | WO 2010/064994 |
| Clark's Cube | William H. Clark | 18 December 1984 | US 4,488,725 |
| Code Breaker / Twisting Rings Puzzle | Dov Nesis | 30 August 2007 | US 2007/200,292 |
| Grooved Fifteen puzzle | Ernest U. Kinsey | 20 August 1878 | US 207,124 |
| Genius | Steven P. Hanson, Howard J. Morrison, Douglas P. Montague | 6 April 1982 | US 4,323,243 |
| Great Gears | Koichi Minami, Tohru Nishimiya | 28 August 1984 | US 4,468,033 |
| Inversion | Patrick A. Roberts | 16 April 1985 | US 4,511,144 |
| Massage ball | Otto Wu | 14 February 1995 | US 5,389,063 |
| Missing Link | Steven P. Hanson, Jeffrey D. Breslow | 15 Feb 1983 | US 4,373,729 |
| NHL Hockey Puck Puzzle | Ali Rahmani | 14 Jan 1986 | CA 1,199,351 |
| Rack'em up | Mizunuma Masanori, Watanabe Hiroyuki | 13 November 1984 | US 4,482,154 |
| Row by Row | Mizunuma Masanori, Watanabe Hiroyuki | 13 November 1984 | US 4,482,154 |
| Saturn (LD games) | Ludo Arthur Marie Jules DeBergh | 21 March 1996 | WO 96/08296 |
| Varikon Box 2×2×2, 3×3×3 | Csaba Postasy, Gabor Eszes, and Miklos Zagoni | 19 June 1981 | DE 3,027,556 |
| Virus | Dov Nesis | 28 July 1998 | US 5,785,318 |
| Wisdom ball | Yang Ju-Hsun | 1 June 1993 | US 5,215,305 |
Flat without gaps |
|||
| Butterfly | Martin Lapeš | 9 June 2003 | CZ 13,357 |
| Cohan circle | Hooshang Cohan | 8 April 1986 | US 4,580,783 |
| Rubik's Fifteen | Ernő Rubik | 18 September 1984 | US 4,471,959 |
| Flipside | Ferdinand Lammertink | 14 December 2006 | US 2006/279,041 |
| Gripple | Murray J. Gould | 5 April 1988 | US 4,735,417 |
| Mad Triad | Heng-Chun Ku | 8 February 2000 | US 6,022,021 |
| Rashkey | Oleg Raschkov | 2 September 1999 | DE 29,904,348 U |
| Rotos | Manfred Fritsche | 4 June 1986 | DD 236,263 |
| Hungarian Rings precursor | William Churchill | 24 Oct 1893 | US 507,215 |
| Swissmad | Olivier Pahud | 16 June 2005 | WO 2005/053809 |
| Triple Cross | Ferdinand Lammertink | 6 August 1996 | US 5,542,673 |
| Topspin | Ferdinand Lammertink | 3 Oct 1989 | US 4,871,173 |
| Topspin variant | Chiu-Huang Chang | 12 April 1997 | US 5,622,368 |
| Tsukuda's Square / It | Toshihisa Suga | 26 January 1983 | GB 2,101,897 |
| Lotica | Serguei and Alexandre Bagdassarian | 3 October 1996 | WO 96/030097 |
| Turnstile / Puzzler | Douglas A. Engel | 15 November 1983 | US4,415,158 |
| Zauberkreuz | Athanasios Margaritis | 20 October 1988 | DE 3,711,368 |
Other permutation puzzles |
|||
| Astrolabacus | John Harris | 8 July 1997 | US 5,645,278 |
| Chromo ball | Tsun Ding Chen | 6 October 1998 | US 5,816,571 |
| Cmetrick Too | Rom Dror | 10 August 2004 | US 6,773,011 |
| Combo puzzle | David Ayers | 24 November 1987 21 November 1989 |
US 4,708,345
US 4,881,738 |
| Equator / Hungarian Globe | Ferenc Molnár | 16 June 1982 | GB 2,088,728 |
| Massage Ball 2 | Tsun Ding Chen | 17 December 1998 | US 5,836,584 |
| Mozaika | Rudolf Destics | 22 October 1996 | US 5,566,941 |
| Nintendo barrel | Gunpei Yokoi | 15 March 1983 18 January 1983 |
US 4,376,537
USD 267,661 |
| Pakoválec | Pavel Gebr | 6 September 2002 | CZ 12,596 U |
| Orb | Christopher C. Wiggs & Christopher J. Taylor | 19 November 1985 | US 4,553,754 |
| SphereXyz | Adam Giermek | 13 March 2010 | WO 2008/030465 |
| Rubik's Triamid | Ernő Rubik | 28 March 1991 | HU 207,233 |
| Ufo | Wai K. Chan | 13 May 1997 | US 5,628,512 |
| King Ring | Zoltan Pataki, Istvan Varadi, Attila Kovacs | 21 March 1996 | WO 96/08297 |
Pattern matching puzzles |
|||
| Bolygok | Jozsef Bognar | 9 December 1981 | GB 2,076,663 |
| Dodek Duo | Jerry Langin-Hooper | 14 January 2010 | WO 2010/005635 |
| Rubik's Dice | Jozsef Bognar;Ernő Rubik | 20 September 1990 | WO 90/10481 |
| Frustr8tor | Albert Eckhardt | 21 September 2006 | WO 2006/098614 |
| Rubik's Maze | Jozsef Bognar;Ernő Rubik | 29 September 1982 | DE 3,145,032 |
| Polydron Enigma | Edward Harvey | 2 January 1975 | GB 1,378,942 |
| Pyrix | Jan Essebaggers, Jaap Koops | 28 April 1992 | US 5,108,100 |
| Transposer | Chaim Raphael Weinreb | 19 July 2000 | WO 99/15248 |
| Turn 12 | REFO Verlag GmbH | 28 March 2002 | DE 20,112,728 U |
Others |
|||
| Rubik's clock | Christopher Wiggs, Christopher Taylor | 26 September 1989 | US 4,869,506 |
| Cmetrick | Rom Dror | 8 January 2004 | WO 2004/002587 |
| Columbus Egg | Morichika Hatakeyama, Koichi Minami | 25 December 1984 | US 4,489,944 |
| Combinescion / Enigma | Massimiliano Roman | 1 February 1996 | WO 96/02307 |
| Dizzy Rainbow | Dmitry Zlotsky | 24 September 1996 | US 5,558,331 |
| Hexadecimal Puzzle | William Keister | 25 January 1972 | US 3,637,216 |
| Kibble Cube | Giorgio Giorgi | 25 June 1986 | EP 185,628 |
| Kinato | Lau Kok Khoon (Lawrence Lau) | 18 July 2002 | WO 02/055169 |
| Lights Out | Revital Blumberg, Michael Ganor, Avish J. Weiner | 23 May 1995 12 November 1996 18 February 1997 |
US 5,417,425
US 5,573,245 US 5,603,500 |
| Vulcan XL-25 | David Ildiko, Laszlo Meroe, Ferenc Szatmari | 4 January 1983. | WO83/02399 |
| Luminations | Donald C. Miffitt, Angelo Tortola, Charles S. Sebor, Robert L. Halliday | 18 September 1990 | US 4,957,291 |
| Rubik's Magic | Ernő Rubik | 11 August 1987 | US 4,685,680 |
| Orbik | Shih-Hung Juang | 21 June 1988 | US 4,752,074 |
| Orbix | Uwe Meffert | 15 October 1996 | US 5,564,702 |
| Padlock | Ira Friedman | 8 November 1988 | US 4,782,676 |
| Spinout | William Keister | 25 January 1972 | US 3,637,215 |
| Think-a-Dot | Joseph A. Weisbecker | Jul 21 1966 | US 3,388,483 |