[casual_games] Gameplay patents

[Jason Van Anden]

Here is the Wikipedia definition of a patent: http://en.wikipedia.org/ 
wiki/Patent

In of  terms of "no-one knows if its valid" ... the government  
presumably researches the claim and grants the patent.  I suppose any  
law can be challenged.

j



> its not property, and there is nothing illegal per se about infringing

> it. Until it is tested in court, no-one knows if its valid (although

> they may already know its theoretically invalid).

>

> Please dont get seduced by the terminology that tries to equate ideas

> to real property - its nowhere near as simple as that. infringing

> patents is not theft, its infringement.

>

> On 11/02/07, Jason Van Anden <robotissues at gmail.com> wrote:

>> It sounds to me like you suggesting that if someone has gone to the

>> trouble and expense of legally protecting their intellectual

>> property,  you would decide to violate this right based solely on

>> whether you had more resources than your competitor.  It seems to me

>> that this is morally and ethically perverse, and ought to be

>> discouraged more so than patents themselves.  Does anyone (else) out

>> there feel that (reasonable) patents are a good thing - or is

>> "patents == bad" the general consensus of the casual games community?

>>

>>

>> On Feb 11, 2007, at 7:11 AM, Jonas Beckeman wrote:

>>

>>> The substantial amount of time and money to get the patent  

>>> approved is

>>> *nothing* compared to what it will take to defend it.

>>> The patent itself doesn't really give any protection, only when

>>> tried in

>>> court will you know if it's solid. It probably isn't (although your

>>> lawyer

>>> will work very, very hard to write a specification that is

>>> impossible to

>>> interpret), and then you'll only be left with a huge pile of lawyer

>>> bills.

>>>

>>> But it's true some investors like software patents, however  

>>> ridiculous

>>> they may be - it looks good on paper and adds a whiff of the  

>>> "serious"

>>> research-intense industries.

>>>

>>> If I feel like infringing on your patent, I will assess your  

>>> financial

>>> status and if I think I have more resources than you, I'll simply

>>> ignore

>>> it. With more money, I'll wear you out in court, if it comes to  

>>> that.

>>> _______________________________________________

>>> Casual_Games mailing list

>>> Casual_Games at igda.org

>>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/casual_games

>>> Archive: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/casual_games/

>>> Archive Search: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?

>>> cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8

>>> List FAQ: http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/

>>> Casual_Games_List_FAQ

>>

>> _______________________________________________

>> Casual_Games mailing list

>> Casual_Games at igda.org

>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/casual_games

>> Archive: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/casual_games/

>> Archive Search:

>> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8

>> List FAQ:

>> http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/ 

>> Casual_Games_List_FAQ

>>

> _______________________________________________

> Casual_Games mailing list

> Casual_Games at igda.org

> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/casual_games

> Archive: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/casual_games/

> Archive Search: http://www.google.com/coop/cse? 

> cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8

> List FAQ: http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/ 

> Casual_Games_List_FAQ