Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
All of these appear to be patents for a “poker dice” game. However, upon further inspection, you
will notice that these patents describe ways to “play” or “package” a poker dice game, not the
game idea itself. While we
did not
examine
every record
in the patent database, there is most
likely a very good reason that the poker dice game idea isn't patented—
prior art
.
Simply put, a patent cannot be issued if any “prior art” has existed about the idea before someone
applies for the patent. A simple example would be a wheel. No one could patent a wheel because
its mere existence is one of the cornerstones of modern society. Someone might be able to
patent a device that uses a wheel as part of the design, but not the wheel itself. In this way, the
game Yacht, which we noted has been around for hundreds of years, is most likely the “prior art”
that would make patenting a “poker dice” game impossible. The existence of Yacht does not
mean people couldn't try to patent poker dice; it just means they probably won't get their patent,
and even if they did, it would be nearly impossible to defend. So in light of this information, it
would probably be OK for us to make our own poker dice game.
So, what should you do with all of this legal mumbo jumbo? Will it stop you in your tracks from
making a game? Well, if you follow the Golden Rule, you should be OK most of the time.
Following the Golden Rule
Many developers are ignorant or laws that govern intellectual property. They think that if other
people have ”borrowed” ideas, it is OK for them to do so. They think that if they find something on
the Internet, it is in the public domain and can be used freely. They may also assume that their
game is small so no one will find out or that using just “a little” will be OK. None of this is true. In
fact, the laws of intellectual property vary from country to country. The Internet is worldwide, and
it can be very difficult to abide by the minefield intellectual property laws in every country.
However, by following the golden rules, you should be safe:
The golden rule of intellectual property is
use your own stuff
.
We've shown that game ideas cannot be cannot be copyrighted. However, that does not mean
that someone won't try to sue you anyway. For instance, if you make a game with the exact rules
of Pac-Man that operates exactly the same way as Pac-Man and looks very similar, Namco still
might try to sue you to get rid of it. They might not win, but the legal battle with probably bankrupt
you anyway. In fact, recently Namco has started to send “Cease and Desist” letters to Flash
game portals owners who display games that illegally use their intellectual property. As the game
industry moves away from physical to digital distribution and downloadable and online games
become more commonplace, we expect this to happen on an even wider scale.
The best way to make sure that does not happen is, again, to remember this: the golden rule of
intellectual property is
use your own stuff
.
Even if it is
legal
for you to use the exact same rules as another game, you might still be in
trouble if you violate a trademark or patent. However, even beyond the legal matters, it is simply
not very creative
to use other people's ideas alone. Discerning game players will see that you
have simply remade someone else's idea in another form. Fellow game developers will start to
recognize you as someone who leeches ideas from others. It is very common to read developers
complain about peers who create copies of their games without permission. Believe us, word gets
around. Portals and publishers do not want to get entangled in legal fights about games, so they
will start to recognize you as possible source of trouble. None of this will be good for your career
as a game developer. We will say it one more time: the golden rule of intellectual property is
use
your own stuff
.
