this post was submitted on 08 Nov 2024
189 points (97.5% liked)
PC Gaming
8607 readers
637 users here now
For PC gaming news and discussion. PCGamingWiki
Rules:
- Be Respectful.
- No Spam or Porn.
- No Advertising.
- No Memes.
- No Tech Support.
- No questions about buying/building computers.
- No game suggestions, friend requests, surveys, or begging.
- No Let's Plays, streams, highlight reels/montages, random videos or shorts.
- No off-topic posts/comments, within reason.
- Use the original source, no clickbait titles, no duplicates. (Submissions should be from the original source if possible, unless from paywalled or non-english sources. If the title is clickbait or lacks context you may lightly edit the title.)
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
game mechanics aren't patentable?
They aren't supposed to be but if you have enough money anything can be patentable, copyrightable, or trademarkable.
Some douche had (still has?) all the trademarks on anything Edge related to games
No, game mechanics aren’t subject to copyright law. Game mechanics can be patented in the US, so long as they’re unique and nonobvious (to someone with ordinary skill in the field).
Monopoly and Magic: The Gathering both had patents on their mechanics, for example.
And of course, patents in Japan are a completely different animal than patents in the US.
Load screen minigames was patented for quite a few years, it's the reason we couldn't have fun while waiting for the game to load. The patent has run out tho I think, but nowadays it doesn't matter cause SSDs
Just wait a few more years and SSDs won't matter, loading screens will take forever again
They have been for the longest time, and it's as ridiculous as it sounds.