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Patent on card games?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by joostvanpoppel, Nov 24, 2017.

  1. joostvanpoppel

    joostvanpoppel

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2017
    Posts:
    41
    Hi everyone,

    I'm new to Unity (3 months now) and trying to make a first game. It's just a basic Texas Holdem Poker game.
    Now i'm just wondering; Is there any patent on this card game? Am I allowed to recreate such a game? And is it, in general, allowed to recreate cardgames in Unity?

    Thanks in advance for the replies,

    greetz,
    Joost
     
  2. zombiegorilla

    zombiegorilla

    Moderator

    Joined:
    May 8, 2012
    Posts:
    9,042
    No there isn’t. Most classic card games aren’t. Some card designs are under copyright, so best to just make your own. But, you’re fine on the game side.
     
    Ony, Kiwasi and theANMATOR2b like this.
  3. ArachnidAnimal

    ArachnidAnimal

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Posts:
    1,765
    There might not be a patent on a card game, but there might be a patent on the card appearance!
    There could even be a patent on how the cards are dealt out to a player!
    (Personally I wouldn't even worry about it)

    I stumbled upon a patent a while ago which patented the concept of displaying a mini game to a player when loading a scene.
    https://kotaku.com/the-patent-on-loading-screen-mini-games-is-about-to-exp-1744705351
     
  4. Max_Bol

    Max_Bol

    Joined:
    May 12, 2014
    Posts:
    168
    There's Patent for so many things, you might wonder what's not "patented". The fact remains that, in the 80's and 90's, some companies used unorthodox ways to get a patent that, today, would be considered as invalid. A patent is supposed to explain every little details (including compositions and components) for the process to be completed. Yet, many patent are registered every year about things that doesn't exist yet. It's kinda at the point where people register a Patent for the sake of an "What if" while not even knowing if it will ever exist.

    Take this article as an example : http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/05/14/time-machine-patents_n_5323023.html
    4 patents about time travel.
     
  5. Kiwasi

    Kiwasi

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2013
    Posts:
    16,860
    Copyright is worth caring about for game developers. Trademarks are worth caring about. Patents are not worth caring about. Trade secrets are fine if you can obtain them legally or independently invent them.
     
  6. Joe-Censored

    Joe-Censored

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2013
    Posts:
    11,847
    I am not a lawyer, nor is this an exhaustive search. You should seek a patent attorney to do patent investigations. I only used a few minutes of my Google-Fu skills.

    Electronic Texas Hold'em patent:
    http://www.google.com/patents/US20110115159

    7 and 5 card stud, Caribbean Stud, and progressive jackpots patent:
    http://www.google.com/patents/US6206374

    Electronic Video Poker patent:
    http://www.google.com/patents/US5823873

    Electronic Poker Table patent:
    https://www.google.com/patents/US20060068879

    Electronic Card Game patent:
    https://patents.google.com/patent/US6942565B2/en

    Another Electronic Card Game patent:
    https://www.google.ca/patents/US7056205

    System and Method for Electronic Card Game patent:
    http://www.google.com/patents/WO2006127801A2?cl=en

    Electronic Poker Playing Device patent (expired):
    https://patents.google.com/patent/US4948134A/en

    Electronic Poker Game patent (probably expired):
    https://www.google.com.au/patents/US4948134
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2017