Re: New Game

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2 total messages Started by Clayten Hamacher Fri, 08 Jan 1993 10:10

#935

Author: Clayten Hamacher
Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1993 10:10

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>You can get patents on board games; I know of some people who did.  I
>assume that most board-game patents are like theirs, "A patent on the
>method of moving playing pieces... blah, blah, blah" or something to that
>effect.  I'd heard that getting a patent was expensive (for lawyers and
>patent searches), but I don't think they had huge resources (they just sell
>the game mail-order, and they still have day jobs) so maybe it's not as bad
>as I've heard.
>
>        -- Jim

Well, I talked to a friend who is a patent lawyer about a patent I was trying
to get and he said I'd be looking at $4k or so, mainly for searches and other
lawyer fees. I am patenting a telephone device so I'm not sure of searches
for board games etc but I think it'd be around the same general price range.

P.S. it also took a long time.. I was told it could be up to 2 years before I
actually had it officially patented. As soon as I actually asked my lawyer to
start the process I was entitled to put 'patent pending' on it but he said
that patent pending means absolutely nothing. The only good it can have is
scare people away, they could pay a few thousand to engineer a copy and not
get any rights because the patent just came through..  This is different with
a board game (nothing to reverse engineer or anything) but you can (c) the
rules and the board etc.. and then they can't just copy it...
(much more useful than 'patent pending')

--

Clayten_Hamacher@Mindlink.bc.ca                 Land of the rising snow.

Re: New Game

#948

Author: Glenn Williams
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 19:51

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>Well, I talked to a friend who is a patent lawyer about a patent I was trying
>to get and he said I'd be looking at $4k or so, mainly for searches and other
>lawyer fees. I am patenting a telephone device so I'm not sure of searches
>for board games etc but I think it'd be around the same general price range.

You can do the whole process yourself. There are lots of books available that will help. A lawyer is perhaps safer, but by no means required.

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