"You can never patent abstract ideas. Game ideas cannot be patented"
OK, so we've established you're not a patent lawyer... :) My favorite patent is the one for swinging sideways on a swing, which IMO illustrates you can patent pretty much anything. On Mon, Apr 13, 2009 at 10:44 AM, Ikon <ayanafr...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Your contention that "grown up operating systems" should not allow you > to copy ideas is totally unfounded. You can never patent abstracty > ideas. Game ideas cannot be patented. Whether they should be is a > different discussion. You can go right and now, and make a game on > Windows with a story very similar to fallout, and write all your own > code, and use all your own graphics/sound assets and you will not be > infringing on that IP in any way. A company may come and try to sue > you, but that has no relevance to a maturity of an operating system. > > On Apr 13, 10:43 am, Sundog <sunns...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Anyone who is surprised by this must be very, very new to the >> programming game. I've been waiting for this since the store opened. >> >> IMHO, to the extent that the Android community becomes a proxy for >> those that think All Ideas Should Be Free And Stealable, that is the >> extent to which Android will never be a real grown-up operating >> system. >> >> On Apr 7, 8:43 am, "tasos.klei...@gmail.com" <tasos.klei...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >> > On Saturday April 4th, I received a message from google saying that my >> > game "Robotic Space Rock" was pulled from the android market after a >> > request made by a legal firm representing an entity known as Tetris >> > Company. My application was removed from the android market together >> > with Blocks, Cubik, Net Tetris, Netblocks and Tetroid (6 apps in >> > total) under claim that it violates the DMCA and more specifically >> > trademarks and copyrighted material owned by the Tetris Company. >> > However, none of the trademarks or copyrighted material (music, >> > graphics and sound effects) are present in my game. Sound effects and >> > music were created by me specifically for the game. There is no >> > reference to the word tetris in the game. Additionally, all the game >> > code, graphics and sound effects were created by me and published on >> > the code sitehttp://code.google.com/p/monolithandroid >> >> > Additionally, I am not aware of a software patent covering the game >> > mechanics of Tetris, so I cannot see how I could violate something >> > that is not protected by a software patent. Also, even if the game was >> > protected by a patent, the patent would have expired, since the >> > original game, Tetris, was created 23 years ago. However game >> > mechanics cannot be covered by patents. >> >> > I would also like to point out that my game is available completely >> > free of charge to every user of the android market. >> >> > I wrote those concerns to Google and I sent an email to the EFF. The >> > bottom line is that for my application to be restored on the android >> > market, I have to send a DMCA counter-notification. And then the >> > Tetris Company can sue and take the case to Court. >> >> > When games were pulled from the iPhone App store, they blamed apple, >> > but it is not hard to see that behind application removals we can find >> > companies like the Tetris Company, that demand application removals >> > claiming copyright infringement and trademarks. However, it is not >> > easy to battle these companies as individual developers. I, for >> > example, am a Greek citizen living in Greece, so it is difficult for >> > me to file a counter-notification, because then the Tetris company >> > will probably sue me and I will have to defend my case in court. Why >> > should I bother? Am I making money out of the game? No! But even if I >> > did you can see how easy it is for corporations to neutralize >> > developers like that. I think that something should be done. >> > Independent developers should get together to battle against such >> > misuse of the law by corporations. >> > And to those that want more facts, you can find more details on my >> > blog:http://tkcodesharing.blogspot.com > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
