[Icehouse] Huh?

[Dale Sheldon]

On Tue, 7 Aug 2007, David Artman wrote:

> One can patent a design; one can copyright a name; one can even patent a 
> rules mechanic

You can _trademark_ names, you can _copyright_ the expression of (but not 
the concepts presented in) your rules and artwork; and I've always been a 
bit dubious of how well the patent for Magic would have held up if it was 
challenged in court, since generally game mechanics haven't been patented.

The pieces themselves I think would actually have a very limited amount of 
legal protection, if any; so if someone wanted to start making and selling 
their own plastic pyramids, they probably could and there's not much LL 
could do about it, as long as you didn't use the (trademarked) words 
Icehouse, Treehouse, or anything similar.  So hey, all you monochrome 
stash lovers; here's your answer; go into business for yourself, if you 
think you can make a living off of it (and good luck with that, kiddos).

(Consider Lego: other companies sell little snap-together plastic bricks, 
and at lower costs, too!  Lego still sells though, but only because they 
are higher quality (those other bricks tend to fall apart, or break, more 
easily) and because they keep coming up with new innovations and tie-in 
products.)

-- 
Dale Sheldon
dales at digitalfreaks.org
Also not a lawyer, but intellectual property is a bit of a hobby of mine.