Author: Robert Hyatt
Date: 12:44:58 01/07/04
Go up one level in this thread
On January 07, 2004 at 15:19:55, Ed Trice wrote: >Hello Dr. Hyatt, > >> >>Perhaps you should explain to your attorney the "context". Ask him if you >>or he can prevent _me_ from writing a program that plays any game on the planet. >>The answer is _no_. > >Of course this is correct. Nor could I stop someone pointing a gun at me from >killing me, it is still illegal to commit murder. Wrong context. This is _not_ illegal. All your patent protects you from is others selling the _same_ game which would deprive you of the income you would have generated had you sold those copies yourself. here, there is _no_ profit to be made. I would simply write a program to play the game you defined. There is _no_ financial damage to you, so you have zero chance of pursuing something thru a patent infringement... > >> >>BTW we _do_ have several patent attorneys here, since drugs, bio-engineering, >>and all sorts of things are patented every day... >> >>you patent a drug, I can make it all day in my house for my own use... > >This is not what you are claiming in your original post... > >http://www.talkchess.com/forums/1/message.html?340742 > >"You can patent the game, but you really can't prevent someone from writing a >program that _plays_ that particular game, and then he can do with it what he >wants, from selling it or giving it away." > >My take on this is that you have changed your view. Someone can write a Gothic >Chess program if they want to do so, but they are forbidden to do what you >mention (sell it or give it away) without a license. I am not sure that is the case. You didn't patent _my_ program. You _can_ patent computer software, through a convoluted interpretation of patent law that seems to have been accepted (I think it ridiculous, but that's another topic). However, none of this matters. IMHO the game is "dead" since no one is going to even bother with the hassle... > >If you write a Gothic Chess program and play it on your PC, there is nothing I >could do to stop that. > >Put it in your /pub directory, then watch what comes rolling in :) > >There are currently 3 licenses for Gothic Chess that have been granted. > >Not a lot, as you mentioned...but this is more than a billion times the count >from 2002 (which was 0). > >Dr. Hyatt, I am not trying to be an atagonist at all. I don't give out medical >advise because I am not a physician. While I did run the New York City marathon >in 1993, I am not a long distance personal trainer. In 1998 I could becnh press >515 pounds, but today I am not a strength trainer. > >Today I enjoy playing Gothic Chess, programming the game, and helping others to >do the same. > >Your arguments are interesting and thought-provoking, just please do not offer >it as "sound legal advice." I don't believe I did, except for a direct quote from a patent attorney I had mentioned this to... > >You might say Gothic Chess is "not mainstream", but I have sold Gothic Chess >sets to every state in the USA, every province and territory in Canada, and 47 >different countries. > >It is not what you are, it is what you are becoming. > >USCF memberships are on the decline. I know about their financial debacle since >I met with Stan Booz and spoke with Grant Perks about the problem. Yasser >Seirawan offered to buy the Education subset of the membership for an >undisclosed amount. > >And next week, when Bruce Pandolfini returns from his travelling, we are going >to play a two-game exhibition of Gothic Chess. > >Please do me the service of not hurling generalized insults about my game. I did >not slight you in any way on this forum, I am just defending my intellectual >property. I didn't hurl _any_ kind of "insult" much less a "generalized insult". In any shape, form or fashion. I simply said that your "approach" guarantees death. 8x8 chess has been around for a _long_ time. It isn't going away. oddball approaches have not caught on, nor or they likely to. IE FR chess.
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