Author: Vincent Diepeveen
Date: 09:20:32 05/18/04
Go up one level in this thread
On May 18, 2004 at 09:50:39, Mark Winands wrote: A patent is very expensive. Copyright is for near to free. Trademark is for near to free. You do not pay something which is about your yearsalary (ours Mark, not that of professors in USA possibly) just to get a patent. The price for a patent varies, i am not very well informed here. But several here who do have patents have scared off the pants of me when quoting some prices what patents cost to obtain. Apart from that you must fill in hundreds of paper forms and proof things. So that's really a huge work. And whatever you post here on CCC, if he tomorrow changes his mind because the game is succesful thanks to software X, then he can claim any amount of money and charge and ask anything he wants to. Anyone can still change his rules. Modify it a little here and there and you have a new game. See what Ed Trice did. Change board size, add 2 pieces which are trivial moving, modify castling rule. O yes, and patent it. So basically he can do with the game and any product made for that game what he wishes to. Whatever he says now. If he says: "tomorrow i go claim 50 dollar a product sold" or if he says: "tomorrow all internet servers that use this game must pay me 50 dollar cent a game". You can do nothing against all that. Really zero. Only if he publicly gives the game free and makes it a freeware LPGL game with explanation why he has the patent and not for any other reason than that, then we speak about a different casus. >To All Octi Lovers, > >I have discussed the several issues with prof. Donald Green > >1 What are the strings attached by winning the tournament? > >DG: "None at all. If he wins, he gets a check!" > >2 Is he allowed to distribute the software freely or does he has to pay a >percentage? > >DG: "I technically hold the rights to electronic releases of Octi. But as you >know, I am happy to waive them without a fee. My only reason for >maintaining ownership of these rights is to make sure that the rules of >the game do not change (which, as you know, is something that game >companies are prone to do). If he wants to work out an agreement, I'm >more than happy to do so." > >3 Are you offering the money as Octi inventor or as Yale Professor? > >DG: "This is sort of a funny question, because I am both people; I take an >interest in the game both as the inventor and as someone with an academic >interest in games in general. Perhaps the bottom line is that I'm paying >this out of my own pocket, certainly not out of Yale's."
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