WOTC trading card games patent?

[Drifter Bob]

I just read somewhere that WOTC owns the patent on the very concept of trading card games... is this true or am I reading this wrong?

DB

 

[Jeph]

IIRC, the patent is for the concept of tilting cards sideways or upsidedown or whatever in order to represent certain game effects or situations. Or something like that. It's definitely much narrower than TCGs as an entirity.

--Jeff

 

[MerricB]

Yes, the patent is quite specific.

You can find its details here

Cheers!

 

[Drifter Bob]

Ah, thats a relief, thanks guys!

DB

 

[Wolf72]

IIRC, the patent is for the concept of tilting cards sideways or upsidedown or whatever in order to represent certain game effects or situations. Or something like that. It's definitely much narrower than TCGs as an entirity.

--Jeff

"Tapping" ?

 

[MerricB]

"Tapping" ?

Rotating a card so that it is in a different orientation than originally (normally 90 degrees). It's used to show that a card has been used in the current turn. At the beginning of your turn, all your cards "untap" (reset) so you can use them again.

Cheers!

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Wow, you can patent stupid stuff.

 

[Drifter Bob]

this is what it read, which I found confusing

Wizards of the Coast holds U.S. Patent #5662332 on trading card games. The patent, filed in October 1995 and granted in September 1997, covers:

Games published in the form of trading cards.
Games in which a player selects a collection of tradeable elements and uses that set to compete with other players.
Certain aspects of gameplay originally developed for Magic: The Gathering, such as "tapping" a card to indicate it is temporarily depleted.
As a holder of the patent, Wizards of the Coast has requested that all trading card game publishers license the mechanics described in the patent, usually for a royalty fee based on total sales.

Here is the link to their patent:

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...0&s1=5662332.WKU.&OS=PN/5662332&RS=PN/5662332

 

[reanjr]

Wow, you can patent stupid stuff.

Man, you should follow software patents for about two weeks. You want to see some ridiculous patents:

Amazon: One click shopping
Microsoft: Determing function of a control by how many times it is clicked or how long it is held down.
(some company suing Microsoft): Web browser plugins
(some company suing Kodak): JPG picture format
Unisys: GIF image format
Apple: Wireless network devices that have their own software drivers auto-install

 

[sparxmith]

Merric, my new deity.

Merric,

I'm just curious, how long did it take you to find that patent? (And if you had it bookmarked, I'm gonna bow down and worship you as my new god. ).

Sparxmith