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That is not accurate for either copyrights or trademarks. Copyrights which are not registered before being infringed can still get money damages in certain circumstances, though not nearly as frequently as those registered before the infringement (see...

Those are a special animal, with extensions for matters which are not applicable to regular patents. However, some patents do get extensions, e.g., due to certain delays on the part of the patent office, but generally these are for a few days up to maybe a year on the outside in most cases.

Whether registration is or is not appropriate really depends on the specific circumstances of the given (potential) trademark owner, and there are plenty of situations in which common law rights are sufficient.

This and other prior posts have been off on the term for copyright protection. See http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#hlc for the term, which varies based on when created (as the law has changed over time), nature of authorship, etc. Basically correct. Mere use and enforcing others...

Pretty much everything invented in this world is based on matters already known, and this would be no different. It is highly unlikely that they will stick with 4e rules as-is for 20 years, so any patent protection sought for it would certainly last as long as they would need it for. Then...

Don't bet on it. Take a look into patents on virtually ever subject area, even the most basic like tables & chairs, methods of cooking, etc. (i.e., things that have been around for 1000s of years) and you will find new patents on those subjects routinely, for various new, non-obvious, and...

I made no mistakes ;) This goes to one of the most fundamental points. Most answers posted herein pertain to general matters, and are not legal advice directed to a given entity's specifical legal circumstances. It is important to consult with an attorney familiar with the subject area of...

You need to raise your rate then! ;)

For further clarification though, trademarks do need to be enforced, else rights are lost.

Hopefully my posts will be useful then ;)

Copyrights also apply to the particularly expressed text. Product Identity is not necessarily in the realm of copyright. Product Identity appears to be a hodge podge of trademark, trade dress, copyright, and additional matters to which no IP law protects but would be protected under the OGL...

That is not accurate. Often it is not worth suing someone for infringement. The infringement can be minimal, and not worth the millions that a patent infringement suit often costs. The infringement can be questionable, so there can be a real risk as to whether you will recoup your costs in...

"In the United States, under current patent law, for [utility] patents filed on or after June 8, 1995, the term of the patent is 20 years from the earliest claimed filing date. For patents filed prior to June 8, 1995, the term of patent is either 20 years from the earliest claimed filing date or...

That doesn't mean that patents are not able to be obtained for a more general method, that happens to also cover game play. Exactly. There are ways around these these "prohibitions", which are not merely failures on the part of the various patents offices to catch these while in the...

Presumably the 4e system will not be patented, which would mean anyone could still use it. They would just have to rewrite the rules instead of copying them (to avoid copyright issues), which is annoying and has to be done carefully to avoid differing interpretations from arising. They could...

It seems to me that if anyone is interested in using the 4e rules system (but not the other PHB content), then they should just go ahead and use it but not enter into the OGL at all. (The system itself is unlikely to be subject to patent protection, which only leaves trademarks and copyrights...

Basically from my understanding - note, you said Save DC's and Saving Throw bonuses, but those are only part of it. Limits are on damage able to be dealt, saves, and attack and defense bonuses.

I didn't see where that was significantly different than M&M, or took into account my issue of wanting to see lethal/stun crossover effects - care to elaborate?

My main M&M character was a fiery brick, so this was the exact sort of construct he had and made sense for both effects to work on an opponent. Recognizing concerns about multiple damage saves, we ran the #s and found that two equivalent saves was statistically about the same as 1 at +5 higher...