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<blockquote data-quote="babomb" data-source="post: 1648441" data-attributes="member: 1316">If they hold a US Patent for the die, they have “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” it in or “importing” it into the United States. Furthermore, they can apply for an international patent to provide protection worldwide.Nobody holds a patent for normal d4s, etc., because those shapes have been known since ancient times. This die is &quot;new&quot; and &quot;non-obvious&quot; and therefore patentable.Therefore, your doubts as to the validity of their claim are unfounded, assuming that they do actually have a patent (and I see no reason why they wouldn't). However, I haven't found the patent in question.The site doesn't list a patent number, so I searched for patents assigned to Gamescience. The only result was<a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&amp;Sect2=HITOFF&amp;u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&amp;r=1&amp;p=1&amp;f=G&amp;l=50&amp;d=ptxt&amp;S1=gamescience.ASNM.&amp;OS=an/gamescience&amp;RS=AN/gamescience" target="_blank">a 1983 patent for a d10 design</a>. I also tried searching for the inventor or this patent, but couldn't find any others. Next, I tried patents invented by Lou Zocchi, the inventor listed on the Gamescience site. The only result was <a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&amp;Sect2=HITOFF&amp;u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&amp;r=1&amp;p=1&amp;f=G&amp;l=50&amp;d=ptxt&amp;S1=Zocchi-Lou.INZZ.&amp;OS=in/Zocchi-Lou&amp;RS=IN/Zocchi-Lou" target="_blank">a 1985 patent for a golfball-style die</a> (e.g., d100) I found a few other interesting patents in searching for patents that reference those patents or searching for game dice, including <a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&amp;Sect2=HITOFF&amp;p=1&amp;u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&amp;r=14&amp;f=G&amp;l=50&amp;d=CR83&amp;S1=D267,569.UREF.&amp;OS=ref/D267,569&amp;RS=REF/D267,569" target="_blank">a d50</a>, <a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&amp;Sect2=HITOFF&amp;p=1&amp;u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&amp;r=2&amp;f=G&amp;l=50&amp;d=CR83&amp;S1=D267,569.UREF.&amp;OS=ref/D267,569&amp;RS=REF/D267,569" target="_blank">gem-shaped dice</a>, and <a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&amp;Sect2=HITOFF&amp;p=1&amp;u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&amp;r=1&amp;f=G&amp;l=50&amp;d=PALL&amp;RefSrch=yes&amp;Query=PN%2F5690331" target="_blank">a new d4 design assigned to TSR, Inc.</a>! (Interestingly enough, the TSR patent cites a couple of issues of Dragon.So, is it actually patented? I don't know. Probably. Now, if you want to make 5-sided dice for your own personal use, that's your business. I wouldn't try to sell any, though.Also, the 2-year guarantee is against &quot;premature wear and tear under normal gaming conditions&quot;.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="babomb, post: 1648441, member: 1316"] If they hold a US Patent for the die, they have “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” it in or “importing” it into the United States. Furthermore, they can apply for an international patent to provide protection worldwide. Nobody holds a patent for normal d4s, etc., because those shapes have been known since ancient times. This die is "new" and "non-obvious" and therefore patentable. Therefore, your doubts as to the validity of their claim are unfounded, assuming that they do actually have a patent (and I see no reason why they wouldn't). However, I haven't found the patent in question. The site doesn't list a patent number, so I searched for patents assigned to Gamescience. The only result was [url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=ptxt&S1=gamescience.ASNM.&OS=an/gamescience&RS=AN/gamescience]a 1983 patent for a d10 design[/url]. I also tried searching for the inventor or this patent, but couldn't find any others. Next, I tried patents invented by Lou Zocchi, the inventor listed on the Gamescience site. The only result was [url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=ptxt&S1=Zocchi-Lou.INZZ.&OS=in/Zocchi-Lou&RS=IN/Zocchi-Lou]a 1985 patent for a golfball-style die[/url] (e.g., d100) I found a few other interesting patents in searching for patents that reference those patents or searching for game dice, including [url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&r=14&f=G&l=50&d=CR83&S1=D267,569.UREF.&OS=ref/D267,569&RS=REF/D267,569]a d50[/url], [url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&r=2&f=G&l=50&d=CR83&S1=D267,569.UREF.&OS=ref/D267,569&RS=REF/D267,569]gem-shaped dice[/url], and [url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F5690331]a new d4 design assigned to TSR, Inc.[/url]! (Interestingly enough, the TSR patent cites a couple of issues of [i]Dragon[/i]. So, is it actually patented? I don't know. Probably. Now, if you want to make 5-sided dice for your own personal use, that's your business. I wouldn't try to sell any, though. Also, the 2-year guarantee is against "premature wear and tear under normal gaming conditions". [/QUOTE]

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