keira:
You are only half right about patents. Yes, Zev should get a patent. However, no intellectual property covers an idea. Not patents, not copyrights, not trademarks, and not trade secrets. These forms of intellectual property simply protect the expression of ideas. Otherwise, the first person to come up with an internal combustion motor would have all internal combustion motors tied up.
As a patent attorney, I would recommend the all or nothing approach. Either do it up right, spend the money, and get solid intellectual property protection or simply publish the card game and let it become part of the public domain.
The best bet is to combine a patent with copyright and trademark protection. Patent the rules of the game, copyright the box and card art, and trademark the name of the game, the logo or device used on the game, the shape of the cards (if appropriate), and a tag line or slogan if you have one.
Note that the costs associated with Intellectual Property is directly related to the professional service fees charged by the attorneys. It is the attorneys that make patents, copyrights, and trademarks expensive. However, I feel that the extra cost is worth it in that the end product is generally better than what one could do without the help of an attorney. That being said, you can do your own patents, copyrights and trademarks. Check out the book “Patent It Yourself” from Nolo Press. It is a good tutorial on how to write patent applications.
A bit of practical advice to Zev is in order here though: First, file a copyright application (either yourself or through an attorney) before there is any “publication” of your game. This is needed to make you eligible to recieve statutory damages that are provided for in the copyright laws.
Second, treat your card game as a trade secret until such time as you know, with certainty, whether you will file a patent application. Your “testing” is a concern but will probably be considered to be a non-public disclosure as it was a test among trusted people who will agree, or better yet have agreed, to keep the game confidential. The problem is that public disclosure can kill your patent rights. In the US and Canada and in a number of other countries around the world, there is a one year grace period after a public disclosure in which you can file a patent. However, many more countries around the world require absolute novelty and any public disclosure that precedes a patent filing will kill your patent rights.
All standard disclaimers of this being actual legal advice should be considered to be inserted here as this is nothing more than a friendly “this is the way I’ve experienced it” chat and nothing more.
Good luck,
CJ
