Patenting Games: From Pieces to Pixels

​​Patently Strategic - Patent Strategy for Startups

Send us a text

From patenting classic boardgames like Monopoly and Battleship back in the 1930s to challenges with protecting modern innovations in areas like game development and VR, our experts are breaking down everything you need to know about patenting games so you don’t end up just rolling the dice when investing in protections for your entertaining innovations.
As a bonus, in this month’s episode, we’re bringing you two dealers: Dr. David Jackrel, President of Jackrel Consulting, will be covering the physical realm of board games and toys. Kristen Hansen, Patent Strategist and software guru here at Aurora, will be covering all things computer and video games in the second half.
David and Kristen are joined by our always exceptional group of IP experts. Two exceptional gamers who would never be regarded as NPCs:

• Dr. Ashley Sloat, expert hotel builder and securer of rights on properties of all colors, but especially the green ones.
• Ty Davis, who’s always playing chess when it comes to claims.

** Mossoff Minute **
Professor Adam Mossoff recently attended the annual Inventor’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony and discusses two sets of inductees and their groundbreaking inventions of the mRNA platform and CRISPR gene editing technology.
** RISE Award Winners **
To learn more about this year's RISE award winners including Dustin Webb (Absolute Concept Designs), Rebel Cultures (Della Fetzer), Sand Baggage (Michael Wahlstrom), and Chefshare (Dr. Erin Eatough), please visit https://www.aurorapatents.com/rise-up-with-aurora.html.
** Follow Aurora Patents **
⦿ Home: https://www.aurorapatents.com/
⦿ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuroraPatents
⦿ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aurora-cg/
⦿ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aurorapatents/
⦿ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aurorapatents/
⦿ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aurorapatents
⦿ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@aurorapatents/

Thanks for listening!
---
Note: The contents of this podcast do not constitute legal advice.

Capitole

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Mossoff Minute: Inventor Hall of Fame (00:01:52)

3. RISE 2023 Winners (00:03:22)

4. Absolute Concept Designs: Dustin Webb (00:04:05)

5. Rebel Cultures: Della Fetzer (00:04:42)

6. Sand Baggage: Michael Wahlstrom (00:05:16)

7. Chefshare: Dr. Erin Eatough (00:05:44)

8. Types of IP protection for games (00:07:57)

9. Subject matter eligibility for games (00:10:19)

10. Game eligibility court cases (00:11:03)

11. Planet Bingo v. VKGS (Fed. Cir. 2014) (00:11:14)

12. In re Smith (Fed. Cir. 2016) (00:11:32)

13. In re Marco Guldenaar (Fed. Cir. 2018 (00:12:27)

14. What can you patent in board games? (00:13:13)

15. Board game claim analysis examples (00:15:54)

16. Patentable aspects of video games (00:26:58)

17. Hierarchy of video game elements (00:38:56)

18. Example video and computer game elements (00:46:18)

19. Outro (00:56:44)