Stupid question about intellectual property

Suppose I have an idea for a table game, but 1) lack the math skills to do much with it, 2) know the chances of getting something more than a huge bill out of it are minuscule and 3) have reason to believe casinos wouldn't be interested in it. Yet I like the idea, so I incorporate the game into a story (novel, short story, novelette, doesn't matter).

Question: if someone else then takes my description of the game in my story and develops it into a huge casino hit, can I sue for theft of intellectual property?

Obviously I'm talking of something more involved than "My game sues cards and so does his!"

**** NO ****


OOOPs stupid answer You can always SUE !

Quote: Nareed

Question: if someone else then takes my description of the game in my story and develops it into a huge casino hit, can I sue for theft of intellectual property?

That's a very broad question. What kind of intellectual property? You don't have a patent so you can't sue someone for patent infringement. Disclosing your idea in a published work may preclude you from getting one (that depends on where you are, I think). And I'm not a copyright expert, but I think to prevail in a copyright claim you'd have to demonstrate that another author plagiarized your work.

But generally, the answer to the question I think you're trying to ask is no. A reasonable analogy is if I'm an author and I publish a fictional story about children baking cookies, and print the cookie recipe, and someone goes and starts a cookie franchise with my recipe and makes a million dollars, what's my recourse? None - I published the recipe. The way to protect things like recipes is to keep them trade secret. That's what Coca-Cola does.

But that's an interesting marketing technique if nothing else. File a provisional patent application, publish your story, and then see if your game takes off. If it does, file the regular patent application and argue "commercial success" when the PTO rejects your application for obviousness.

Quote: MathExtremist

But generally, the answer to the question I think you're trying to ask is no. A reasonable analogy is if I'm an author and I publish a fictional story about children baking cookies, and print the cookie recipe, and someone goes and starts a cookie franchise with my recipe and makes a million dollars, what's my recourse? None - I published the recipe.

Well, all copyrighted works state y no one may make use of the content without permission. But that's understood to mean in a literary fashion. That is, I can't copy, say, a chapter from a novel by Larry Niven and do my own novel from it; unless I got Niven's permission. But it applies to other things as well. Again, I can't take, say, Larry Niven's alien characters and use them as mascots in a theme park without Niven's permission.

Imagine 3CP doesn't exist. Ok, now say in a novel I describe a game exactly as "Like poker, but using only three cards." If someone develops a game from that, I don't see any potential for a law suit. Now, imagine ina novel I say "The player and dealer both get three cards. The player can make an ante bet and a pair plus bet. Then, after looking at hsi cards, he may do a play bet or fold..." And describing the rules for 3CP as we know it, complete with pay table, ante bonus, payout and the dealer requiring a Queen-high hand to qualify.

I've a feeling if someone then developed a game using those rules, he'd be liable for a copyright infringement suit. As surely as Disney, for example, would be if it started parading emlpoyees in Kzin and Pupeteer costumes in their parks.

Quote:

But that's an interesting marketing technique if nothing else. File a provisional patent application, publish your story, and then see if your game takes off. If it does, file the regular patent application and argue "commercial success" when the PTO rejects your application for obviousness.

I hadn't thought about that. You could get the patent first, even.

If I ever do that, I think I should ask you for permission first :)

"A guy who makes a nice chair doesn't owe money to everyone who has ever built a chair."

Mark Zuckerburg, The Social Network

No.
Plain and simple: No. There is no way you can permanently squat on some textual description and then assert intellectual rights.

I'm reminded of the Powder Blue Biscuits ... a fictional item from a radio show. Someone decided it would make a good product in reality. Perfectly legal. Didn't work out economically though.

Quote: Nareed

Imagine 3CP doesn't exist. Ok, now say in a novel I describe a game exactly as "Like poker, but using only three cards." If someone develops a game from that, I don't see any potential for a law suit. Now, imagine ina novel I say "The player and dealer both get three cards. The player can make an ante bet and a pair plus bet. Then, after looking at hsi cards, he may do a play bet or fold..." And describing the rules for 3CP as we know it, complete with pay table, ante bonus, payout and the dealer requiring a Queen-high hand to qualify.

Like I said, I'm no copyright expert, but I think if someone took your written work (the paytable, or the statement of game rules) and used it wholesale without alteration, you may have a claim. But I've no idea what damages might be.

You have to prove two things. One, that your idea existed prior to the other person's idea. And that two, the other person did not independently come up with the idea on their own. The first may be fairly easy, as long as it was something printed and published. You could even argue it if you talked about it with enough people that they knew you had the idea at a certain date. The second is nearly impossible to prove. Did Alexander Bell steal details from Elisha Gray?