"Yeah, I think it’s very dangerous territory. In the case of EA and Zynga, those games are deceivingly similar. It looks like they’re trying to almost trick the customer into thinking it’s the same game. That’s when I think you should be able to stop people. I don’t want them to be able to trick people into thinking it’s the same game. If it’s the same idea, fine, but if you’re trying to move into the concept space of what Minecraft is, for example… It’s hard to express the exact difference. But trademarks fine, patents bad. That’s kind of the short summary."
I don't see anything dangerous because it works pretty much exactly how he hopes it does. Games are one area where the patent system actually works well. You can more or less clone a game legally. You cannot, however, copy their trade dress, in much the same way you can make ketchup that tastes like Heinz but can't call it Shmeinz and package it similarly.
My company (YC S07) did exactly this. We saw a game (Ogame) that had great mechanics, but poor art and execution on many levels. We made it social and built what might have been the first hardcore Facebook game (Starfleet Commander). We took a game that appealed mainly to Germans and tweaked it to appeal to Americans and other cultures where aesthetics and ease of use are valued as much as raw functionality. Everyone benefited, even the original game which probably got more new customers from people who found out about it through our game than they lost to us. Even though ours rapidly eclipsed theirs, I suspect they made more as a result.
In which Worlds Inc. sues Blizzard for having "a system and method for enabling users to interact in a virtual space." Not a similar game, just a general system.
Which was dropped in the remaining cases after Jagex (makers of Runescape) won a dismissal in their case, but it still took time and money to defend it for all of the companies involved.
Larger game makers will settle these because it's cheaper than going to court, even if they win. Who exactly does that benefit?
If you are making the argument that "the patent system actually works well" because it prevents companies from copying others' trade dress, I'd like to see your source for that. All of the game-related patent lawsuits I know about were not over similar games, but rather core technologies.
Well, someone bringing a lawsuit doesn't mean the system is failing. Anyone can file a lawsuit for anything. If I had a good lawyer, I could drum up something to sue almost any company for, patent-related or otherwise. I probably wouldn't win, but I'd force them to spend a lot of money defending themselves. If anything that's more an indictment of the broader legal system than patents.
Regardless this is more of a software patent issue (an area of patent law I don't think anyone would argue is working) than one relating to game mechanics. The patents in both cases could easily be applied to non-game software. To my knowledge, nothing like this happens in non-software gaming.
I think the point is that utility patents - as opposed to the design patents which you seemed to refer to - apply to games as well, and also do damage there.
I don't see anything dangerous because it works pretty much exactly how he hopes it does. Games are one area where the patent system actually works well. You can more or less clone a game legally. You cannot, however, copy their trade dress, in much the same way you can make ketchup that tastes like Heinz but can't call it Shmeinz and package it similarly.
My company (YC S07) did exactly this. We saw a game (Ogame) that had great mechanics, but poor art and execution on many levels. We made it social and built what might have been the first hardcore Facebook game (Starfleet Commander). We took a game that appealed mainly to Germans and tweaked it to appeal to Americans and other cultures where aesthetics and ease of use are valued as much as raw functionality. Everyone benefited, even the original game which probably got more new customers from people who found out about it through our game than they lost to us. Even though ours rapidly eclipsed theirs, I suspect they made more as a result.