Copyright law is considered as one of the vital intellectual property laws that can be used to protect the authorship of the original inventions such as multimedia works. If you happen to be a game developer, then you need to have a clear perspective about the copyright, patents, and trade secret and trademark laws. Having a proper understanding of the various laws will keep you from violating intellectual property rights owned by some other individual. Also, you will be able to enjoy the several advantages that these protective laws offer. If you want to patent a game that you have invented, then you must consider the following criteria.

Intricacies and nuances of patent rights

If you are planning to patent an invention or a process, then you need to know that you cannot patent an idea. Your device should be in an electrical, physical, mechanical, or chemical form to receive a patent right. There have been many developers and inventors who are earning a substantial amount of money from their patent inventions. Find out more about patenting a game.

You will have to qualify the patent test to obtain a patent right and claim work or process to be your intellectual property. Many of you may have misconceptions regarding patents, copyrights, and trademarks. Before proceeding to file a patent, you need to understand the differences between the different norms and laws.

Consider these crucial principles to receive a patent right

You can patent your game if it satisfies the three critical factors for a patentable innovation. Your game should be useful, new, and non-obvious if you want to gain a patent right. A game will be considered an innovation if it has not been invented before.  Make sure that you file a patent on your discovery before offering it for sale or making it public for more than a year. 

Your game should also have a purpose, which is it can be educational or entertaining to meet the second requirement. The third criterion is very important, which means that your game should not be an obvious extension or variation of some already existing game. To receive a patent, your invention should fulfill all the conditions mentioned above.

Most inventors’ think that video game software often fails to meet the required criteria to pass a patent test. However, it is not always true. After inventing a new work, make sure that you keep it away from the reach of the public. Sharing the idea of the process can also be risky. But, testing the video game before marketing is also essential. Try to keep the test group limited and share it with people whom you trust. Never share your ideologies on online platforms where it is easily accessible. People can use your ideas to create their works and claim to be theirs.

Importance of receiving patent rights

Inventors usually file a patent to protect the new inventions, ornamental designs and utility patents. Processes and devices protected by utility patents can be mechanical, electrical, or chemical. The laws of the country demand strict reasons to grant design and utility patents to the inventor. If you want to qualify for a patent, you must meet the conditions as mentioned earlier. To receive a patent, your work should neither be used nor known to others in the country before you have invented it. If your work is not useful enough or not adding to the public’s knowledge, you will not be granted a patent.

To meet the non-obvious category, your work should be notably different from the other similar knowledge and technology. In other words, an extension of an existing invention will not be allowed to receive a patent. The aim behind this criterion is that patents should only be approved to original advances and not for modification and technical tinkering of existing inventions.

Things to keep in mind when filing a patent 

Obtaining a patent becomes difficult to even when all the required factors are satisfied. Even if your invention has met all the requirements, but you will not be approved a patent if someone has already filed a patent for your work more than a year before your application. You cannot receive a patent on your work if you put it on sale before applying for a patent right. Your work should not have any familiarity with the existing ideas.