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Dean Kamen Awarded Patent For Robot Competition Rules
An anonymous reader writes "Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway and the founder of the FIRST Robotics Competition has been granted Patent 7,507,169, that describes one of the previous competitions. The main invention is a ranking system that ranks teams not only on their score, but their opponents' score, so teams are rewarded for helping their opponents score more. It is claimed that this ranking system promotes the made up phrases 'coopertition' and 'gracious professionalism.' It had three rejections, and even more appeals, before finally being accepted six years after the first application. While a majority of his 130 patents are for things related to his inventions, which are as diverse as medical equipment, unique uses for Stirling engines, and transportation, this one seems a little dubious. Dean opposes the Patent Reform Act of 2009, which would make it easier to overturn patents after they are granted."
You cannot copyright a game, but you are allowed to patent the rules?
Correct. If you want exclusive rights to functionality, a patent is the way to go. Nintendo has a U.S. patent on the rules of Dr. Mario and Tetris 2; Konami has one on Dance Dance Revolution. The Tetris Company has had trouble shutting down developers of Tetris clones such as Gnometris and LTris because Elorg never sought a patent on the game, only a copyright on the game program and those audiovisual elements not dictated by functionality.