No, you can't sue on the concept alone. It depends on the extent to which the products are similar. Similarity of concept is one criteria, and even then depends on how general or creative the concept is.
I believe Hasbro is legally justified in bringing the suit. First of all, it pertains to copyright, not trademarks or designs or patents (which are different). Hasbro alleges the clones have substantially copied its products. The whole idea of what is a 'concept' is not very clear, but if these clones simply add or subtract a few ideas, they ARE copying Hasbro's games. One thing the courts will judge on is the similirity of the end product. Anyone can see that most Tetris clones are just that; clones. Thats why the defendants settled out of court rather than fight it out. Whatever we think of large corporations, they did spend money and effort designing the game, and their rights should stand. The reason why (and this is my guess) that they are suing now is because they are setting up a website, and all these games are on the site. Obviously it'll want people to play games on their site. Can they legally bring a suit after so many years? Yup. Copyrights remain in a work for quite a long time.
Slashdot Mirror
No, you can't sue on the concept alone. It depends on the extent to which the products are similar. Similarity of concept is one criteria, and even then depends on how general or creative the concept is.
I believe Hasbro is legally justified in bringing the suit. First of all, it pertains to copyright, not trademarks or designs or patents (which are different). Hasbro alleges the clones have substantially copied its products. The whole idea of what is a 'concept' is not very clear, but if these clones simply add or subtract a few ideas, they ARE copying Hasbro's games. One thing the courts will judge on is the similirity of the end product. Anyone can see that most Tetris clones are just that; clones. Thats why the defendants settled out of court rather than fight it out. Whatever we think of large corporations, they did spend money and effort designing the game, and their rights should stand. The reason why (and this is my guess) that they are suing now is because they are setting up a website, and all these games are on the site. Obviously it'll want people to play games on their site. Can they legally bring a suit after so many years? Yup. Copyrights remain in a work for quite a long time.