Bitcoin Forum

I have a question , and maybe you're more expert about this argument...
If some one get an idea about a New Gambling game, it can be "patented"?  If yes how it can be done?

Just as E.G. "fantasy-football" how to protect the idea of a game like this? just with trademark?

You can of course patent it and you should do so, if you think it's a great new game/style. As a single, private person it won't be easy to stop people from copying it and you would have to have some money at hand to pay lawyers etc., but legally you can sue and stop them. I guess you will spend a lot of time in court though, if it's some revolutionary new game :D

For a start I would go to a patent office and apply for it and I would suggest an international/world-wide patent for this matter. And maybe some lawyer to help you with the paperwork :)

Not every gambling game can be patented I tried to Google some information but there are few keywords that can solve the queries
if this is online gaming or gambling it should have something that addresses the solution of specific technical problems  


There is a word of notice also


So with this they can replicated it without any legal issues.

More on this article
https://brela-tz.org/patents-in-the-casino-industry/

It'd probably be better if you asked someone that was in the field of the law, anyone, that you know to guarantee it's legit and true. Especially since introducing a patent for a new game needs a lot of crossing of information since it needs to check if you're game infringes on the copyright of other games and if a lawsuit was filed, then you'd probably have a huge burden in your hands.

You could probably follow the normal steps in applying for a patent, looked it up, and found this:
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/getting-patent-yourself-29493.html

After that, you can consult a person in the legal field to ensure you're not really missing anything. Also, it seems like patenting costs quite a bit of money, A new invention of a card game can rangge from $5000 to $12000. Might not be a useful reference though since it is a card game, but well, it's an example. Found it here:
https://patentrebel.com/can-you-patent-a-card-game-answered/

Aside from that, to clarify also your questions not answered by online sources, you can visit or call your local Patent Office.
They can explain more of what to do specific with your case. But don't forget to contact a Patent Attorney from your area.
Yes, there is dedicated lawyer for that, so basically it is easy to communicate with them with what you want because that's their specialization.
If you are having difficulty in finding one, you can contact your local Patent Office and ask for assistance. Without a doubt, they have contacts for those lawyers.

Of course, you may apply a patent for it. I don't know where you're from but there must be a local patent bureau which is designated to accept applications for protection of their intellectual properties by way of a patent.

Please be reminded, though, that patents expire after a couple of decades more or less. Moreover, a patent is different from a trademark. A patent in this regard is to be applied for your newly-invented game but the trademark could be applied for the name of your app or your site or your brand which might launch that game in the future.

As in the above quote one can go apply for patent with the respective bureau organised by every country with specific terms and conditions. I don't think it can be patented with the purpose of gambling. Maybe a game can be innovated and patented. This patented game can be further used into gambling.

I don't think you would be able to protect your new gambling idea and game. The only advantage is that you will be first to introduce that gambling idea and if it is interesting, you can make good profit from it.  Even if you patent it, other gambling casino will copy the idea and come up with the same thing but with another name.

It's possible but it's not easy. My country has a intellctual property office where a person or a company can apply and protect the patent, trademark or similar. Since this is in EU, once you protect it It's valid in every EU member state. However, that doesn't mean that others will not try to copy you.
So, basicly the whole procedure depends on the country you live in.

Probably it is more applicable in a physical casino rather than online one. Even if  you get a patent you cannot stop other gambling sites from using it and it is hard to take legal action for a site located online and operated outside of your country.

It all depends on the country where you live. Not in all countries you can patent the rules and mechanics of the game. For example, this cannot be done in Russia and India. However, even there, intellectual property lawyers find loopholes how to do this. In the US, you can patent the rules and mechanics of the game, so it will be much easier to do this there.
You need to find a good intellectual property lawyer and consult with them.

Thank you all for your comments, since I am based in EU I will try to look furthermore the current situation in my country/EU.
If anyone has some specific example (or a practical way to operate) please feel free to reply to my topic.

Well we can't patent anything that already exist and possibly already patented.  It is obvious that the patent office will only allow those that are new or innovative.


Possible there is modification on the program or feature of the gambling games.  It will never be considered pirating since the program itself is different from the original even though it originated from other's idea.  The thing is even the idea that was patented is also derived from an older idea but was just modified.  So yes, it is fair for the latter modified replica to be exempted from  any consequences.

You could try and create a trademark but these are only granting you protection for 10 years or so and are also region-restricted. All and all it's just too much effort to try and get one and you rarely see any such efforts being put for a gambling website that is new. Especially if its a startup, they usually try to invest in having a good platform and having the firs comer advantage other than trademarking as their first step. Other than that, the logo of a company could very well fall under copyright. So with copyright you don't need to apply. You just get it by publicizing your work first. I think that's much better than having to go through an application.

So long story short, better just build a brand name by being innovative.

Better to ask someone with authority maybe a lawyer and I think you need to register that game under your company or your name so that it will not be steal by anyone. But in terms of games that is being launch in the web I think there will be another way. But also you need to be sure that the game you are about to work or create is also not yet available in the market.

I agree with this because we don't know what the procedure is in every country, and I think there is a different method to patent the product. Besides that, the @OP is from the EU. At least, we can visit a lawyer who knows about patent/trademark or else so we can know the right answer because the new gambling games that we want to be patent can be used in physical casinos or online casinos.

This article  (https://patentyogi.com/american-inventor/patents-effective-online-gambling/)could probably help, but this are applicable for US patents.

If you will use contents, characters with public domains, it could probably be copied, but if the content, structure and gameplay is unique, these are the games that will be available to be patented.


You may also take this intro consideration,

I assume that you can go to a Patent and Trademark Office in order to protect your idea about your game. This will somehow prevent others to use your idea to make money. However, as an individual, there will be a lot of stuff to do if someone steals your idea, especially when you're idea has a tremendous impact on the gambling industry. The money will need to be spent to hire lawyers and the better the lawyer, the higher chance you will win the suing. Also, you can cooperate with a gambling company because you will have a better opportunity to spread your game widely and worldwide.

We are living in the 4.0 industry world and because of that, the patent is extremely important. A single idea can easily be stolen and used to benefits themselves. Moreover, they can earn a huge amount of money with that stolen design. Therefore, try your best to protect what truly belongs to you

If you invent new methods/technology that useful to the gaming industry, you can patent it (and use the tech name as your trademark) just like Megaways (tm).
Big Time Gaming earn lots of money by licensing its patent.

Any intellectual idea can be patented if it is legally registered as a property of a person or an organization. However, if it is an idea of an online casino, with the use of cryptocurrency, I do not know if it would be the same situation. As we all know, not all government globally are pleased with cryptocurrencies. But, when it comes to the gaming industry, I think they do have different approach with this.

Yes it could done but you can optionally credit the game and the owner you want to patent. But, there are other games that are a little bit similar just like DOTA2 it actually originate from war craft, and ML is same as strategic mobile game like DOTA2, Crossfire, PUB, CALL OF DUTY and others are just like the old game but still alive in esports the Counter strike but there could be older than those games and just being patented also.

Well it is up to you just do not copy everything like names, the interface and gameplay. Just make your own.

You know the cost of patenting intellectual property is going to cost you a lot of money, so I hope your idea is going to be awesome for you to cover the patent costs.

" The average cost to patent an idea using an attorney is between $6,000 to $12,000 with overall prices ranging from $900 if you file yourself, up to $16,900 depending on the complexity of the invention. " - Source : https://thervo.com/costs/how-much-does-a-patent-cost

$5,000 – $8,000 Simple Idea
$8,000 – $12,000 Average Idea
$12,000 – $16,000 Complex Idea

https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2018/11/17/protecting-idea-can-ideas-be-patented/id=103389/  - According to this you cannot patent an idea, but you can have Copyright on material that has been produced by yourself.  ;)

If the idea is new and unique it can be patented any works can be patented but knowing here only only it can modified to make it appear that the work is new but at least if you patented it you have a legal claim to your work and you will have a chance in any legal battle if your work is copied and you want to make a claim of infringement.

There are solution of blockchain based program too. There are some projects with blockchain notarization
. DeepVault, Signature Chain are two of them. It's easy to register your file there, within a fee clicks. The question is how much acceptance will it get? I think not so much but still you have something to proof.

Of course everything can be patented, including new gambling ideas. First you have to find a lawyer to help with paperwork matters.
And make sure copyright applies internationally, so if someone uses your gambling idea. You can sue legally,because you will have
legality. But things like this certainly require a large enough cost.

since this is not my area of expertise I decide to ask some opinions about it.

I mean fantasy-football has registered just the gaming structure/trademark.
well, the most important idea for me it's to protect this innovation. Feel free to propose/suggest some solution.

What could be the simple way to "protect" it? What could be the simple and easy way to have the paternity (and a sort of legal protection) about an idea launched online?
I don't know exactly if this can be defined "an innovation" this game. I have no idea about money involved/required.

Literally you can patent any new idea and the whole outcome as two different things, for inside your country and for the whole world.If it is an online game then getting patent in your country has no use and while international it is hard to acquire one to be honest and even if you did then it is easy to change few things and can develop the same idea in new form then can be placed on sites to play.

Trademark and patent are completely two different things. But here you will need both. Patent for the idea and trademark for the name. This way you can protect your interest.

I will suggest you to get in touch with patent lawyers of your country. Just try to google with this keyword and you will receive plenty of them. They will help you to prepare your documentation. Please note, it usually takes 4-6 months of time to process your patent application.

Finally, always execute a NDA with the lawyer along with indemnity clause before you start expressing your ideas to them!

Hope this helps!

I agreed, it can be copied by someone else and innovated some rules and changed the name of the game. Like for example soccer and lacrosse these two games have almost the same looks but have different rules. Also there are many more examples you can find out there. In this way, they don't have to worry about copy righted materials. they just need your idea for them to create something almost the same games.

Lacrosse

https://abc6onyourside.com/resources/media/2efed45f-6d9a-46e7-a79a-56ad104940e1-large16x9_MVNUstadiumcourtesymountvernonnazareneuniversity.jpg

Soccer

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iDt6V.rPqgC0/v1/1000x-1.jpg

I agree! but I think sometimes it takes a year it depends on the amount of patented nearly similar to his idea and also if it has a unique name for it ( this is also very needed ), as long as it is very unique and he has all the documents needed, no need to worry about being patented for months, OP will get the patent certificate and the trademark name. Better to develop now, and there is some free sites to check the patent.

I am not good at this kind of regulation. But, should you patent a New Gambling game? Do you plan to make that kind of gaming?
Well, I directly browsed the information about this and  only found these following:
http://grochowski.casinocitytimes.com/article/can-you-patent-a-gambling-game-62628
https://patentyogi.com/american-inventor/patents-effective-online-gambling/

I do not know exactly whether the ways to patent the gambling game should be globally or locally in your country. You may also search for the information in your country whether it is legal or not, any law about it or not.

Laws change from jurisdiction to jurisdiction so it is better that you consult a lawyer, however what is it the state of this idea you are talking about? If it is just an idea and you have not developed anything then it is unlikely you are going to get any kind of patent, however if you have developed code in order to make that idea a reality then you will be taken more seriously and you could get patents for certain aspects of your game, still make sure to consult a lawyer just to be sure about this.

First you have to understand how patent right works , you have to check with the Government of your country then register your game or whatever you have thought about it , before anything you have to prove them that it's indeed different and worth the whole process.

Therefore you first have to design the idea and make sure you stay hidden and no one is involved with it since it's very easy for people to take your idea and label it as theirs.

You have to go to certified agencies in your own country .

But am not sure if you would be able to do it right now , since due to Pandemic most of the business are down , you have to wait , the process is long but it does have a lot of benefits for the long term .

You can even go to quick patent companies which actually register your patent for a price.

Hello my friend

this is the best place to get answers for your questions. Very fine members there and really experts regarding your question
https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/gaming-business/game-inventors/ (https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/gaming-business/game-inventors/)

stay safe

Just used information or term as "Bustabit" when some new casino who using their source code not making any permission or partnership with them. Then, they will mark that casino was not trusty at all. Can't really handle about these, because we are on internet role model business everyone could be using the same design or maybe game as from other casino.

Thank you so much mate ;) I take a quick look but it seems a very useful place to gather information .
Just for sake of curiosity, when you launched your site did you "protected" in a some way some aspect of your site/games/ or registered your trademark?


I want avoid at most, such situation... at least for a while. Or try to protect the idea from other cheap clones ;)
Moreover this idea is more similar to a game like "fantasy football" it means that anyone can try to play with friends... even off line or in a different scenario/platform. This is why I ask for trademark protection.
Obviously playing with "Original" platform will be more easy and profitable!

Well, patenting ideas have certain requirements. I don't know if those requirements change within different countries but there are three main requirements when you are applying for a Patent.

First, if the idea is unique or new in the current situation. Second, will it be for a greater good for certain communities? Third, is it available for mass adoption or development in future recommendations plus its marketability. This are the three requirements that were taught to us when we are applying for a patent and I guess it would also work for ideas like Gambling games as long as its new and unique.

I did not do any trademark or patent cause IMO it was not worth the pain and money. Just register in the forum I gave you the link and ask your question there. I am sure you will get a lot of very good and helpful answers even you want it maybe only to be secured for europe.

good luck

I'm not a big fan of intellectual property.. As a example, imagine if Bitcoin were patented..

As reported in some replies, you will waste a lot of time and money.. therefore I advice you to sell your idea to a casino or supplier, that way you can earn some money and allow other people to evolve your ideia..

Ideas are not patented. Its originality and the result of its use and applications, if.

So you must do it quickly before someone else comes up with it. But keep in mind that software patents are very limited.

Basically to technologically feasible ideas in an entertainment-oriented application, for example a game, they use brand protection, things like characters, names, create something called brand usage licenses, etc.

The "ideas" usually fall under something called intellectual property law. But still, there must be something to back it up, there must be something that indicates that you had that idea before anyone else.

Something you can do, but it is a major investment, register or license everything surrounding your idea with that game, even with the name, those things can get licenses, but I assure you it is not cheap, licenses can take you to the ruin and not make a profit, but they help you get use rights, because the law supports you in intellectual property rights. But this requires an administrative investment of time and money.

Remember also that licenses at a global level are even more expensive, all this gives you a vision that it is not how important or novel to have a new idea, but how much capital you have to execute it and make it profitable.

There are other ways, develop an APP, register a company that gives you more power to control the game and its profits ... but for the low average you must have at least $ 70,000 to $ 100,000.

If you trust your idea and it is really new, do not stop trying it, but one must also realize how much an idea is really feasible to have success.

Protecting it will not last long. There had been many patented products in the past that will just not used in the end all because of patent. Somehow the innovative thinking of entreprenuers will be able to discover the idea.

There is always going to be someone out there going to copy just about anything they can find. I have no idea about this fantasy-football but if you have a game run by code then perhaps registering it as opensource will be a better option for more people will be able to help improved it but will still recognize your work as well.

I'm not too sure but I think you will be very difficult to make a patented on a new gamble...
Patents are usually used to protect ideas or intellectual property, but for gambling, I don't think you can patent it, maybe you can do a search on Google about any ideas that can be submitted for patented.

I think it's possible. If it's completely new idea, new work of author it could be protected as intellectual property. I don't know the details about that gambling idea but all kinds of intellectual works can be protected. Maybe patent is not quite correct term but I think that is worth checking the possibilities how to protect this and under what conditions is possible.

You're not going to be able to patent it unless it is sufficiently novel, and you've got highly detailed technical descriptions of how the system would work, including the code that would make it run.

If it's just an idea, you've got absolutely no hope of even getting a trademark.

Though the rules for obtaining a patent vary by country, they're almost always quite stringent—especially if you want a universally recognized one. Here's the rules for getting a patent in the United States:

https://www.bitlaw.com/patent/requirements.html

"- The invention must be statutory (subject matter eligible)
- The invention must be new
- The invention must be useful
- The invention must be non-obvious"

If it doesn't meet these criteria, give up now.

To my knowledge in general there are several subjects that can be patented, namely technology, machinery and pharmacy.
Besides that cannot be patented, moreover ideas and concepts cannot be patented. Maybe I think the new gambling idea
you mean can not be patented, but to be more confident and not the wrong step first consultation with a lawyer is the
right step.

You need to start with the simplest. You must decide in which country or countries you want to have your intellectual property protected. Because different countries may have very different ways of registering intellectual property rights. This way you can get a more accurate answer.

I am not sure if this is really possible. There are already so many games around in casinos, non of them are really patented. So creating a hole new game now which is not a variation out of any existing game you might be able to patent it, but the chances are so unlucky. I would assume that any good lawyer will find some small similiarities which would allow others to copy your game.

My suggestion try not to protect your idea from others. Make sure you are the first one out there to actually do it. If you don't have a casino yourself yet, maybe try to get into a cooperation with an exisiting casino so they would provide you with a great platform and already a huge gambler base. Big advertisements would be the key in my opinion.

The idea isn't being patented but a new game with rules and anything else will be patented.
Also, your new invention should be unique and doesn't have any huge similar to the existing games.

I made a topic about Bitcoin patent and it also talks about Intellectual property, you might read this to understand more about the patent.

Learn about Patent and Intellectual Property. (Bitcoin) (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5217925.0)

And I thought securing a patent would be that easy. After reading your response, looks like I have to work on making sure that the work will not be copied by others, and in case it was copied then I need to spend more money paying lawyers to stop the other parties to use my patented invention. If there is a good way to secure that without the expensive lawyers and expensive cases on court then I'd be happy to share and hopefully profit from my invention.

Its better if you can consult with the local lawyer for this patented idea because he will be in a better position to explain you if it is possible and under which conditions. OP may get 100 of ideas from here but only the local lawyer will be able to provide him with 100% accurate information.

Definitely at this point, when you do not have the know how on these sorts of things, like I do. Then I will talk to a lawyer, specially the one who handles patents. I know that the costs of these lawyers is quite expensive and that you will spend a big sum for their services but unfortunately there is nothing I can think of at this point. I don't know if there are any law offices that charge very low on consultation and I don't know if there are any Public attorneys that also do these kinds of patent related services.

But even if that is what you want to do it will be way easier to do that if you have some kind of copyright protection, because if you try to sell your idea without that protection and you reveal it to a bunch of casinos most likely they have the means to produce a perfect clone in a matter of days or weeks without your aid and they could even patent the idea before you do stripping you off your rightful property, so if that is the path that you want to take you still need to copyright your ideas.

Definitely, it is a must that before we let our ideas out especially if it is an online gambling idea, we should patent it knowing that it doesn't contain any characters that has publicity or contents that originally made by others even if we think that we already improved it and developed it. If we are sure that our game idea is purely unique, protect it with copyright, who knows? if they stole it and implemented it to their platform, they might earn higher than you who created the idea.

depends of the product if the product is not interesting and you will patent it , thats useless

thats why patenting is invented to prevent those .

i heard this fantasy thing on the past and it has many variations now not just football .  that means it was succesful . it also depends on the dev if they want thier project to be open source  .most of projects now are open source but there are few that arent but still continue to be succesfull .

Legit casinos might buy if for few hundreds and will patent it and who knows it could turns out into million dollar idea but it only depends on the idea since not every game is going to get the attraction of players and it should be more addictive as well if the casino should buy it from their money.Copyright may not give complete protection for your product and it is also not possible for everyone to get for their inventions.

That will be the big casino's benefit because they can patent the idea with their money, so they don't have to bother with the copyright. At least, with copyright, that can help them protect their product, and if a website uses their product without asking them, they can get them to the law. If we have the copyright, we can research more and update it so the product will be better than the first time released.

It is true that a copyright protection is not everything you still need to be smart, for example if it was me the one that had a good idea about a new game for a casino and I was completely sure that it will become a success instead of selling my idea for a few hundred bucks I will probably ask for a cut of the profits, if the game is not successful you will get almost nothing but if it is as successful as you think it is you're going to get incredible royalties out of it.

Asking for the share in the total profits made is better and fair compared to the selling the whole idea because we will get the shares forever if that business is going successful.Is there anyone in the world making such kind of earning in gambling related copyrights.

There two main types of protection: patent and copyright. For example, if you will write a book, then it will be protected by copyright. And if you'll invent cure from cancer - patent. Patent is for 25 years and copyright for all your life and 70 years after. But patent can be extended in some cases (or it can be taken government by force to it ownership).

You case it's more like the case of copyright. But there is not enough only pure "idea", i mean something like "oh, i want to create galactic chess please copyright it for me" or something.  You should create it a first, show that this is work and when try to use copyright.

thanks for the facts , its informative to me that does not know what protection means for a work . i didnt knew that there are two types and there are different durations for each  . fantasy football isnt an idea only but it already been released but if op is only using it as an example maybe he is planning now and ask other question related to it . so many gambling ideas already existed and thinking a new idea is tough , now i know why op wants it to be protected .

You can't in my opinion, because when you share something in the internet like a fresh new game. Someone out there is going to make it.
For instance, look at how Lol sued Mobile Legends for stealing their intellectual property, in the end the case got dismissed and Mobile Legends continues its operations.

I keep searching online but it looks like they have different scenarios and answers depending on the country where they live. And I believe that this couldn't be enough to enlighten your mind but seeking more info and answers.

Visiting the patent office at your place is the only solution for this and probably they will help you to make your curiosity become real. And I don't think it is an easy thing to do to accomplish, yet a hard stance might possible. This could also a reason why most games are just a copy from the others because it is hard to make gambling games become patented.

He doesn't need to visit the patent office just to give solution to his problem.

There's a website on patents which is the WIPO or World Intellectual Property Organization, he can contact the support the answers to his question, they're responsive.
The requirements and steps for applying patents are also in the website, just check it out.

https://www.wipo.int/patents/en/
https://www3.wipo.int/contact/en/

This was one of the first things that I asked in this thread and I never got an answer, having an idea is not enough to get any kind of copyright or protection for your rights, you need to actually develop the software and the idea to the point that you can bring something to the table, and at least to me it does not seem as if the OP has done anything to deserve a copyright protection and if that is the case then it is a mistake to try to bring that idea to the casinos as they are not going to take you seriously.

That is what copyright to be applied needs, the platform should have a working product because having just an idea to be patented is worthless, even patents will not accept it. First, we need to establish the code, test the game, launch it in the internet by having a domain, let people know about it, and lastly, make sure that we aren't using any public characters from other people's work, nor using any effects, soundtrack that is owned by anyone else. In short, every piece of our ideas and implementations should be original. But as far as I can see, most of the gambling sites have these games where the game's color and the theme is strictly aligned to the overall design of the gambling site. This way, even if the game isn't patented, it is hard to just copy the game.

Talk to the guy at WizardOfOdds.com as he has patented/created a few games that were sold to casinos. I believe he consults on the side.

Lol, I think this can't help but it still depend on that guy if he'd like to or willing to help or answer your questions  but in my own opinion getting a game to be patented should be ask from the game owner or developer you wanted to patent. After there permission then all things will going to follow. This is the best thing to do I guess and you should also seek more ideas from people around you to add things into the game or to make things easier with the people around willing to help.

You wouldn't have to "patent" a new game idea, rather check out creative commons (https://creativecommons.org/) and apply a specific set of guidelines for how your work is shared.

To start with, you need to publish your idea online and have it archived immediately - in the published work you need to have Creative Commons attributions set already.  You should also get an MD5 checksum of your work which you drop to something concrete (such as a block chain) BEFORE you publish your work.

Good luck, and keep up posted how you go.