The e-gaming industry is a booming industry in India. With proper guidance about e-gaming patents, the industry can survive well, and there can be maximum benefits to the brand or the companies that manufacture and release the games into the market.
How Does Patenting Work in the E-gaming Industry
What is patenting all about? It is any type of intellectual property that provides the owner to take steps against any outsider or intruder who might be willing to tamper with or sell or use the owner’s invention for a certain time period in exchange for the publication of a legal disclosure of the invention. The electronic gaming industry has constantly been on the rise in India every day. New and innovative kind of game is being introduced in the industry, and hence, protecting the patent is very important for one who innovates and also for the company at large. There are many legal controversies regarding what type of games can be taken under a patent’s purview and how long the patent can be sustained. However, certain criteria can be included as part of the study:
- The Indian Patents Act, 1970 states that one who files the patent for an exclusive innovation has the right to stop others from making/ using/ selling the patented product in India if the owner does not have proper consent.
- The owner can also take legal steps against those individuals or groups or companies who might take a chance to use the patented process or offer it for import. In other words, deal with any type of product making and selling from that particular patent.
- In the case of the gaming industry also, a patent can be applied to anything considered to be extremely new and includes something called ‘invention’, not something that is cliché, repetitive or redundant, and it should have a proper industrial-based application and integration.
- A question might arise now, what about the e-gaming patent of the videogames then? Any kind of videogame, in order to be patented, needs to be a conglomeration of new ideas and should have industrial utility. There are ways in which visuals, cinematographs, video programming parts etc. need to be taken into account when you go for patenting a video game.
- In addition, as per section 3 of the Indian Patents Act, there are certain types of inventions like computer programs that are not patentable. In the case of patent of video games, there are also issues like content, filming, comic books, films and music from which the videogame might have been inspired to a certain or a large extent. So, whether it will be under patent or not again remains dubious in many cases.
The Process of Patenting for the E-gaming Industry in India
Even in the case of Intellectual Property Patenting filing for an e-gaming patent, the following steps can be of much information:
- First, there should be an intense search for the patentability of the idea.
- After this, the initial drafting should be done as per the provisions of the Indian Patents Act. There can be provisional or complete drafting done as per Form 1 or Form 2.
- After this, you file the patent application as per the patent rules in India. You can fill up the paper forms, or you can check out the online methods to fill in the details.
- There are certain additional forms that can be submitted. These include Form 5 (basically dealing with a declaration about who the inventor is), Form 26 (which is about the authorization form to declare the patent agent) and Form 28 (mainly dealing with a form submission only by a start-up or a small entity if the start-up wishes to declare so).
- The next step includes Form 9, which is about the publication of the application related to the patent.
- The next step for an e-gaming patent includes requesting the concerned body to examine and check the patent application under the provisions of Form 18.
- In this step, the patent gets granted.
- When everything is done, there is a payment amount for renewal that needs to be done each year. These are the steps as per the standards of the Indian gaming industry patent issues.
How Long Can a Game be Patented in India? A Few Examples
When we talk of patents, we basically talk of territorial rights. In the case of the e-gaming patent, as per the provisions found in India, there can be a time period of around 20 years for which the work can be patented. For example, A game engine had its own share of patents. It is the software part of any type of video game. It is a form of the interactive application that includes graphical and vivid visual tools, well-integrated computer rendering, points and steps that can detect collision, artificial intelligence, better visibility, network channelization, and file system integration all into one single-engine. The game machine can be utilized for manufacturing video games, and people can enjoy the games via Smartphones or consoles. For instance, the Torque game engine and Truevision are some of the popular game varieties under this discussion. There are game systems and puzzle games that are programmed with the system of software, and the right medium should also be checked for the better storage of a program.
Some of the most popular games that had the right patents issued include Monopoly (patent done in 1935), Rubik’s Cube (1983), Battleship patented under gameboard in 1935, Twister in 1969 and Simon, which had the patent approved in 1979. Hence, if you check, you will find that game patents also have a rich history of their own.
In many cases, video games can be included under copyright law and not patent. All those e-games that utilize software have different provisions for them, which only a professional practitioner can guide you about.
Conclusion:-
Therefore, it becomes quite clear how the e-gaming patent can protect the gaming industry and intellectual property for a long time. Any kind of infringement or interference can be stopped right in the beginning if companies and gaming industries have a consummate idea of how the e-gaming patent can operate and how long it can be valid. For instance, according to the provisions of the Indian Patents Act, there are certain games that are put under the programme segment because any kind of software is not patentable. There is also a prohibition on patenting game designs as they are not considered to be patentable. Hence, for any gaming industry, it is essential to go through the legalities and then apply for an e-gaming patent.
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