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Patent of The Sims
shy_lil_baby
Posts: 62 Member
I heard that EA has some sort of patent on the Sims. Would anyone happen to know what kind of patent/copyright EA has on The Sims Franchise? Does it have to do with the game mechanics themselves or just any type of "people based" simulation game? I've tried looking it up and can't really find it or didn't look hard enough. I was just wondering why there aren't any hardcore competition against them (not sure if Second Life should be included)? Is a money problem? A talent problem? Maybe the company isn't as recognizable as EA? Also I heard that companies need to renew patents when The Sims Franchise patent is up is there a "open" time period where others can claim that patent or at least put out a game without that patent over their heads or can EA immediately claim that patient as soon as it's time for a renewal? Just some questions that ran through my head....
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It's about time the sims had a competitor...
As I've said before EA's "patent on the sims" would be like Willie Nelson claiming exclusive rights to Spanish guitar solos in country music.
The notion is just laughable.
EA has billions of dollars though, so when competition refuses to be bought out they will and do sue people even when they know they're wrong just because they can. They will do that as a way to financially strangle their competition and will combine a lawsuit with a buy out settlement offer.
Names aren't copyrightable; that's part of why there's a trade-name system. The code is covered by copyright law as soon as it's written. Aspects of visual design are also covered by copyright law and therefore don't need explicit registration, though that's an option in the U.S.
Patents and trade-names are complicated by the fact that they are country specific. You might have a patent or trademark in one place but it won't be covered somewhere else.
Also, there are patent and trademark lawyers for a reason: exactly what is covered by a particular patent and what isn't is complicated. Even finding the patents that might be covered by what you want to do is complicated.
City: skylines is coming out in a few days, and everyone that is getting it is thinking it will be better than SimCity 2013, they haven't felt as though it's a rip off because they think it'll be good. This is how it could work for another company to make a sims like game.
Yeah, but there have always been other city building games around. Sims is pretty unique.
It's just too risky with the Sims already out. These kinds of games are very hard to make. Especially with all the EPs and such The Sims has.
The reason I asked was because my husband was talking about how Magic the Gathering had some sort of patent for their game mechanics so most of the card games out there pay the Magic people an amount of money so there is no suing involved...at least I hope that's what I got from what my husband said...I was just wondering if EA had something similar or not. Then again making trading card games is probably a lot more cheaper than making the a simulation franchise.
http://www.mtfn.com/news-Video-Game-Developers-Settle-Copyright-Infringement-Suit.html
But I will say I doubt if you are asking is because you think there's something lacking in sims would be fixed by another. There's a culture to the game that wouldnt replicated by another creator.
The Sims has a competition - it's Second Life.
It is a MMO; Will Wright also works there.
Life Stimulators can be made just not called the Sims or use alike names in game..that copies the same thing Sims has.
>.> I could never get into Second Life...too clunky and online.
He's He was* on the Board of Directors, which is not a kind of working on the product at all; it's corporate oversight.
* (He was appointed to the Board in 2011, so I looked at Linden's site to see if he was still on it – looks like they've freshened up the Board since then, which is good.)