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Is the word "Tap-ping" still under patent protection?

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Mon, 09/12/2016 - 21:22
questccg
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Doing some research on this matter has provided me that the 20 year patent expires on 2 September 2017!

This means we have to wait ONE (1) more year and we can all use the TERM "Tap"!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tap_(gaming)

https://www.google.com/patents/US5662332

I, for one, CAN'T WAIT!!! LOL :P

Crystal Heroes will use "Tapping" as the mechanic to exhaust an ability on the card! And there's nothing they can do about it... :P All you get is 20 years!

Joke: I'm going to create a TGC game called "The TAP Game"! :P "Where you TAP cards!!!"

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Tue, 09/13/2016 - 21:39
#1
questccg
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Anyone else "itching" to use the term "Tap"???

I was just wondering if I am the only one who is glad we will all be able to use the term "tap" in the very near future! :D

I could use the term "exhaust" - but I honestly feel like using Abilities lends better towards "Tap-ping" Abilities (like "Tap into")...

Cheers.

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Tue, 09/13/2016 - 22:04
#2
The Professor
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Same idea...different word

The use of the term "tapping" is changed to "employ" for TAU CETI, but it's the same idea. The "turning a card sideways" is not under any copyright protection, so that part is irrelevant. Only the term is arguably protected. I would simply use a term, as we have for our game, that's more thematic.

Cheers,
Joe

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Tue, 09/13/2016 - 22:26
#3
questccg
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Not 100% accurate - but close enough

The Professor wrote:
...The "turning a card sideways" is not under any copyright protection, so that part is irrelevant. Only the term is arguably protected.

Actually the "term" and the "turning a card sideways" TOGETHER are part of the patent. So that's why you can't use the term "Tap" and "place the card sideways". You just can't patent a TERM like "Tap", you must also include the usage of how that term affects the game.

According to the patent, BOTH "Tap" (turn sideways) and "Untap" (normal) are both patented terms... There's even a picture of cards turned sideways with the use of the term "Tap" and normal cards with the term "Untap".

We'll see what kind of "Magic" (lol) they will pull once their patent is over!

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Wed, 09/14/2016 - 09:30
#4
Soulfinger
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But why tap when you can

But why tap when you can slam? I, for one, hate the term, because I associate it with all of those players who tap the table with their fingers to indicate that their turn is done instead of pairing their voice with this thing called "manners."

If you'd wanted to make a game about tapping, you could have done it all along. Just issue a deck with illustrations of donkeys, because "tapping dat ass" has long been in the public domain.

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Wed, 09/14/2016 - 11:20
#5
I Will Never Gr...
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Meh

I've never cared for the term "Tap". It really doesn't work for me, in any way. The patent expiring on the use of the term tap along with turning a card sideways will have very little impact (ie: none) in my world.

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Wed, 09/14/2016 - 11:21
#6
larienna
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I thought the patent expired

I thought the patent expired in 2015.

Exhaust is a common keyword in fantasy flight games.

In my card game, I used "Engaged" to indicate a creature had been tapped for beign sent into battle.

It depends on the theme too. For fleets and ships, you could say "deployed", "Ordered" (Has recieved an order).

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Wed, 09/14/2016 - 11:36
#7
ElKobold
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it's "eXploit" in my space 4X

it's "eXploit" in my space 4X :)

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Wed, 09/14/2016 - 11:41
#8
polyobsessive
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"tap" not patented

I've been twitching as I read this, so I have to let it out...

You cannot (and Wizards did not) patent a word. "Tap" has never been patented. Patents apply to mechanisms and processes.

The text of the M:TG patent is very specific, so other games managed to use the mechanism by, for instance, not using a symbol that looked like a turned T, not specifying a 90-degree turn, and not calling it tapping, because all of that was doing things differently to the patent, but it is entirely possible that someone could have got away with copying that but being different in other ways. The patent is a bit weird, really, and I don't pretend to properly understand it, but it does not protect words.

I am pretty sure the "tap" icon is a trademark, mind, and it is entirely possible that WotC/Hasbro might consider the word "tap" in this context to be a trademark (I have no evidence for this), and those don't expire, so use the word if you wish but you *may* be getting an email.

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Wed, 09/14/2016 - 15:06
#9
questccg
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Soulfinger wrote:...If you'd

Soulfinger wrote:
...If you'd wanted to make a game about tapping, you could have done it all along. Just issue a deck with illustrations of donkeys, because "tapping dat ass" has long been in the public domain.

It's as if you read my mind! :D

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Wed, 09/14/2016 - 15:34
#10
questccg
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@Eric: I think you are

@Eric: I think you are correct. The Publication Date is Oct 17, 1995. This would mean that the Patent expired in 2015. My mistake...

@Rob: Of course you cannot patent a "word". But you can patent a "process" and in the context of the utility patent, the process is "Tap" = turning a card 90 degrees. You can see this by the last image where some cards are "Tapped" and others "Untapped".

There are more details when looking at tapping a mana card...

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