Teuber, creator of Settlers of Catan, federally registered its name as well. For example, Hasbro has federally registered the name “Monopoly” as a trademark for its board game. Common trademarks we may think of are the logos and names for brands like Coca-Cola or Apple.īoard games can thus trademark their names, logos, or slogans, as long as they are used in commerce and serve to identify and distinguish those games from others. Company names, slogans, logos, sounds, or smells are all examples of trademarkable things. Trademarks only exist for goods or services used in commerce that serve to identify their source.
#OFFICIAL SETTLERS OF CATAN BOARD REGISTRATION#
That said, filing for federal registration does provide broader protection, like the assumption that your trademark is valid during litigation. Unlike patents, owners do not need to register for a trademark to get trademark protection. Timeless Trademarks: Protection of your game forever Additionally, obtaining patents is costly and requires filing. For example, a game that features dice rolling to have pieces move is not unique and that component would therefore not qualify for a patent. Among these requirements are that the invention must be novel and also not obvious. Patent law can protect aspects of board games, but only if the owner is able to convince the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that some part(s) of their game meet patentability requirements.
Several game owners have done this successfully, including Jenga, Chess, Scrabble, and Mouse Trap. Specifically for a board game, the creator would need to identify the patentable material – what part of the board game is new or novel and unique – before filing. Owners need to file for a patent and meet the high bar for obtaining a patent in order to have their boardgame protected, and patents only last for roughly 20 years after filing.īecause patents provide powerful protection, the bar to receiving a patent is high. Patents grant the owner the ability to exclude all others from producing the patented product for a certain period of time. Patents offer the most exclusive protection among the types of IP. Patent Protection: The greatest way to protect your game, for a short period of time The Settlers of Catan board game, photo taken by author Each one can offer different types of protection for board games. There are three major categories: patents, copyrights, and trademarks. To answer this, I decided to review each of the major areas of IP we had learned in class. So, I wondered: what type of IP law can protect boardgames? And if there are IP rights protecting boardgames, such as Settlers of Catan, does the colonist.io site violate some of the Settlers of Catan IP rights? For example, perhaps the creator of Settlers of Catan, Klaus Teuber, has some protection in the design of the game or the concept of the game itself. IP generally relates to protecting human created products, names, and expressions, and can give its owner rights to protect these. When we tend to think of IP, we might think of cool technological inventions for patents or Disney’s Mickey Mouse for copyright. During my Intellectual Property (IP) class with Professor Ho earlier this year, I wondered how IP rights extend to board games. I use a site called colonist.io, which is an offshoot, unaffiliated version of the Settlers of Catan game. I love board games and have been playing a lot of Settlers of Catan online during the pandemic. Can Intellectual Property Protect Board Games?
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