   My game "Tetroid" - problems with tetris ?
  Hi!I am currently working on a nearly finished mobile phone game called "Tetroid". It''s a mixture of games like tetris and arkanoid. You can have a look at screenshots at www.bytemaniac.com/game1.html.Now someone has mentioned that i will get problems because of the name of the game (sounds like "tetris" too much) and because of the game elements (blocks like tetris blocks, and building rows). I have heard that all names that end with "tris" are copyrighted, but names that start with "tetr" ?What do you think ?ThanksMcMc 
  Your game appears to be significantly different to either Tetris or Arkanoid so there should be no problem on that front.As for the name - only a proper search will reveal if that name is already copyright of someone else (for which I would assume you will need a copyright lawyer). There is one other issue regarding the name. If you use that name your game will automatically be viewed as "another tetris rip-off". Might be worth putting some effort into coming up with your own name.   Dan MarchantObscure ProductionsGame Development & Design consultant ;  Hi!I will think about changing the name.Thanks!McMc;  Check out this link:http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6,579,177.WKU.&OS=PN/6,579,177&RS=PN/6,579,177I doubt that it will affect your "invention", but maybe you''ll find it interesting anyway.;  Wow!All the tetris clones and similair games are illegal ?Is there a patent that describes the movement of objects on computer screens using input devices like buttons, joysticks ?I can''t believe that it is possible to get such patents. And it''s a relative new patent (17. Juni 2003).@obscure: the name "tetroid" is registered by a russian company ! I really have to change the name.ThanksMcMc;  I would also very much like to know what it would take to infringe on a patent like this. Obscure to the rescue please! ;  Sorry but I am not a patent lawyer and am not qualified to discuss particular patents.   Dan MarchantObscure ProductionsGame Development & Design consultant ;  Hi Obscure!But i am sure you have an opinion. It''s an interesting situation - if someone can get a patent on a game idea, it can be the end of free game development. All games use some game play variation of other games. If you can have the patent on a complete genre like FPS.... only game developers and publishers that can pay lawyers are able to make games ! If you are a small indie developer and someone thinks you copy his patent and goes to court - it''s better to play games than make ones.McMc;  As far as I know, only close tetris clones with close permutations of the name (i.e. something-tris) are illegal. Fair enough. Tetr-something, however, is public domain, because of the root "tetra" used extensively in english. I doubt there is much other copywrite issue with the falling blocks genre (just the name, as far as I know). I don''t know anything about the legal issues of arkenoid. Although, isn''t arkenoid itself a clone of breakout? And -oid is also public domain. So there shouldn''t be a problem. ;  Hi Anonym!Look at the patent Odie76 has posted:http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6,579,177.WKU.&OS=PN/6,579,177&RS=PN/6,579,177It describes exactly the way tetris is played.McMc