CH65 - Laws

After reviewing the patents discussed by Magnavox and identifying the crux of the matter, Barbara asked the patent office staff to provide her with a copy. She then had Ethan and Evelyn accompany her back home.

As it was mealtime, Ethan made a detour to McDonald's on the way back and packed three meals. Unfortunately, neither he nor Evelyn had any appetite, and as for Barbara...

Once home, she spent the time making phone calls. Although Ethan didn't eavesdrop, Barbara didn't seem to hide anything. From her words, Ethan could gather that Barbara sought advice from friends at the Federal Patent Office, exchanged opinions with colleagues, and even communicated with her own mentor. However, these consultations failed to lift Ethan's spirits because the cold, emotionless words and hurried storm-like speech indicated one thing—they might indeed be infringing.

"Oh, damn!"

Thinking about this, Ethan arched his body, hands on his head, a look of confusion on his face.

Because he couldn't understand why the first patent for a commercial home game console in the world wasn't about home game consoles, but rather about television games and training devices?

What the hell is this!

If the patent focused on home game consoles, it would be a monopoly in the industry. However, when the patent is directed at television games, who in the world can bypass it?

Computer games?

Because monitors aren't standard TVs?

Oh, damn!

Suddenly, Ethan remembered that in his past life, after the Atari crash, there was indeed a vacuum period for game devices in the United States for quite some time. Whether it was small game companies or big players like Activision and EA, they all focused on computer games!

Could it be...

"Is it because of this patent? Allowing Magnavox to continuously fish in troubled waters?"

"Damn it! Can a single patent strangle an entire industry?"

"Oh, fuck! Are the examiners at the patent office eating shit?"

The more Ethan thought about it, the more wrong it seemed. He abruptly stood up, hands spread out, and angrily gasped, "How did this patent get approved?"

"Didn't they find it strange during the review?"

"Why is a patent that explains its own technology not protecting the technology itself, but rather the visual channel of the technology presentation? This... Aren't these people at the patent office finding it absurd?"

At this point, Ethan's lips were trembling.

Not out of anger!

No choice! Who made this patent so absurd!

"Oh, Ethan—don't be angry—although this patent seems a bit excessive, in a different perspective, isn't this actually advantageous for us?"

Looking at her brother, who was red-faced, Evelyn raised her right hand, continuously patting his back, coaxing him as if he were a pet, "The stricter the patent protection, the more advantageous it is for us because, in the end, we are here for technology..."

"If you really want to do business, we can't run our company using someone else's technology, right?"

Evelyn's words calmed Ethan down a bit. After taking a few deep breaths, he focused his gaze on Evelyn, "But now, if this patent is valid, then we really have infringed—"

Clear eyes filled with concern.

Although Evelyn knew that what Ethan said was probably correct, and the matter had likely been settled, she still smiled and said, "Oh, Ethan, don't be so pessimistic. Things haven't reached that point, have they? What if Barbara..."

However, before she could finish speaking, Barbara's voice cut in—

"Evelyn, Ethan is right. We should prepare for the worst now."

With these words, the two immediately shifted their attention to Barbara.

After hanging up the phone, she walked straight to the sofa, and sat down forcefully, as if shedding the weariness from her body. The sudden slump of her body seemed to be getting rid of fatigue, and the resigned expression on her back narrated the helplessness in her heart.

The act of tilting back and closing her eyes was a way to organize her thoughts. When she looked at the two again, her smile was filled with apologies.

"Firstly, I apologize because before addressing the copyright protection issue of 'Snake Game,' I only researched Magnavox game copyright issue and did not look into the patent rights for their game console. So, I had you apply for a temporary patent for 'Snake Game,' attempting to take advantage of the upcoming modification of copyright protection laws. At that time, it seemed feasible, but from the current perspective... you might as well apply for copyright directly..."

These words weighed heavily on Ethan and Evelyn's hearts.

Because they understood Barbara's meaning.

If they hadn't applied for a temporary patent for "Snake Game," and hadn't presented the content of "Snake Game" electronic arcade on a TV screen to the patent office, perhaps this trouble wouldn't have arisen now.

But...

Wait a minute!

Ethan furrowed his brows, shook his head, and said, "Professor Barbara, I think you don't need to take responsibility for us. Even if we directly registered the copyright for 'Snake Game' instead of applying for a temporary patent, Magnavox could still sue us."

"Because, regardless of how we protect our rights, 'Snake Game' is a game that needs to be displayed on a standard television to show the game content. As long as we sell using a standard television, it constitutes a legal infringement, right?"

"At most, the evidence would be a bit troublesome during the trial, not as simple as it is now, right?"

Although Ethan was angry, his anger did not affect his thinking.

And his words made Barbara pause for a moment, then reveal a helpless smile and nod, "Yes."

"Ethan, you are right. As long as your game display involves generating, displaying, manipulating, and using symbols or geometric graphics on the television screen, you are infringing."

This result made Ethan sigh.

And Evelyn looked puzzled, "But why?"

"Professor Barbara, isn't this patent too overbearing?"

"As long as you understand technology, you should know that the way symbols or geometric graphics are generated on a standard television screen is the same! This is fixed for standard televisions! Even if the examiners don't understand technology, they should have watched TV programs, right? All television stations transmit signals the same way! If there's a difference, how can standard televisions receive and play it?"

Evelyn's questioning made Barbara's helpless smile even more pronounced.

She stared at the girl for a while, then shifted her gaze to Ethan. Upon finding endless hope in their eyes, she shook her head and said, "Because the people at the patent office are a bunch of idiots."

"I mentioned to you before, didn't I? Magnavox had a dispute with the Copyright Office when applying for the game copyright, right?"

"But because the Copyright Office had expedited services, they didn't persist with the people at the Copyright Office."

"Then came the situation where Nolan Bushnell copied 'Pong,' and they couldn't sue."

"In this case, you've witnessed the foolishness of the Copyright Office. Now, the patent you're dealing with is the foolishness of the Patent Office."

Barbara sighed, rubbing her forehead, and continued, "I just called my friend at the Federal Patent Office. They told me that when Ralph H. Baer submitted his application for the 'Brown Box,' the predecessor of Magnavox's Odyssey, to register the patent, the patent examiners had no idea how to define this item."

"After looking at the application submitted by Professor Ralph H. Baer, they believed that the technology of displaying various images on a television set couldn't be patented because TVs already had that functionality, and TV shows were an application of this function."

"This result made Professor Ralph H. Baer very angry."

"So, he did something—directly took the Patent Office's TV and demonstrated his design to them."

"Then, the entire Patent Office was captivated by his electronic game."

"They found it interesting because it was different from previous TV shows. It added manipulation features, making 'Brown Box' pass the review."

"When determining the patent, they encountered difficulties because Professor Ralph H. Baer stated that making a separate circuit board was simple, and any engineer could mimic it. So, protecting the individual circuit diagram was meaningless. Therefore, the patent examiners at the Patent Office communicated with Professor Ralph H. Baer. When they learned that 'Brown Box' could only display games on a TV screen, they included the clause 'generating, displaying, manipulating, and using symbols or geometric graphics on a TV screen' in the patent protection."

"They thought that 'generating, displaying, manipulating, and using' these four criteria were already quite specific. But who would have thought that the TV screen prefix was the biggest problem!"

"Because at that time, there were no electronic games on the market! No electronic arcades! No home consoles!"

Speaking up to this point, Barbara slowly closed her eyes.

When this prefix, which strangled the industry, appeared, even if she was a mage, she couldn't bypass it!

As for talking about lawsuits, challenging the patent's validity?

Forget it!

Because the Patent Office brought this ridiculous registration upon itself!

If the court ruled them wrong, what if other companies thought the Patent Office's review wasn't strict enough?

Sue again? Rule again?

Then the US courts would have nothing else to do but watch companies fight over patents every day!

After all, they were in America, under the maritime legal system. The cited precedents in it were like giving judges a certain legislative power!

Even if this ridiculous registration wasn't the Patent Office's fault but rather Ralph H. Baer's excessive applications...

The court wouldn't rule the patent invalid.

Because Ralph H. Baer was in the defense industry.

From the Apollo program to military submarines, many patents were developed by him!

This scientist was a national treasure of the United States!

Not to mention excessive application for a civilian patent, even if he really wanted to make money from it, everyone would turn a blind eye!

TL Note:

The process of the birth of this patent for television games and training devices was personally described by Ralph H. Baer. In his memoir published in 2005, "The Birth of Video Games," he also mentioned the initial denial by the Patent Office and the events that followed. The US Patent Office and Copyright Office are like a pair of sleeping dragons and phoenix chicks, and companies don't trust them due to the absurd things they do.