Game Blotter - A roundup of crimes, legal cases, and when "the law" gets involved with gamesThree men with axes attacked players in a Mahjong parlor in Xinjiang, China. The Mahjong players fought back and detained the assailants for police. Two of the attackers later died (from what has not been revealed), while the third confessed to pursuing the attack as a “holy war“. Video of the attack is available on YouTube.

Hasbro vs. Sweetpea (for claims over rights to make a Dungeons & Dragons movie) is going to trial. A date of September 16th has been set.

Someone is attempting to patent “a method of transforming a virtual entity from a first game to be useable in a second game” (US 13/567,629). This doesn’t sit well with others, who claim that such processes have been common in roleplaying games for years.

A website run by Ignatius Long, a supporter of Garry Kasparov for FIDE President, has reported allegations that the administration of the incumbent president is improperly registering the representatives of national Chess federations based on whom the individual supports in the campaign.

A recent update to the FIDE Laws of Chess (tournament rules) means that a player that brings a mobile phone anywhere in to the playing venue will be declared the loser of his game.

Three Americans in Mexico were hospitalized after allegedly becoming possessed by evil spirits while playing Ouija.

At the Cannes Film Festival, actress Pamela Anderson opened a charity Backgammon event that she organized by revealing that she was raped during a Backgammon game at 12 years of age.

Snohomish, Washington is preparing to make it legal for people to bet on card games but only where the venue has acquired a license and collects a 10 percent tax from participants.

Dominoes violence reared its ugly head in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where one man stabbed another in the back three times because he was upset over losing a game.

Either Hasbro is claiming rights to the term “Brony“, which is used for adult fans of My Little Pony, or Zazzle is doing so on their behalf.

Prison officials in Hong Kong have confiscated mahjong tiles, poker cards, dice, and chess pieces crafted by inmates from bread and other unusual materials. The officials were concerned that the game components were being used for gambling.

The latest move in a 2-year suit over the licensing of The Hobbit gambling games, sees Warner Bros. seeking to have the Tolkien estate’s attorneys disqualified.

Someone has been breaking in to toy stores in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia to steal Lego sets and then sell them for parts online.

In Kampong Cham, Cambodia, a killer remains at-large after beating to death the friend that gave him a ride to a dice game.

A Chicago man exonerated by DNA evidence after serving 32 years in prison is now facing a new murder charge, this time for allegedly shooting and stabbing someone over money lost in a dice game.

The national Chess champion of Guyana was arrested for assault with intent to rob.

The High Court of Bangladesh has declared Nipon Khela and Howji (dice games) to be gambling and therefore illegal.

A federal circuit court has affirmed a lower court invalidation of the Hide-N-Seek Hayley doll patent, siding with Jakks Pacific’s position that the doll’s interactive locator feature is obvious.

A federal court judge has refused to grant an injunction against NECA/WizKids’ acquisition of retailer Hastings. Finding that the issue could be resolved later with monetary damages, the judge allowed both the lawsuit by a group of Hastings shareholders and the sale to prooceed.

When police broke up a dice game at the Youtefa market in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia, violence erupted, resulting in the death of one officer and three civilians. Though the police have 23 suspects in custody, the dead officer’s rifle is still missing.

Police in Middlesex, Pennsylvania are warning the public not to wager against people running card games at truck stops. They say it’s a scam.

Five people were shot, one of them killed, at a dice game in Atlanta.

An Oakland, California man received a sentence of 15 years-to-life for killing another man in 2013, when the latter refused to pay up on $5 lost during a dice game.

In Racine, Wisconsin, a jury has convicted a man for a 2005 triple-homicide sparked by a rigged dice game.