Card Game Rules Not Patentable

A federal appeals court has ruled against the patent application for a wagering card game, determining that the game’s rules are only an “abstract idea” and that the inclusion of shuffling and dealing physical playing cards falls short of an “inventive concept”. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sided with the original patent examiner, who found that “a new set of rules for playing a card game… qualifies as an abstract idea” and is therefore not eligible for a patent.

In its decision, however, the panel of judges did add:

That is not to say that all inventions in the gaming arts would be foreclosed from patent protection… We could envisage, for example, claims directed to conducting a game using a new or original deck of cards potentially surviving [review].

[via Patently-O]

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