The combination between technology and creativity

The development of any type of computer or video game (console, PC or mobile) often takes years and the costs are considerably varying. Regardless of the size of the production, if it’s a small independent indie studio or a studio with a big publisher creating a AAA game, the teams create endless of intellectual property (“IP”) and assets, irrespective of it is visible for the player or not, combining technology and creativity. With high production costs and long development timelines it is important for all players in the gaming ecosystem to secure the IP rights and that developers, publishers and distributors ensure that the success of the game is protected from clones.

IP in a game

Copyright

What can be considered intellectual property in a game? As mentioned earlier, IP of a game is not always visible for the end customer, the player. The back end of the game, the code is often one of the core valuables in the game development, the code (source and object code) is protected by copyright, just as the visuals, such as music, graphics, maps, buildings, voice-overs, game art, storyline, in-game dialogues, characters, design of boxes and websites. The copyright automatically arises when created and cannot be registered (except for a few countries, such as the US and China). The copyright exists to protect the creative and artistic expression of the game.

Trademark

Another core legal IP tool gaming companies can use is trademark rights. Trademarks can enjoy some rights unregistered but receive full legal right when registered in the relevant jurisdiction. Trademarks in a gaming company can be the name of the company or its logo, the game title or subtitle, as well as name/art of characters, to only mention a few. The trademarks are used to set the game apart from other games for the consumer. Use of real-world trademarks requires a license from the owners.

Patent and Design

Patents are rarely used by gaming companies but when used, it’s mainly for gaming hardware (connected to the consoles) or technical solutions. Patents can be registered for technical solutions for inventive game play, game design or technical innovations for software networking or database design. Speaking of the word database design, another un-used IP right by the gaming industry is design registrations, which can be used for graphical expressions such as the graphical user interface of the game.

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets is a legal tool companies can use for protecting confidential business information, such as contacts to publishers, middleware companies or developers. Besides contacts, it’s also all other relevant information what are valuable for the company, such as, algorithms, notes on game development, customer mailing lists, communities, deal terms, pricing information, development tools and licensing agreements.

In Summary

The tools you can use for control and access to the IP in a game is:

• Patents – technical solutions
• Trademarks – brand and logo etc.
• Design rights – graphical expressions
• Copyright – Source code, graphics, music, text, databases – creative expressions
• Trade secrets – Important company information that is kept secret
• Contracts – Define and control relationships and agreements
• Data – securing sensitive data

Would you like to know more?

At Bergenstråhle and Partners, the Attorneys at Law, Alva Hansson and Emelie Apéll regularly work with a range of companies (studios, publishers, etc.) in all sizes in the gaming industry, advising on how to they can secure their IP rights when developing a game. Together they have summarized a list of what to consider when developing a game and what to think of before, under and after launch, which will be released soon.

Are you a game developer or in the gaming industry and would like to get in touch with our expert on the topic? Reach out to Alva or Emelie to get to know more: alva.hansson@bergenstrahle.se and emelie.apell@bergenstrahle.se.