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Arcade cabinets and patents

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Truecade:
So I was browsing through the uspto web site today looking for some work-related material and I decided to a few arcade cabinet related searches on a whim.  I found a few interesting ones, including this. 

I didn't really have time to data mine the pending patents, but the above example got me thinking.  What if someone tried to patent the whole concept of arcade emulation based cabinets?  As phracked up as the US patent system is, it wouldn't suprise me if this actually happened.  What would be the recourse to stop a patent if some jerk tried to do this? 

Can anyone else find pending patents that might be detrimental to the home based arcade market?

Just thinking out loud.....

DannyH:
I cant believe someone is trying to patent that. I guess if it was a unique design maybe. But in the end the patent shouldnt be able to stop you from making your own cabinet. Thats like IKEA patenting TV Units.

elvis:
If someone did patent it in the US, it would only affect the US.

One of the few advantages we non-Americans have, being outside your completely rediculous patent/IP/litigation-mad country.   Although to be honest, Australia is starting to slide lately, with more and more people choosing wealth over common sense.

Outside of all that, a patent covers a particular implementation of something.  Not only that, but there must be no doubt that there was ever a pre-existing thing that did the same job.  For instance: Microsoft can patent a particular feature of the XBox, but they can't patent the idea of video game consoles in general.  Someone could patent a particular TYPE of arcade cabinet (assuming they invented it, and it had unique function and wasn't a clone of something else) but they couldn't patent ALL arcade cabinet building everywhere.

RayB:
Just think about this... If "patents" existed in the stone age, we never would have moved beyond the discovery of fire, let alone "the wheel".

xonix_digital:
It says the assignee name is Quasimoto.

http://www.quasimoto.com/

They better not patent that expensive behemoth.

-=XD=-

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