This morning I woke to a story on Kotaku about how Crytpozoic Entertainment is being sued by Wizards of the Coast LLC for an alleged cloning of Magic: The Gathering® Card Trading Game.
WTF?
Apparently, the claim is it's a willful infringement of intellectual property rights and got me thinking about @SteemMonsters and if their trading card game would hold up in a court of law?
I'm sure and
are making Steem Monsters with the best intentions but it's always wise to ensure patents aren't breached and the legal due diligence has been signed off.
To be honest I'm not even sure if it's about the card design or card mechanics as you can see the cards in Hex don't read exactly like MTG.
So it should be interesting to follow these court proceedings to see which way it goes.
I know for sure MTG has always been protective of their trademark, intellectual property, and game system in the past. And because Steem Monsters actually makes money from the sale of these cards and potential future game, it's the sort of target MTG looks for.
Let's hope the lawsuit fails and gives Steem Monsters a legal precedent if it's ever challenged.
It's such a great idea and it'll be on the blockchain forever, so there is always that.
Now the only question I have is should I buy cards or not?
EDIT: It appears the article I read was from 2014, and I'm blaming Kotaku for misleading me :-P
Anyway, it turns out the dispute was settled out of court. - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-09-28-wizards-of-the-coast-settles-hex-lawsuit
But it doesn't make this post any less relevant to the team at @SteemMonsters.