Viewpoint JUNE 2012 ridiculous patently


Years spent calling for China to recognise international patents appears to have borne fruit, though not as originally intended. In 15 years of attending gaming trade shows, the events that unfolded at G2E Asia rank as a unique experience.


seekinG to prosecute exhiBition staff in the criminal courts, as lt Game was pursuinG at G2e asia, with the threat of arrest, is reprehensiBle


Macau-based LT Game’s patent action against companies exhibiting live multi-player products at G2E Asia was bizarre. Court injunctions, patent claims, customs officials, judges and show organisers bounced back-and-forth between stands at the Macau show, following LT Game’s claim that it has patented ‘Live Multiple Games System’ and its Paradise Jackpot System (Baccarat Side-Bet Progressive Jackpot). Both apparently have been patented in Macau, US and PCT (Patent Cooperation


Treaty) countries. Enforcement in Macau is well documented, with Las Vegas Sands removing LT Game rival products from its floors to avoid patent litigation. However, while its rights to such a claim in Macau are dubious, the notion that LT Game has secured a patent for Live Multiple Games Systems in the US is, frankly, ridiculous. Good luck with that.


International manufacturers of multi- player products, F2 Systems,


Interblock, Alfastreet and Shuffle Master were all caught in the dispute. Shuffle Master was the only company choosing to show its full range of products at G2E Asia and for its pains spent the vast majority of the show surrounded by press, show officials, legal representatives and tarpaulin sheets. The company’s new Rapid multi-player system was the most prominently ‘unveiled’ product in gaming show history.


My understanding is that a trade show is a free-trade zone, in which goods cannot be sold directly, instead orders must be taken. To this end goods can be shipped to trade events without duty paid, as the goods are not ‘for sale,’ but for ‘exhibition-only.’ Any claim against patent infringement should be made against the company in a court, not at an exhibition, where half the products are proto-types in any case. If companies are unable to show products freely at trade shows then these events would be starved of product. Blatant copying of products should not be accepted, of which there are numerous, ironically Chinese, examples about. However, matters should be settled in the courts, and in the civil courts at that. Seeking to prosecute exhibition staff in the criminal courts, as LT Game was pursuing at G2E Asia, with the threat of arrest, is reprehensible.


The full report from the show will feature in next month’s magazine.


Lewis Pek Editor - Tel: +44 (0) 1942 879 291, Email: lewis@gamingpublishing.co.uk


John Slattery Commercial Director - Tel: +44 (0)7917 166471, Email: john@gamingpublishing.co.uk Phil Martin News Editor - Tel: +44 (0)161 236 6669 Email: phil@gamingpublishing.co.uk Karen Southall G3 Spain - Associate Editor, Email: karensouthall@gmail.com John Carroll G3 Germany, Email: carroll@carrollconsulting.de


Lisa Nichols Sub Editor, Gareth Irwin Senior Designer, Paul Jolleys Production Manager,


John Malin, David Addison, Bepi Mottes, Alexandre Rotenberg Contributors, Jennifer Pek Subscriptions Manager John Pek Commercial Administrator, Cover Image Lightemotion - Revel Casino, Atlantic City, US


For sales enquiries contact: John Slattery, Tel: +44 (0)7917 166471 - Email: john@gamingpublishing.co.uk June 2012 PAGE 4


For editorial enquiries contact: Lewis Pek, Tel: +44 (0)1942 879 291 - Email: lewis@gamingpublishing.co.uk Gaming Publishing Limited, Samson House, 457 Manchester Road, Manchester M29 7BR, UK


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