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>including the shapes of the tetrominoes

Is that even possible? The shapes are simply all the geometric shapes that can be formed by a specific rule. It's not a work of art, they are derived mathematically. Anyone who comes up with the same rule will find the same set of shapes. It wasn't even an invention of Pajitnov; tetrominoes had already been used in tabletop puzzle games.



> Is that even possible?

Trademarks apply within certain markets. Namco, for instance, is the name of both a video game company and a company that makes swimming pools. Because their markets don't overlap, each can own the Namco trademark for their respective markets. Famously, the name Apple was similarly contended over by a computer company and a record company owned by the Beatles, with the settlement stipulating that the computer company not get into the music business (which settlement was broken when the computer company could afford Boies-tier lawyers).

It is certainly possible to do what The Tetris Company has done, which is to trademark the tetromino shapes as applied to the video game market, while still leaving them generic for use in mathematical puzzles, physical tabletop games, etc.


So they used trademark, not copyright? That's even stranger. Surely if I make a box for a game showing the tetromino shapes in a random configuration, that could not possibly match any existing logo or company name. That would be like owning a trademark on "Nintendo" and all the possible permutations of its letters, so I could not found a game company called "Entidonni".


Henk and Alexey want an incontestible lock on the Tetris IP, and have employed a strategy of total lawfare to defend it, claiming any form of IP -- copyright, patent, trademark -- over any aspect of the game, and using any legal tools available to enforce their ownership of said IP. This includes getting CBP to seize imports of unlicensed Tetris games, firing off DMCA takedowns, and -- doubtlessly -- venue shopping for a sympathetic judge should they actually decide to litigate.

This is why you do not clone Tetris without authorization. They have better lawyers and the will to destroy you if you do.




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