Patent numbers

ob1 · Post by **ob1** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:27 pm

Reading viewtopic.php?p=8305#8305, I've wandered a bit around Google Patent which is a great piece of ... curiousity (I wouldn't talk about knowledge).
Anyway, here it is :
TMS9918 4243984
Sonic2 5513307
32X 5692162
Massive 32X 5471579
3DO 5596693
SuperFX 5357604
Saturn 5816921

Gerrie · Post by **Gerrie** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:40 pm

There are also some patents regarding Comix Zone, which describes the technique used to create the comics look. I can't find it right now, but I've seen it in the past.

It's very interresting because it seems you would get the source of this game if you bought the patent.

Edit: Patent number: 6010405

Eke · Post by **Eke** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 2:20 pm

TMSS:
US5796940 (BIOS ROM & Cartridge ROM mechanism)
US5155768 (VDP side / Security System description)

Menacer:
US5351969 (found by Tasco Deluxe)

Video Display Processors:
US4243984 (patent of the TMS9918/28, which SMS & Genesis VDP are derivated from, some interesting stuff about how sprites are processed).
US5793351 (patent of the TMS9918 successor, codename "AVDP", which was never released by TI but supposely "inspired" Yamaha for the design of Sega VDPs)
EP0166204A2 & EP0166966B1: Master System VDP (Yamaha/Ascii)

For the record, the Sonic 2 patent listed above has some details about the Genesis VDP internal design.

Eke · Post by **Eke** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 4:37 pm

not sure if known (just found about it)...

Mega CD patent
http://www.google.com/patents/US5437464

Mega CD region-lock
http://www.google.com/patents/USRE35839

andlabs · Post by **andlabs** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 6:11 pm

Gerrie wrote:There are also some patents regarding Comix Zone, which describes the technique used to create the comics look. I can't find it right now, but I've seen it in the past.

It's very interresting because it seems you would get the source of this game if you bought the patent.

Edit: Patent number: 6010405

Getting the patent with pat2pdf does't give me any of the game's source code... unless it's not giving me the full patent?

Chilly Willy · Post by **Chilly Willy** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 7:48 pm

andlabs wrote:
Gerrie wrote:There are also some patents regarding Comix Zone, which describes the technique used to create the comics look. I can't find it right now, but I've seen it in the past.

It's very interresting because it seems you would get the source of this game if you bought the patent.

Edit: Patent number: 6010405
Getting the patent with pat2pdf does't give me any of the game's source code... unless it's not giving me the full patent?

Software patents NEVER EVER give source code. At most, you'll see tiny snippets of pseudo-code. More usually, you get a few equations of math behind the algorithm, some hand waving on how that is done on a computer, and a general block diagram of the system it runs on. It's my major complaint about 99.9999% of software patents - there's no disclosure in a usable form. To be patentable, a patent is SUPPOSED to describe the invention in sufficient detail as to allow someone with average skills in the area to replicate the invention. Since lawyers have gotten involved, that detail has been tossed out.