Full Tilt Cannot Patent Rush Poker, Says InstaDeal Poker Network
Per Hildebrand, the vice president and chairman (sales) of InstaDeal Poker Network, has voiced his opinion that US online poker site Full Tilt Poker’s Rush Poker is neither patentable nor exclusive. Rush Poker is a form of speed poker that is available only at Full Tilt Poker.
InstaDeal has created its own variant of Rush Poker for both online poker players as well as mobile poker players. After consulting its legal counsel, the company has concluded that Rush Poker does not have the criteria necessary for getting a patent.
Full Tilt Poker had tried patenting its Rush Poker concept in a number of global markets such as Europe, US, Canada, and Australia. The online poker site, which is quite possessive about its invention, said: “Full Tilt Poker, its affiliates, and/or its parent company will take vigorous legal action against any infringement of their patent rights.”
Hildebrand says that his lawyers have informed him that Rush Poker has almost no chance of getting a patent because, of the three criteria required to obtain a patent, Full Tilt Poker has satisfied only one. He said, “From that time on we were confident that they were never going to get a patent for it and so we felt that it was safe to start moving forward with InstaDeal.”
Stating that the 10-year application procedure for getting a patent is “ridiculous considering how quickly today’s market is moving,” Hildebrand expressed his satisfaction that Full Tilt Poker’s attempts to get a patent discouraged competitors, leaving InstaDeal free to offer a Rush Poker product before any other online poker operator got the idea.
He stated: “We are a small company that has developed a great product so we’re happy with others thinking that FTP patent applied for so long.” The rival he is referring to is PokerStars, which was planning to launch something similar to Rush Poker.
