If we look at the original INPADOC application listing you can check the legal status and you will find that the code give is PRS 18. The text of such code gives different reasons and we cannot keep guessing. Mr. Trice and his legal representative in Europe are the only ones who know. The point in this is that the European patent has not yet been awarded.

The patent in the USA is available at the United States Patent and Trade Mark Office. That patent's legal status is "awarded" and it was reviewed by two examiners.

In fairness to Mr. Trice, regardless of how much some people dislike the fact that the patent exists, he is not the first person to patent a chess variant. The examiners of his patent in the US saw enough originality and merit to award the patent to him.

As I mentioned below, member states of the WTO are suppossed to respect the patents under the TRIPS agreement. There is also a Patent Law Treaty which seeks to harmonize patent law across members of the WTO that have agreed to the treaty.

Of course, all these international treaties and agreements are useless unless countries make specific provisions in their own laws to enforce patent rights given in others countries. This leaves many grey areas in the law because at this time enforcement is soft. For example, the Gothic chess patent is protected in the USA. Does that mean that it is protected outside the USA? What about a website that offers the game worldwide? Maybe the website breaks the law in the USA, but what about other countries? These are issues that only judges in courts of law can resolve.

I mention these laws and agreements because I really like this website and the last thing I want to see is Fencer get into trouble and having him spend his money in legal fees. He already suffers enough with players opening multiple Pawn accounts or players not getting enough Rook memberships.

Many of players enjoy Gothic chess and many players want to see the game stay here. However, for Fencer having to deal with all the bickering and arguing is tiring too. I suggest we let the matter rest. Mr. Trice has a patent in the USA and while the patent is there, it is for him to decide what he does with it. It is also for Fencer to decide what he keeps in Brain King.

If some people are sad to see Gothic chess go, remember that there is about 50 other games you can play, plus other variants that Fencer could introduce in the future.