It depends on what kind of patent. I just googled the term I had used before, and it is indeed what I expected it to be: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_patent
And yes, that name is stupid. That’s why I am happy that my native language, German, has a better distinction between “Patent” (what you described) and “Geschmacksmuster” (design patent).
About patents being public: They are. That’s because the idea behind patents is that after they expire, anyone can use them to build the technology they describe. The temporary exclusive usage rights that they offer are meant as an incentive for inventors to publish their findings. The only problem is that the legal situation did not keep up with the creativity of patent lawyers… (I will stop now, otherwise this will turn into an endless rant about how broken the patent system is.)
AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 2 months ago
Gameplay can be patented. Namco patented the mechanics of Katamari Damacy, for example.
DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
And they continue to absolutely sweet fuck all with it in the modern age…(remasters do not count,)
AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 1 month ago
They made some shitty tap-the-screen game with collectibles for the iPhone maybe 10 years ago, though the less said about it the better. My guess is that it was a fuck-you to Takahashi-san.