the fabled sixteen sided die

DesTroy · Post by **DesTroy** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 10:36 am

sean newboy wrote:The one currently out is shaped like an 8 sider,perhaps shaping another one like a 12 sider.

Looks more like a D10 to me...

sean newboy · Post by **sean newboy** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 1:19 pm

Same basic shape in both cases.

Thetian · Post by **Thetian** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 3:58 pm

Always willing to revive a dead thread.....

This site may be of interest for those of us still looking for the fabled d16.

http://www.advancinghordes.com

They also have a strange d3, d5, and a d7!!!

While you're there, don't forget to order the 'pizza topping' dice.

-mmmMikeq

Arashi · Post by **Arashi** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 4:46 pm

If anyone still cares about this particular die and how one could manufacture a D16 without infringing on anyones patents fro a number generator of 1-16, I have the perfect solution:

Like so many other types of novelty dice, all you need do is make the 1 a skull instead of a 1, or a rose, or a fist, or a....well you get the picture. As long as the numbers aren't labeled specifically 1-16 then you can get around any patent for 1-16.

Like someone smarter then me said, patents are very specific and most have some osrt of work around.

-Arashi

falconeyed · Post by **falconeyed** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 7:20 pm

No way you can patent or copyright this.

FYI ... the McDonald's coffee case was a result of a design defect in the top of the cup, which broke loose and caused the injury. It wasn't because the coffee was too hot.

Sputnik wrote:
How can you patent a geometric shape? That's like saying you could patent a D6 (ie a cube shaped object) ... I'm pretty sure there is no way to defend this.
You should know by now that in the US everything is possible...like going to McDonalds and gettings lots of money because the coffee was too hot!

Here in Europe you can't patent a die for sure, because a patent requires a technical aspect! You would have to make a design pattern or so which is of course possible for something new. No technical aspect required, it just has to be new. Look up the respective databases, and you might dig up GWs special block dice etc...GW has a lot of 'things' protected somehow, names, logos, special dice etc.

However, in the US these dice are sometimes only a part of what is called "a method of creating random numbers between X and Y", thus the method and the best mode of carrying out said method (for example a die) may be protected in form of a patent.

A little research and you get an idea why laywers are so well paid. believe me, much is possible on this field, you just have to know hot to sell your idea. Not that I know much about the US patent law in paticular, but it contains some nasty surprises for the unskilled eye.

Sputnik

Scipio_Publius · Post by **Scipio_Publius** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 7:56 pm

falconeyed wrote: FYI ... the McDonald's coffee case was a result of a design defect in the top of the cup, which broke loose and caused the injury. It wasn't because the coffee was too hot.

r u sure...I thought as a result of the case McDonalds had to put HOT in like 5 differnt languages on the cup because the coffee was too hot?

falconeyed · Post by **falconeyed** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:14 pm

The core of the suit was a product liability action. I think that McD's reaction was, among other things, to label the coffee as hot ... but the complaint was based on a defective lid.

Be that as it may ... I need a d16.

Scipio_Publius wrote:
falconeyed wrote: FYI ... the McDonald's coffee case was a result of a design defect in the top of the cup, which broke loose and caused the injury. It wasn't because the coffee was too hot.
r u sure...I thought as a result of the case McDonalds had to put HOT in like 5 differnt languages on the cup because the coffee was too hot?

Scipio_Publius · Post by **Scipio_Publius** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:26 pm

I c.

Well, I ordered them from the linked site about 6 months ago. In fact I think 3 other players in our league did too. No problems. Make the game go a little faster...no more counter bags coming out. Just flick the dice.

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:41 pm

o way you can patent or copyright this.

Which nationality are you, where do you live, and what is your job?

Do you want the patent in pdf?

Then drop me a pm...

Sputnik

lawquoter · Post by **lawquoter** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 11:02 pm

the fabled D16, I thought it was just a dream. And concerning all the old patent discussion, you can try to prosecute a patent for nearly anything, however getting the patent is tougher route. There are legal standards that our Supreme Court has delineated as far as what an applicant must prove in order to successfully prosecute the patent. I don't practice patent law, but I am familiar with the process and the standards, just pm if you'd like to know. It's long, complicated, and technical, so I'll avoid posting it here.

Chairface · Post by **Chairface** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:51 am

Has anyone done business with Advancing Hordes? They have some nice stuff!

Lahatiel · Post by **Lahatiel** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 11:21 am

Scipio_Publius wrote:
falconeyed wrote: FYI ... the McDonald's coffee case was a result of a design defect in the top of the cup, which broke loose and caused the injury. It wasn't because the coffee was too hot.
r u sure...I thought as a result of the case McDonalds had to put HOT in like 5 differnt languages on the cup because the coffee was too hot?

A friend of mine is an attorney who, it turns out, has studied that case in great detail. Before I knew of his knowledge of it, I once made an equally flippant reference to it in his presence -- example of what's wrong with our legal system, that sort of thing -- and got a lengthy lecture on it in return.

I'll skip the details too, most of which I don't actually recall in depth anymore, but suffice it to say the Falc's right, in that I learned the case was about much, much more than just hot-hot coffee. And as for the size of the punitive award, it turns out to have been set so high to punish McDonalds for having acted cavalier and above-the-law in ignoring many similar, previous incidents before the one which actually made the news when it all finally caught up with them.
------

Oh, and to stay slightly on topic: I just roll a d6 and a d8 together -- if the d6 comes up 1-3, then the d8 is on slots 1-8; and if the d6 is 4-6, then the d8 is on slots 9-16. Just as fast, no bother with counters, and no extra money spent.

Scipio_Publius · Post by **Scipio_Publius** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 3:43 pm

I think the news (in my area at least) spun it as because the coffee was hot. It seems the news tends too exagerate, distort, or misrepresent stories in their headlines a lot.

Pretty much all I got to on that story was the headline. Still the settlement seemed excessive...even for a faulty cup and a cavalier attitude. Wow if they punished some of us for our attitudes we might not see the light of day.

At least I get to learn how to spell Hot in 5 languages on the rare occassions I visit McDonald's though.

Lahatiel · Post by **Lahatiel** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 12:53 am

Again, it probably does seem excessive onn the surface, but we're talking -- from what I've now been told -- literallys thousands of people who'd previously suffered similar injuries due to McDonalds negligence, and received nothing at all. So the size of the award was meant to punish McDonalds, rather than to reward that particular victim, necessarily, and when you're talking about such a loarge corporation with so much many, the only way they'll even notice they're being punished is to make the amount an outrageous one.

Again, I'm not saying the outcome was right or wrong, even in light of the new facts. I'm just sharing what I learned from someone who was actually in a position to know, since I used to look at the case the same way you did based on the (limited and biased, apparently) information that I, too, got from the media.

falconeyed · Post by **falconeyed** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 1:32 am

Lahatiel wrote:
Scipio_Publius wrote:
falconeyed wrote: FYI ... the McDonald's coffee case was a result of a design defect in the top of the cup, which broke loose and caused the injury. It wasn't because the coffee was too hot.
r u sure...I thought as a result of the case McDonalds had to put HOT in like 5 differnt languages on the cup because the coffee was too hot?
A friend of mine is an attorney who, it turns out, has studied that case in great detail. Before I knew of his knowledge of it, I once made an equally flippant reference to it in his presence -- example of what's wrong with our legal system, that sort of thing -- and got a lengthy lecture on it in return.

I'll skip the details too, most of which I don't actually recall in depth anymore, but suffice it to say the Falc's right, in that I learned the case was about much, much more than just hot-hot coffee. And as for the size of the punitive award, it turns out to have been set so high to punish McDonalds for having acted cavalier and above-the-law in ignoring many similar, previous incidents before the one which actually made the news when it all finally caught up with them.
------

Oh, and to stay slightly on topic: I just roll a d6 and a d8 together -- if the d6 comes up 1-3, then the d8 is on slots 1-8; and if the d6 is 4-6, then the d8 is on slots 9-16. Just as fast, no bother with counters, and no extra money spent.

God bless punitive damages.

Back on point (or is the d16 off point now?) ... a guy in my league has the fabled d16. I swear, it's like looking at a 4 leaf clover.