Policy Item Patenting Policy

[Welfare Ministry]

ITEM PATENTING POLICY​

BACKGROUND
The Ministry of Welfare has lacked a streamlined method of implementing new items into the server. Up until now, implementation has solely relied on the whim and goals of the current sitting government. The Ministry of Welfare recognizes the creative ideas of our citizens and through this policy would aims to give every citizen the opportunity to see their creative ideas come to fruition.

INTENT
The goal of this policy is to allow citizens to implement their own items (after extensive review), and provide them with exclusivity to hold the recipe through patent protections for a temporary period of time before anyone else may craft it through the use of bringing it into the "Public Domain". The hope is to promote unique, specialized items that push for fun business opportunities, and allow citizens to express their creativity and be rewarded.

COST
The cost to implement an item is variable depending on the required work for implementation.
The base pricing is set at £1,200; Any additional work not listed below may incur further costs at the discretion of the Ministry of Welfare. Changes to the item may be subject to a fee depending on the requested changes. Additional pricing add-ons are displayed below.

Base Fee​
Base Fee for custom items	£1,200
Base Fee for named items	£400 for initial item £10 per subsequent copy
Asset Creation​
Item Texture	£150
Block Texture	£150 for one face £100 per subsequent face
Standard Model (including texture)	£300
Complex Model (including texture)	£600
Music Disc	£100
Mechanics​
Furniture	£400
Tool Mechanics	£300
Weapon Mechanics	£300
Wearables	£300
Edible/Drinkables	£100
Potion Effects	£100
Custom Sounds	£150
Directional	£500
GUI	Min. £600
Custom Requests	MoW discretion

*Standard or complex model
It is up to the Ministry of Welfare to determine if a model creation is standard or complex. In general, models for wearables or weapons will be considered complex due to special requirements surrounding their implementation.

REQUEST PROCESS
To get your item implemented, fill out an application with the Ministry of Welfare and wait for it to be approved or denied before continuing.


You should have a strong idea of the purpose and use of the item, along with any features that are important to its function. Information on the crafting recipe and method is also highly suggested.

If you have not already created a texture or model for your item and are not planning to create one, please provide a draft of your planned design for the department to work from. Applications that require additional texture or model work may incur additional costs as described above.

LIMITATIONS
Recipes and implementation are subject to MoW approval. Your item may be denied for any reason deemed reasonable by a Researcher, including but not limited to overpowered effects, unreasonable recipes, low-quality submissions, quantity of recent submissions, being too valuable, or lacking sufficient purpose. However, the Ministry and staff retain the final authority regarding items implemented through this process.

MUSIC DISCS
Audio files for music discs must be submitted in Noteblock Studio (.nbs) format. You will be given one music disc if your patent is approved, and additional discs may be created at any time by opening a ticket with the Ministry of Welfare. After the 90-day copyright period on the music disc has ended, the Ministry of Welfare reserves the right to provide alternative methods for acquiring the disc for all players.

RENAMED ITEMS
The Ministry of Welfare offers to rename and give custom lore to certain items. These items do not fall under the patent laws, contain no private protections, and copies are only able to be obtained through the Ministry of Welfare. Applications for these items follow the normal request process for all other custom items and pricing is listed above. The applicant is required to provide 100% of the physical item(s) to be renamed by the Ministry of Welfare.

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMERS
The Ministry of Welfare is offering a 90-day hold on items once their implementation has been completed before the ownership of the intellectual property is transferred away from the client.
The client will retain the copyright for the entire 90-day period. The copyright will be maintained by the Ministry of Welfare. Afterward, the MOW will distribute the recipe publicly, and the client will no longer be allowed to take action on any copyright-related claims to that item.

The MOW, while maintaining the copyright, will not act on copyright claims on the client's behalf, and it is up to the individual user to prosecute any breaches of their shared intellectual property.

By agreeing to have your item implemented by the Ministry of Welfare, you agree to allow the intellectual property of that item to be removed from you after 3 months.

APPLICATION STATUS
Applications are currently OPEN!

Much of this policy was copied directly from the Department of Education patenting policy in Redmont. Partial credit goes to those authors.