I definitely think it is important to encourage innovation in game design. Many great games are created by refining or re-imagining the mechanics from other games. However, when innovating off of an existing game mechanic, it is important not to step on the feet of the people who originally developed that mechanic. This is exactly what happened with the clones of Threes! They came out so soon after the release of the original game that no one had time to appreciate the work that the original developers put in to creating the mechanics for Threes! I think there should definitely be some way for developers who create new game mechanics to sufficiently profit from the time, effort, and capital they invested in their innovation. I do not know if a patent is the right choice for this, but if patents were used in that case I think they should have a shorter length than a traditional patent. Regardless of whether it is called a patent or something else, there should definitely be some legal way for developers to protect their new game mechanics for a couple years. After a new mechanic is created, there should be a period of at least three years in which the game that created that mechanic is the only game on the market with that mechanic. If a developer wants to use that mechanic within that time frame they have to get permission from the people who created the mechanic. That way new games can be made by innovating off of the new mechanic, but in a time frame that will not take attention away from the original developers' game in which the mechanic was created.
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