Magic Patent

[Trans Am]

what exactly does it cover ? the word "tap" and turning a card sideways to the right ? and building a deck from a larger pool of cards ? what else ?

[cdr]

It's trivial to google the patent. It looks like there are 60 claims, covering pretty much every possible aspect of the game.

http://www.google.com/patents?id=mtMCAAAAEBAJ&printsec=claims&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

[Malchar]

Usually, companies patent everything merely as a deterrent. If another company wants to fight over it, the actual legality will be hammered out in court.