Patented board games

This will let you play the game and put your theory and abstract idea to the test. Your attorney can help you with this task. You have two options, a regular or provisional patent. A regular application will take a few years and require a more considerable upfront investment. A provisional patent is quicker and more affordable.

It also lets you begin marketing and development activities while you wait for your patent application to complete. One thing that we find almost every board game inventor forgets is to consider alternative methods of play. They focus entirely on the original method. The general requirements for patentability in a board game are threefold:. To start with, the novelty requirement ensures the game is not just a mindless copy of something else already released or a boldfaced attempt to add legal protection to a common folk game.

You can prevent unintentional similarity to other works through a patent search , best carried out by those experienced in the field. The usefulness of a board game is defined by what it intends to accomplish. Most board games intend to entertain their players, though some also have educational aspirations.

Since these aspects are usually apparent in the game's design, this test is perhaps the easiest for a board game to meet. The obviousness test requires a game to not simply serve as a slight variant on something already on the market.

Adding on a slight mechanical or thematic twist to an existing property isn't a very useful change, and patent protections intended to encourage inventiveness, will not apply in those cases. US 53, The Game of Life is an older game and the patent covering it was filed in some time during the mid 19th century.

The game still exists today, with several variants and spin-off versions and even electronic versions. This demonstrates how popular games can endure the test of time. Click here to read the entire Life Game patent. What are your thoughts on these famous board games and their patents? Leave a comment below to let us know what you think! Interested in more intellectual property? Does this article interest you? Subscribe to the LoTempio Law email newsletter to receive posts and updates just like this conveniently in your email box!

Disclaimer : This article is not intended to be legal advice and is meant to be for educational or entertainment purposes only. Please do not use the article or contents of the article without permission.

Blog , Interviews. Skip to content Menu. July 19 Each time the spinner is spun, players place the indicated limb on an open circle of that color. As players lose their balance and allow an elbow or knee to touch the mat, they are eliminated, with the winner being the last player to remain upright.

There is no tabletop gameboard, cards, or even dice. Just a very large color-coded plastic mat, and a specially designed spinner that compels players to physically interact with the mat. Thus, it would be very patentable now, as was the case in when Patent No. At the start of each turn, the tube is rotated so that an output chute at the bottom points into the section of a divided catch basin corresponding to the current player. The player then removes a single stick, with the goal of not dropping any of the marbles.

After all the marbles have dropped, the game is over, and the player with the fewest marbles in their tray wins. The gameplay of KerPlunk is built around how players interact with a specially designed physical device. Developing a unique device that is intrinsic to the game rules designed around it is an excellent means of clearing the patentability hurdles put in place by Alice and other restrictive rulings.

You have not only created a game that is patentable, but a separate physical device that is also patentable. Another consideration when developing your game is whether there are obvious alternative modes of play.

Look at the house rules that have become popular with Monopoly e.