Patent Stories

History of the Game Board

Louis Coffin's 1933 game board patent predated Monopoly and Scrabble. The full history of board games from ancient Egypt's Senet to the modern tabletop era.

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History of the Dominos

The 1883 domino patent by Richard Williams introduced color-coded dots for easier matching. Trace dominos from 12th-century China to the U.S. patent print.

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History of the Chinese Checkers

The history of Chinese checkers from its 1880s Boston origins to the 1940 U.S. patent that made the board portable, plus original patent art prints.

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History of the Chessboard

The history of chess from 6th-century India to the 1915 U.S. patent that defined the modern chessboard, plus original patent art prints for chess players.

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History of the Checkers

The history of checkers from 3000 BCE Mesopotamia to the 1923 U.S. patent that gave the game a portable folding board, plus original patent art prints.

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