Joseph Fourestier Simpson mailed his original patent application for Skee-Ball on November 8, 1907 to Washington, DC,. Four days later, after it was routed through the complex maze of mailrooms, clerks and other officials, it finally land on the desk of one R. H. Hyatt, the acting patent examiner. Hyatt reviewed Simpson’s application in detail, and over the course of a month researched his patent claims in depth.
Simpson had filed for seven claims that included:
- The target that the ball would fall into
- The ski jump that launched the ball into the air
- The inclined alley along which the ball would travel
- The ball return
- The nets on the side to contain the ball
- The lever that actuated the scoring device
In the letter that Hyatt wrote back to Simpson on December 18, he began by telling Simpson the title of the patent needed to be changed from “Game” to “Game Apparatus” and continued describing other items that needed to be changed, for example:
“In the 5th line from the bottom of page 1, “Fig. 1″ occurs twice, and correction is required.”
He went on with an entire page about details of the documentation that needed to be fixed. And then, Hyatt rejected six of claims out of hand, and thought that the seventh might be allowable, with additional work.
In rejecting the other six claims Hyatt referenced other patents including: Bush #836,561; Rollert #660,460; Kary #754,456; Fahl #787,161 and Griebel #768,600. A close read of Hyatt’s letter shows that in Hyatt’s mind even if Simpson did fix the minor problems, the pre-existing patents invalidated his claims, therefore Simpson had no patentable invention.
Hyatt had absolutely no clue as to how revolutionary, original and compelling these features would be, especially the skee-jump and the elevated target. One can only imagine the frustration that Simpson would feel when that letter landed back on his desk.
About the author:
Thaddeus Cooper is the co-author of Seeking Redemption: The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball, a deep dive into the history of the game. You can find more information about Thaddeus, and his co-author, and their book, at: http://www.nomoreboxes.com/.
