Read Part 10

Simpson received Townsend’s letter of April 20, 1908 and seems to have been stunned into silence.

Whether he perceived Townsend’s attempt at humor it was clear that claim 1 was not going to be granted no matter what he did to try and rewrite it. Townsend was not having it.

Simpson had started the patent process back in November 1907 with great hope and seven claims:

1. In a game apparatus, in combination, a board along which a projectile is adapted to travel, an obstruction upon said board for causing said projectile to be projected into the tair in a direction which will be a continuation of its original movement, and a target in the line of the trajectory of said projectile.
2. In a game apparatus, in combination, a board along which a projectile is adapted to travel, an obstruction for trajecting said projectile, and a perforated target in the line of the trajectory of said projectile.
3. In a game apparatus, in combination, a board along which a ball is adapted to be rolled, an obstruction for trajecting said ball, a target in the line of the trajectory of the ball, and an inclined base or floor for returning the ball to the player after it has been played.
4. In a game apparatus, in combination, a board along which a ball is adapted to be rolled, an obstruction for trajecting said ball, a target in the line of the trajectory of said ball, and an indicator for showing the part of said target engaged by the ball.
5. In a game apparatus, in combination, a board along which a projectile is adapted to travel, an obstruction for trajecting said projectile, a target in the line of the trajectory of said projectile, screens for limiting side movements of said projectile, and an inclined base for returning said projectile to the player.
6. In a game apparatus, in combination, a board along which said ball is adapted to be rolled, an obstruction for trajecting said ball, inclined gutters to the sides of said board, an inclined base to the rear of and leading to said gutters, a target, and screens for limiting side movements of said ball.
7. In a game apparatus, in combination, a board along which a projectile is adapted to be rolled, an obstruction for trajecting said projectile, a perforated taget in the line of the trajectory of said projectiles, pivoted levers connected with said perforations adapted to be engaged and depressed by the projectile after passing through said perforations, and an indicating device adapted to be operated by the movement of said levers.

By April 1908, those claims were whittled away at until Simpson only had two claims left, The ski jump obstruction, and the lever in the target to register the score.:

1. In a game apparatus, in combination, a board along which a projectile is adapted to travel, an apertured target at the rear of and above said board, in front of and spaced from said target, adapted to cause said ball to leave said board and continue its flight towards said target in the air.
2. In a game apparatus, in combination, a board along which a projectile is adapted to be rolled, an obstruction for trajecting said projectile, an elevated apertured target at the rear of and spaced from said obstruction, pivoted levers arranged in said apertures adapted to be engaged and operated by the projectile after passing through said apertures, and an indicating device adapted to be operated by the movement of said levers.

It is reasonable to believe that Simpson would be angry and depressed at this point. It was clear that the Patent Office did not understand the brilliance of the invention and how all the pieces fit together to make a game that would fascinate players. And, it was even more obvious that he was not going to be able to change their minds, no matter how adamant he was.

Simpson finally came to terms with the situation and decided a patent with some form of protection was better than no patent and he finally gave up. He wrote his response on May 4, 1908, stating:

Sir:-

In the matter of my application for patent on Game No 401,786, filed November 12, 1907 and in answer to Examiners [sic] letter dated April 20, 1908, I hereby amend my specification by striking out Claim 1.

Very respectfully

Joseph F. Simpson

And once again, Joseph Fourestier Simpson waited.

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/.