On Monday 25 January 2010 4:53:59 am Parker Coates wrote:
> In this particular case, there would be no chance of someone
> successfully claiming ownership of the general concept of a
> boats-on-a-grid game, because as has been pointed out numerous times,
> the general concept predates any particular commercial offering as a
> simple pen and paper game.
> 
> Commercial versions of similar games have been available since 1890,
> but Milton's Bradley's 1967 board game was the first to use the name
> "Battleship". This particular version caught on (at least in North
> America) and became the de facto boats-on-a-grid game. As a result,
> the name spread to informal pen and paper variants which had existed
> under other names for a very long time.
> 
FWIW I used to play pen-and-paper Battleships with my father about
60 years ago, i.e. in the 1950's, however I doubt if we have much chance
of unseating the trademark at this late stage ... :-)

Cheers, Ian W.
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