Craps Patent

Does anyone know if the game of Craps or Mini-Craps is patented, copyright, or trademarked?

Craps is pretty old, it would be like patenting hopscotch.

Craps would be way past the patent term. Wouldn't surprise me if crapless, card craps, or rapid craps had current design pats.

Quote: Mosca

Craps is pretty old, it would be like patenting hopscotch.

You know that you just compared middle-aged men to schoolgirls, right? And it pretty much works...

You can't patent the game, but you can patent table layouts and multiple rule changes.

There are a lot of gambling patents in the system. Nearly every side bet you see has a patent on it.

Craps is NOT patented - it came out in its current form around 1910, by a Philladelphia dicemaker and bookie by the name of John H. Winn, who lived until the late 1940's. He developed both the don't pass side and the place/buy bets from a commonly played form of street dice version. Prior to him, there was another dice game called Hazard that was the main Gambling Hall dice game. His adding of the don't pass /DC help fight crooked dice, since players can bet either side.

New casino games are patentable if the are developed, provably unique and not obvious, and filed before they are publicly shown and used, which would make them public domain.

Proprietary side bets - and unique modifications and rule changes to existing games - can be patented if they don't infringe prior patented modifications. Yup, these generally are now patented as a general practice, since the 1980's or so. The Craps Fire Bet is patented as such. Three card Poker, Commission-free EZ Baccarat, Lucky Ladies, Push Your luck, etc., are patented.

Perhaps the last major "basic game" that was not patented was Pai Gow poker by Fred Wolfe and Sam Terousian[spelling?]. They would have made more than $100M had they done so. They developed the game in the 80's to boost action and patronage at their Los Angeles Card room. Subsequent mods to Pai Gow poker have been copyrighted and patented as unique features.

Changes and new developments to STRATEGY PLAY METHODS for games cannot be patented, as that would be like patenting a formula or music song (not possible), - although they can be copyrighted, providing less protection.

Table layouts can be patented if they represent rule changes, or proprietary side bets, or new games.
Table Artwork and layout design THAT DO NOT can be copyrighted,
Table naming conventions and nomenclature can be Trademarked.