History of the board game Monopoly as a game called "Inflation", designed by Rudy Copeland and published by the Thomas Sales Co., in Fort Worth, Texas, also came to the attention of Parker Brothers management in the 1930s, after they began sales of "Monopoly". Copeland continued sales of the latter game after Parker Brothers attempted a patent lawsuit against him. Parker Brothers held the Magie and Darrow patents, but settled with Copeland rather than going to trial, since Copeland was prepared to have witnesses testify that they had played "Monopoly" before Darrow's "invention" of the game. The court settlement allowed Copeland to license Parker Brothers' patents.
Lord of the Rings (board game) Lord of the Rings (board game) Lord of the Rings is a board game based on the high fantasy novel "The Lord of the Rings" by J. R. R. Tolkien. Published in 2000 by Kosmos in Germany, Wizards of the Coast in the U.S., and Parker Brothers in the U.K., the game is designed by Reiner Knizia and features artwork by illustrator John Howe. It won a Spiel des Jahres special award for "best use of literature in a game" and in 2004 it won the Games Magazine Games 100 Honor in the Family Strategy category. A slightly revised version