http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Mosher_Butts
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Eventually, he sold the rights to entrepreneur and game-lover James Brunot. Brunot made a few minor adjustments to the design and renamed the game "Scrabble", a word meaning "to grope frantically" [From the Dutch "Schrabben," to scrape or scratch]
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By 1952, the Brunots could no longer keep up with demand and licensed game maker Selchow and Righter to market and distribute the game.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selchow_and_Righter
In 1952 they licensed Scrabble from James Brunot, then purchased that trademark in 1972.[1]
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Selchow and Righter was purchased by Coleco Industries in 1986 for US$75 million in cash and notes.[3] In 1989 Coleco declared bankruptcy and its primary assets were purchased by Hasbro for US$85 million in cash, plus US$28 million of options.[4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasbro#Toys_and_games
Hasbro is the largest producer of board games in the world as a result of its component brands, such as Parker Brothers, Milton Bradley, Wizards of the Coast, and Avalon Hill (all acquisitions since the 1980s). As a result it has well known and top selling games such as:
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Scrabble
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrabble
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The name Scrabble is a trademark of Hasbro, Inc. in the United States and Canada and of Mattel elsewhere. Scrabble was a trademark of Murfett Regency in Australia, until 1993 when it was acquired by J. W. Spear & Sons (now a Mattel subsidiary). The game is also known as Alfapet, Funworder, Skip-A-Cross, Scramble, Spelofun, Palabras Cruzadas ("crossed words") and Word for Word.
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Nevím, asi jsem v této oblasti trochu naivní, ale až tak moc nechápu, jak lze vlastnit práva na hru jako je scrabble. Když jsme před pár lety doma ještě měli dost času na hraní, tak jsem scrabble vyrobil, jelikož ty kupované mi přišly neúměrně drahé a ne zrovna povedené. Možná, kdyby k nám ta firma poslala policii, tak by to ještě někde na půdě našli a mohli by mě také zažalovat. Ve škole jsem rovněž dost často a bez ohledu na vlastnická práva hrál pod lavicí piškvorky na vlastnoručně "vyrobené" hrací ploše. Snad se o tom vlastník práv na piškvorky nedozví...