Can I copyright a board game?

An Trebil: Depending on your game you may be able to obtain 1) a patent on it, 2) a copyright on it, and 3) a trademark on it.A patent would protect novel, obviousness functional aspects of your game. If your game included a new type of board you may be able to get a patent on that. For example, battleship may have been able to get a patent on their board game design with the pegs for different sized ships and grid layout at one point in time. Or card shuffler companies may have been able to patent their card shufflers. Copyrights protect original works of authorship. This would protect things that your write out or design, such as the layout of the board, your rules, etc. However, if someone changed the rules of your game, they would most likely not infringe.Trademarks protect your brand. The intent of trademarks is to allow consumers to know what product they are buying, coke vs. pepsi, etc....Show more