Electronic CornholeTeam 7

Patent Liability AnalysisJimmy Tsao

Tom CollopyAndrew RederRyan Scheckelhoff

Patent Liability Analysis

Example 1: US 7,237,777 B2 Bag Toss Game Target Assemblies Relevant Claims Defense

Example 2: US 7,314,420 B2 Bag Tossing Game Relevant Claims Defense

US 7,237,777 B2 (granted Jul. 3, 2007) Bag Toss Game Target Assemblies

Two specific Cornhole assemblies are detailed Advantages

Free up space for set transport Use excess space inside set as storage Isolate “Cornholes” from “false positives”

Relevant Claim A bag toss game target assembly comprising:

a deck having a front end, a rear end and a top surface, wherein the deck includes at least one through-aperture dimensioned to allow a bag to pass entirely there-through; and

a base unit having

US 7,237,777 B2: Relevant Claim (Continued)

a bottom portion configured to rest on a generally horizantal surface,

a top portion configured to support the deck during game play such that the top surface of the deck is maintained at an incline with respect to the generally horizontal surface on which the bottom portion of the base unit is resting, with the front end of the deck maintained above but closer to the generally horizontal surface than the rear end of the deck, and

a storage receptacle that is covered by the deck and is thereby rendered completely inaccessible when the deck is supported by the top portion of the base unit, the storage receptacle being dimensioned sufficient to store at least two 12-ounce beverage vessels therein during game play such that said at least two 12-ounce beverage vessels are not in contact with the generally horizontal surface on which the bottom portion of the base unit is resting.

US 7,237,777 B2: Defenses

All but one clause were general enough to apply to any Cornhole set

Must find a difference with the final clause Our set has a “storage receptacle” (for storing bags) that

happens to be large enough to store “two 12-ounce beverage vessels”

It is not “completely inaccessible” during game play, only partially inaccessible

Information accessed from http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7237777.pdf

US 7,314,420 B2 (granted Jan. 1, 2008) Bag Tossing Game

Details several designs of bags for games in general Advantages

Proper filling percentage for bags A useful coloring scheme for bags

Relevant Claim A bag throwing game for a plurality of teams of players, said

game including: a target bag having at least a pair of opposite sides, said pair of opposite sides including a first opposite side and a

second opposite side,

US 7,314,420 B2: Relevant Claim (Continued)

said first opposite side having a first color and said second side having a second color with said first and second colors being distinctive of each other,

said first opposite side of said target bag having a first indicia thereon and said second opposite side of said target bag having a second indicia thereon,

said first indicia having a third color and said second indicia having a fourth color,

said third and fourth colors being distinctive from each other and from said first and second colors,

a plurality of throwing bags for each team of players, each of said throwing bags for each of said team of players having a

pair of opposite sides, said throwing bags for a first said team each having one opposite side

of said pair of opposite sides of said first color and another opposite side of said pair of opposite sides of said fourth color,

US 7,314,420 B2: Defenses

said throwing bags for a second of said team having one opposite side of said pair of opposite sides of said second color and another side of said pair of said opposite sides of said third color,

each of said throwing bags sized to obscure at least a portion of said first or second indicia of said target bag when overlying said target bag.

These design parameters are luckily very specific This patent should not apply as long as we refrain from

using indicia on our bags Information accessed from

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7314420.pdf