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On April 11, 1933, U.S. Patent No.: 1,903,661 issued to William Henry Storey for an "Appliance for Playing Games". The patent was for the popular game Sorry, which is now, more emphatically called Sorry! The Sorry game was based on the medieval Indian game, Pachisi, but had some unique features that enabled players to better impede the progress of their opponents, causing them to disingenuously exclaim "sorry" when doing so. Hence, the name of the game.
Not much is known about Storey, except that he was an engineer, who lived in Southend-on-Sea, England. It appears that, at least initially, Storey was involved in printing, since he was issued a number of patents for inventions related to printing and rotary printing presses. Later, he was issued patents for several electrical inventions. Based on Storey's patents and several articles he wrote in trade journals, it is clear that Storey was a skilled engineer, who was well-versed in both mechanics and electricity.
In September of 1929, Storey filed a patent application for his Sorry game in Great Britain and less than a year later filed the patent application for the '661 patent in the U.S. Storey also filed trademark applications for "Sorry" in both Great Britain and the U.S.
The Sorry game was initially manufactured and sold by Storey's company, W.H Storey & Co. Ltd. of Croydon, England. The company sold several other games that were ostensibly invented by Storey, namely a card game called "Whot" and a board game called "Plus and Minus". In addition to games, the W.H. Storey & Co. also sold a cutting board, of the type commonly used by graphic designers. A patent application for the cutting board was filed by Storey in 1948.
In 1934, Storey ostensibly licensed the British rights to the Sorry game to the British game manufacturer, Waddingtons, who then started selling the game in Great Britain. In that same year, Storey sold the U.S. rights to the Sorry game to Parker Brothers for $25,000. Sorry! is still sold by Hasbro, Inc., which purchased the remnants of Parker Brothers in 1991.
Not much is known about Storey, except that he was an engineer, who lived in Southend-on-Sea, England. It appears that, at least initially, Storey was involved in printing, since he was issued a number of patents for inventions related to printing and rotary printing presses. Later, he was issued patents for several electrical inventions. Based on Storey's patents and several articles he wrote in trade journals, it is clear that Storey was a skilled engineer, who was well-versed in both mechanics and electricity.
In September of 1929, Storey filed a patent application for his Sorry game in Great Britain and less than a year later filed the patent application for the '661 patent in the U.S. Storey also filed trademark applications for "Sorry" in both Great Britain and the U.S.
The Sorry game was initially manufactured and sold by Storey's company, W.H Storey & Co. Ltd. of Croydon, England. The company sold several other games that were ostensibly invented by Storey, namely a card game called "Whot" and a board game called "Plus and Minus". In addition to games, the W.H. Storey & Co. also sold a cutting board, of the type commonly used by graphic designers. A patent application for the cutting board was filed by Storey in 1948.
In 1934, Storey ostensibly licensed the British rights to the Sorry game to the British game manufacturer, Waddingtons, who then started selling the game in Great Britain. In that same year, Storey sold the U.S. rights to the Sorry game to Parker Brothers for $25,000. Sorry! is still sold by Hasbro, Inc., which purchased the remnants of Parker Brothers in 1991.
