In the Monopoly board game, who received the 1935 U.S. patent for the modern game?

Charles Darrow received the 1935 U.S. patent associated with the modern Monopoly game.

Darrow was a heating engineer who promoted a version of the property-trading game during the 1930s. Parker Brothers began selling Monopoly in 1935, and the company acquired Darrow’s rights as the game became a commercial success. The 1935 patent is commonly cited in accounts of Monopoly’s development.

The deeper history is more complicated than the simplified inventor story. Monopoly evolved from earlier games, especially The Landlord’s Game, patented by Elizabeth Magie in 1904. Players and designers circulated related versions before Darrow’s commercial edition. Magie’s earlier work helped establish ideas such as property ownership, rent, and economic inequality.

Thus, Darrow is the answer for the 1935 patent and commercial Monopoly story, but not for the invention of every underlying concept. Ralph Anspach later created Anti-Monopoly and challenged aspects of Parker Brothers’ claims, adding another chapter to the game’s legal history.