Trademark registration question

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1

Hi all,
I’m working with a friend to a new indie game.
We are in early stage project progress state.

We’re still writing the game script. Meanwhile we’ve chosen the name and designed the logo.

Could it be useful to register both name and logo?

2

Absolutely not!

  • Publish the project first. Without it, there is no value in having it as a trademark.
  • Most indie games never get published at all. That’s not to say you won’t make it, but if the chances are this slim (it’s safe to say that it’s less than 5%) you shouldn’t do anything that’s not focused on getting your game ready to be published.
  • Registering a trademark is a serious investment of money and time. You need a lawyer with trademark registration experience or you’ll likely fail to even satisfy the formal requirements, increasing your cost or even forfeiting your application. I believe you also have to perform due diligence. That means if you happen to register a trademark very similar to an existing one you could get in trouble, including paying damages.
  • Your trademarks are protected under common law and/or copyright by default. That is good enough for the time being until your game is at least a minor hit.
3

thanks a lot for your opinion. What you said makes sense.
In your opinion, if I send a certified mail (with legal value) to my friend, where I attach the name and the logo of the game we’re working on, is it possible to use it as a proof that we’ve used such name and logo for first?

4

No because this isn’t public info.

If you publish a website with your company name and logo, then that’s a first use. But that wouldn’t matter much by itself because you also have to show commercial intent by using your mark repeatedly and consistently over time.

5

Actively keeping a trademark is a serious investment too because unlike copyrights you have to defend them or you will lose them.

6

You can register if you are serious about it, but keep in mind that you can only register a trademark up to 3 years in advance. After that you need to use your marks in commerce.
Also there is separate registration for separate geographical locations/jurisdictions.

More info (at 17 minutes mark):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eAW-7Js7NA

No one cares about your private mail. The only thing triggers your usage rights if you start using your marks in trade. So you’re selling something (tangible, non-tangible products or services) for monetary value using the trademark in question. Nothing else matters (except for registration, obviously).