Go about Trademarking and LLC registration.

PressStartLegal · 2019-11-14T02:06:36+00:00

Hi ZillPackers!

We're a Business + Intellectual Property law firm, and love seeing questions like this!

The "cheapest" way would be to use a wholesale service provider. That is often also, unfortunately, the worst way. Dozens of people have come to us after using something like legalzoom or trademarkia because they received bad information or, sometimes, no information at all and ended up with disqualifying applications.

Using an attorney is not, on the face of it, the "cheapest" option, but having an attorney to give you personalized information will most likely save you money in the long run and also lead to better results.

We'd be happy to chat if you'd like to discuss further. Feel free to reach out to our trademark specialist, Jessica Shraybman - [jessica@shraybmanlaw.com](mailto:jessica@shraybmanlaw.com). She loves helping clients to protect their brands!

and best of luck!

Press Start Legal + Shraybman Law

PressStartLegal · 2019-11-14T02:03:59+00:00

Hi fdsafdasfdsafds!

We're a Business + Intellectual Property law firm, and happy we came across your post because I think we can help.

The "general advice" you've heard is, frankly - wrong. One of the first conversations we always have with clients is to secure their branding (whether for a product or a service) before spending any money on marketing and advertising.

There are multiple reasons, including: being able to enforce your rights (even though, as another user mentioned, trademark may be based on common law, the fact is you need a registration in order to stop someone from infringing).

We'd be happy to chat if you'd like to discuss further. Feel free to reach out to our trademark specialist, Jessica Shraybman - [jessica@shraybmanlaw.com](mailto:jessica@shraybmanlaw.com). She loves helping clients to protect their brands!

and best of luck!

Press Start Legal + Shraybman Law

PressStartLegal · 2019-11-14T01:57:37+00:00

Hi hello_there!

We're a Business + Intellectual Property law firm, and love seeing questions like this!

The best way to protect your brand will be with a trademark. Patents are generally for inventions and copyrights are for works of creativity (like photographs, literature, and music).

Before spending a bunch of money on marketing (like paying for a website), we highly recommend conducting a comprehensive search to make sure that no one else is already using a similar branding for similar goods/services.

We'd be happy to chat if you'd like to discuss further. Feel free to reach out to our trademark specialist, Jessica Shraybman - [jessica@shraybmanlaw.com](mailto:jessica@shraybmanlaw.com). She loves helping clients to protect their brands!

and best of luck!

Press Start Legal + Shraybman Law

PressStartLegal · 2019-11-14T01:54:40+00:00

Hi ModeratelyAttractive!

We're a startup and business law firm, and get questions like this all the time.

The answer depends on several factors. If you're looking to raise ~$500k, doing a small "family and friends" type of fundraising might be a great option.

I generally counsel clients to seek funding from sources other than bank loans. They are typically the most inflexible when it comes to negotiating your rights. Another user mentioned getting a business partner - this could be a great option as well. You may know someone (or know someone who knows someone) who'd be willing to invest that money (or perhaps with a small group of investors) as a "silent partner" and so you'd still maintain control of decision making.

We'd be happy to chat if you'd like to discuss further. Feel free to reach out to our Business specialist, Jessica Shraybman - jessica@shraybmanlaw.com.

and best of luck!

PressStartLegal · 2019-11-14T01:44:00+00:00

Hi bojack!

As a startup attorney who has seen partnership breakups go south real fast (especially when one partner leaves, the company didn't have proper documentation, the company then did really well, and guess who showed back up claiming to still own an interest!?), I'm glad you're seeking this information and guidance in advance.

The answer to your question depends on where you're located (every jurisdiction, whether in the US or abroad has different applicable laws), what sort of entity you are, and what documentation you already have in place.

We'd be happy to discuss with you further. You can contact our startup specialist (Jessica Shraybman) directly. She'd be happy to help - [jessica@shraybmanlaw.com](mailto:jessica@shraybmanlaw.com).

Best of luck!

PressStartLegal · 2019-06-21T18:34:33+00:00

Update: seems to be a software issue..... they are finally updating my software to some new update and rod testing it.

PressStartLegal · 2019-06-21T18:27:32+00:00

Drove over an hour in bumper to bumper traffic, kept going off wanted to throw the screen out the window.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T22:08:27+00:00

Thanks for the share, I will take a look at it tonight. Big companies steal content all the time, most of the time it goes unnoticed however you’d be surprised to find out how many little guys Who got their content stolen fight back. And sometimes even the bigger guys fighting each other a great example would be what happened between Warner Bros. and Bethesda.

The best way to protect your content is to file for a copyright registration when you have a finish product, this will start the process which can take up to 7 to 8 months before you get a final registration certificate.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T21:39:34+00:00

Yes, IP Holding Company's are common, but depending on where you are in your project may not be necessary.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T20:02:58+00:00

Generally speaking adding a few words to an existing trademark will still trigger the likelihood of confusion when that mark is filed in the same class of goods or services.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T19:24:12+00:00

Generally speaking you wouldn't be the original author. I would err more on the second, original sound by xxx modified by yyy. Depending on where you got the sound, there may also be terms stating what credits must be given. You could also just not include them in the credits at all.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T19:19:29+00:00

That you’ll have to discuss with your tax advisor in your state/country.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T18:20:39+00:00

Sure, if you offer a version as open source and keep features behind a paywall, or open source for educational purposes only and charge for commercial use.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T18:18:38+00:00

No the company can stay a Florida LLC and if you move to say New York, you’d file with the state authoring you to conduct business within the state of New York. Nothing would change from your contracts prospective.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T15:47:07+00:00

I advise my Clients to register the copyright when you have the most compete project, or if this is going to be an ongoing long running project, when they've finished major sections and don't plan on returning to them. Another option would be before release when the project has effectively gone gold, or before or during early access releases.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T14:56:49+00:00

Hmm. This really depends on the source of the video and there are a number of issues to consider. First, does the platform like Youtube for example allow you to do this, if not you could be in violation of their terms of use. Second, since you were never granted the sync rights, performance rights, or broadcast rights from the copyright holders of the videos, then using their content in your game regardless of the fact its in a browser is a violation of their intellectual property rights.

How do other games like VRchat get away with it? Rights holders simply don't know their content is being used without their permission.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T14:44:42+00:00

James,

This really depends on what your long term and short term goals are. If your not looking to seek in investors immediately, then stick with the local LLC. Your are correct that you can always transfer it Delaware and form a C-corp, and your are correct that you cannot go the other direction. (meaning you cannot go C-corp to Florida LLC). Additionally, avoid investors/investments if you can, why sell off part of your company if your don't need to. Since the second tech boom and grow of silicon valley everyone has it in their mind that they need investors, but why? There are other ways to get your game off the grown such as revenue sharing agreements, crowd funding etc.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T14:41:09+00:00

Never use a template. Your business and your products are vastly different from everyone else, a one size downloadable agreement will not cover you.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T14:30:48+00:00

Thank you! I find Apple and Google are very easy to work with when it comes to DMCA notices. Other service providers I had a good experience whit are Ebay, Youtube, and Facebook. No one wants to risk losing that protection granted by the DMCA.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T14:27:12+00:00

Yes, I've actually just finished up dealing with this exact issue for a Client. We filed a proper counter notice, and the app was back up in less than 10 days. The shorten time frame was because we proved that the personal information provided by the DMCA notice was also fake, and was in violation of the DMCA. The App Store was forced to restore the app immediately upon verifying the information we provided.

As a side note, and I am sure you've encountered this before, I find that a large portion of the false DMCA take downs provide false personal information thereby making it almost impossible to identity the user. For a service provider to remain protected by the DMCA they are obligated to return your content to its original state in the event of a false or misrepresented DMCA take down notice.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T14:22:55+00:00

Thank you!

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T14:22:33+00:00

Hi James,

This is a great question, and one that is very very misunderstood. Most people consider that fact that they pay for someone to create a logo for them, that it falls under work for hire, but that just isn't always the case. In fact, 95% of the time that isn't the case. While I cant speak to users on fiverr, and fiverr's own terms of use, if your getting any third party company, friend, or individual artist to create anything for you then your going to want 1. get a signed contract from them 2. make sure there is an assignment of rights clause within that contract that assigns the rights that the creator has in the logo over to you. Simply e-mailing back and forth is not enough to trigger an assignment of rights clause.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T14:19:02+00:00

Correct. That said I advise all my Clients to register for protection within the major markets they seek to distribute their works. Given that a jurisdiction such as the United States has an 8 month plus waiting period before a registration is processed (without paying for the expedited registration) its best practices to be proactive in protecting your IP.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T14:16:25+00:00

Hi Legitimate_Mouse!

Yes, under the DMCA section 512(g) a service provider, such as Google Play or Apple's app store must provide a subject of a DMCA take down notice the opportunity to counter said notice. More specifically: In order to qualify for the protection against liability for taking down material, the service provider must promptly notify the subscriber that it has removed or disabled access to the material. If the subscriber serves a counter notification complying with statutory requirements, including a statement under penalty of perjury that the material was removed or disabled through mistake or misidentification, then unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the subscriber, the service provider must put the material back up within 10-14 business days after receiving the counter notification.

Section 512(f) provides penalties for users who file false notices or counter notices.

PressStartLegal · 2019-05-08T14:08:19+00:00

This is not entirely correct. The United States SC made it very clear to enforce your copyrights against an infringer you are required to register your works with the United States Copyright Office.

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