Question
I have developed a beta version of a simple but fun gaming app. Before commercializing the app, what should I do regarding my IP in the app? What about copyright?
Answers: 2 public & 0 private
Protectable features of your gaming app may include the artwork and source code (under copyright), the name of the game (under trademark), and perhaps any sufficiently new, useful, and non-obvious inventive function of the game and its interactions with the user / computer networks (under patent). Contacting an IP attorney to help identify what assets you may protect, and how best to do so, is your first step.
Check out the website of the U.S. Copyright Office to learn how to file an application to register your copyright rights in your software code, text and any artwork or audio/video that may be part of the game.
http://www.copyright.gov
You can probably figure out how to file your own copyright applications online and they are $55 each to the USCO.
If you have any brand name or logo for your app, that can be trademark rights which you could register in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
* Note my disclaimer in my bio.
Recent questions
I sometimes see questions on forums like Quora about how to stop people stealing your invention i...
4 5386 2I am looking for useful sources on protecting copyright. I am in the process of writing a book ba...
3 6115 2What is the current wisdom on compiling news feeds on a third party website so far as copyright i...
1 3962 0This might be a silly question but I’m a bit confused by ‘prior disclosure’ as it applies to pate...
2 4823 1Do you have a question about your invention or intellectual property?
Search the questions below or post your enquiry to one of our experts via Directory.
(User questions are no longer posted publicly on this page.)