Name, logo and trademarks

What's in a name?

Before players see a single screenshot, they see a name and a logo. Kai and Remy picked "Hyper Shards" and "Garden Defense" while prototyping, mostly because they sounded fun.

Now the studio sells these games, so the names are part of the business. A good name is easy to remember, easy to search for, and not already used by someone else. If another company owns a similar name, it can force us to rename, even after launch. This lesson is about choosing a name and protecting it.

Copyright and trademark

• CopyrightProtects creative work, like our code, art, music and trailers (more in the Copyright and licenses lesson). It starts automatically the moment we make the work.
• TrademarkProtects a name, logo or slogan that tells people who a product comes from, so nobody can sell a lookalike under our name.
• Names need trademarksShort names and titles usually can't be protected by copyright. Trademark law protects a game's name, but only for the kinds of products it is used on.

Two different laws protect two different things.

From weak names to strong names

Trademark offices sort names on a ladder, from weak to strong:

• Generic: the everyday word for the thing, like "Puzzle Game". Nobody can ever own it.
• Descriptive: says what the product is, like "Garden Defense". Hard to register, because every garden game needs those words.
• Suggestive: hints at the idea without saying it, like "Hyper Shards".
• Invented: a made-up word. The strongest of all, because it points to one product only.

Bolt says: Descriptive words still help search. Many studios pair a strong name with a descriptive subtitle, like "Hyper Shards: Space Shooter".

Search before you fall in love

• The storesSearch Google Play, the App Store and Steam for the name and close spellings.
• The web and trademark databasesA web search, plus free databases: the US USPTO, the EU EUIPO, and WIPO's Global Brand Database, which covers many countries.
• Domain and handlesCheck that the website address and social names are still free.

Offices refuse names that could cause confusion: names that look or sound too much like an existing mark for similar products. "Hyper Shardz" for a space game would clash with "Hyper Shards". A sock brand with the same name might not, because socks are a different kind of product.

Bolt says: Being forced to rename after launch costs players, reviews and money. Search now, not later.

™, ® and how registering works

• Pick classesProducts are sorted into numbered classes. Games usually use class 9 (software) and class 41 (entertainment). Each class costs extra.
• An examiner checksThe office compares the name with existing marks, then publishes it so others can object. The whole process takes months.
• FeesAt the time of writing, a US filing costs about US$350 per class. The EU office charges about EUR 850 for one class.

Anyone can put ™ after a name they use as a brand. It means "we claim this as our trademark". The ® symbol is only allowed after a trademark office has registered the name. Using ® too early is against the law in many countries.

Who owns it, and a logo that works small

A trademark application is a legal filing with a fee, made in the name of the owner of the business, who signs legal statements. So a parent, or the studio's company, files it together with the team.

The logo needs care too. It must still read as a tiny app icon, work in one colour, and belong to the studio. If a friend or a designer draws it, get a written agreement that the studio owns it, and only use fonts whose licence allows commercial use.

Bolt says: Name and logo sorted. Next: checking that what the AI made for us is really ours to use.