I’m going to cut right to the chase, I need a bit of legal advice here.
The past few weeks I’ve been trying to come up with a company name, and I finally settled on “Cubiform Games.”
I checked the trademark database and no results were found… hurray!
Then today, I’m updating my account on Google and it finds a “Cubiform Games” for me… odd… I thought it was just a mistake, but this had “Lab.” at the end of it.
So, naturally I searched them up… and I found this:
They don’t even have a wiki page, and appear to have died (by the way the game they developed isn’t even available and Lightspeed was made in the 1990’s not 2003…).
Naturally I’m infuriated to think that the one name I actually liked and all the icons I made might go to waste… here I thought checking the trademark database would be the end-all-be-all I totally forgot about Google…
Based on the information, what do you guys think?
Is it safe to use the “Cubiform” Name?
I think it’s best you get advice from an IP lawyer on the issue, they know all about laws concerning trademarks, copyrights, patents and etc… On my personal advice, I think since the company Cubiform Lab sounds like it went out of business there is no reason to not go with calling your studio Cubiform Games. Don’t weigh too heavy on my advice though, I’m just a programmer and know very little about if using the name Cubiform would be trademark or copyright infringement.
If push comes to shove you can always change your company name. If a company does bring it up, then you can change it and probably avoid litigation.
Ideally, you should actually check if it’s considered a registered trademark in the United States, if you are determined to use it. If it is free, then you might consider formally registering it. Here’s a link for more info: Trademark FAQs | USPTO
Notice that there’s a sizable fee associated with it, and also the possibility of needing to present evidence that it is actually being used in the market on an example product.
Personally, I’d consider avoiding the situation by thinking of a different name(s) as backups. There’s always other good names out there, even if it feels like the current name one has in mind is great.
Also, you could always just use a temporary “code name” for your company during the early days and only choose and register a trademark once you’re about to ship your first product. That’s another approach to it.
Hey, thanks for the info.
The thing is, I actually checked the database and nothing was there… that’s why I was so confused.
It definitely WAS a studio, but I really couldn’t find anything on it anymore… or ever for that matter.
In light of everything, I’m going with your last suggestion. I’ll look into it more and for now I’ll just go with a proxy-name until I register.
Though, I’ll be coming up with a different one to register.
Perhaps they never even trademarked *their *Cubiform name, so, *first come first serve *- which is **you. **(I’m no expert)
Realistic possibility though. Whoever trademarks first, gets the trademark. You would have the government on your side and they wouldn’t have a trademark to contend because they never registered anyway. And it’s a 2 word company name/2 word trademark, not just the “Cubiform” part. I say your safe.
They may have been involved in creating one game in 1990 that was rated the 46th worst game of all time in 1996.
I would be very surprised if they still existed today, and obviously a company that no longer exists won’t cause you any legal troubles. Do your due diligence, but I wouldn’t expect them to cause any problems.
In your position I would probably either consult a real lawyer or simply change my name to something else.
Hi Jason, I personally thought the name options in your Poll were better sounding. I really liked Snow-Fall Games. Ultimately, its less expensive in time and money to change the name now, before you start printing up logos on websites, business cards, coffee cups and tee shirts. Good Luck.
I actually did too, but to be honest to problem was … ok this is going to sound bad… but the logo.
I really had no ideas for a distinguishing screen/icon.
I think after this though, I may return to it since it was my favorite name.
And their isn’t anyone using it.
Honestly, I’m just going to play this really safe for now, by just using “A Game By…” instead of forming a company name and what-not.
Not that I won’t in the future, its just that I’d rather be safe than sorry and my priority is to my games, not to my name.
Well that’s true… its just odd that it ever happened and here I thought I had something no one came up with.
No haha!
I actually picked “cubiform” because a cube symbolizes “truth” or “stability”… yeah I’m analytical like that.
And my game designs mainly have to do with character development… so fits.
Holy ****, they are the ones that made Lightspeed! Me and a good friend were just talking about that recently and that game was amazing back in the day on PC. I remember that one very well. I’m personally talking to legal council with a major law firm and you should do the same in regards to incorporating and making sure everything is squared away. You should consult a lawyer as there are probably a lot of factors to consider that others wouldn’t know as I doubt any of us are able to give you proper legal advice. My guess is it’s possible you would be okay but even if they are no longer in business, it’s very possible they could throw you a lawsuit for confusing their brand if they still own it. But like I said, you won’t really know until you hire proper council that can take the time to look into it and inform you on how to properly proceed. Cool name and hope you get to keep it.
Hi, it looks like everything is okay for you to do that, but I feel that I should ask you to google “Tim Langdell”.
This is a man who sued people for using the word “Edge”. There are some people out there who are complete <lawyer redacted>ing <lawyer redacted>s, who will try to <lawyer redacted> you at the drop of a hat, the utter <lawyer redacted>s.
Hopefully, Tim is a unique little snowflake, but you can never tell if there are more of that sort out there.