Posted March 09, 2019 by Sketch House Games
#retrospective
There's been a lot of talk over the years about games demos, mostly about the cost effectiveness of having or not having demos, or how much having a demo helps potential buyers make more informed decisions. None of that is a factor for Monster Jaunt, however.
It took me a while to come up with the name Monster Jaunt. (Other contenders include such gems as "Drawnsters: Extra Fun Go!", "Creature Fun-forts", and "RPG: The 'P' is for Party".) Naturally, once I was comfortable with it, I wanted to secure the name as soon as possible. After all, I'd seen plenty of other indie games like Tunic or Beasts of Balance start marketing under one name and then have to switch to another, so I filed for the trademark about a year ago.
My lawyer then informed me of a fun fact: Trademarks don't just last indefinitely without being exercised; I would have to demonstrate the use of Monster Jaunt in commerce within a year (and this would already be after filing for an extension). I did not know a trademark could be submitted too early!
On the plus side, you get to try out Monster Jaunt sooner! Plus, it means that I've had to get my marketing pipeline figured out sooner than I might have otherwise, which is good.