ForumsLegal and Insurance

There are three basic ways to protect the intellectual property associated with an on-line game:

Copyright - You would want to copyright the game itself (the code base). As a derivative of that copyright, your original background, major characters, and music/sounds would also be protected from infringement in most cases.

Patent - The technology and "mechanics" you use to design or develop your game are not protected by copyright. So if you invented or created an original design/development process that requires protection, then you would want to apply for a patent on that process (or just hold it as a trade secret).

Trademark - You would want to trademark the name of your game and any related logo or trade dress. For a game, that step may be crucial (both to ensure that you have the legal right to use the name, and to prevent someone else from using the same name on their game).

I'm not an attorney -- those are just my suggestions, not legal advice. Good luck and best wishes.

I would suggest consulting your attorney on this one. One of our clients had a similar issue and we directed him to get the perspective of his legal group. It turned out no patent was needed, however letters of authorization was issued for our client to move forward without any negative legal impact.