Legal Opinion
Procedure of Registering Your Company
You’ve already completed the first step to registering your company, choosing the name. I’m assuming you want to register your company as a Single-Member Limited Liability Corporation (please clarify if there are other members). In that case, your company name will be Green Horse Glass Productions, LLC. Since you want its short form to be GHG Productions, it is the name your business will have as d/b/a (doing business as). You must file an assumed name certificate with the Texas Secretary of State. Your name seems to be in compliance with Subchapter C of Texas Administrative Code.
The next thing is to find a registered agent in Texas. A registered agent can be an individual or a firm. The role of a registered agent is to receive and dispatch any form of official communication to and from your business. You can choose anyone ranging from a lawyer to an employee of your company (you mentioned you want discretion and your employees have signed NDAs). If you decide to choose an employee of your company, note that their address will become public information and that they will be required to update their physical address with the Texas Secretary of State in case they move. They will also be required to receive and dispatch all official communication to and from your company during all working days and hours. Alternatively, you can use a registered agent service firm. They charge around $300/year. You will be assured that your company’s official communication will be taken care of.
You’ll need a Certificate of Formation/Articles of Formation and an Operating Agreement for your company. The Certificate of Formation/Articles of Formation will have to be filed with the Texas Secretary of State. You can do that online. Use this link to create a SOS Account https://direct.sos.state.tx.us/acct/acct-subscribe.asp. After registering, you’ll be able to upload your Certificate of Formation/Articles of Formation. It will cost you around $300. You don’t have to file your Operating Agreement with the Texas Secretary of State.
You are required to obtain an Employer Identification Number because you have employees. It can be obtained for free using the following link https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/apply-for-an-employer-identification-number-ein-online. You can choose to use your Employer Identification Number for tax purposes. It will also help you to access banking and insurance services.
Since you’ll be registering an LLC, you should know that a company is a distinct person from the members or shareholders. This will protect you as an individual from lawsuits in case someone decides to sue your company. In case of a judgment or default, your personal assets are also protected. They will not be touched. Only assets belonging to the company may be sold or seized.
Registering Your Game
You can register your game, its assets, resources as well as future assets under trademark. The main requirement is that your game must be novel. Novelty means that nobody else has created such a game before. Your game logo must be distinct from other logos in Texas. Also, the game must be sold in Texas before filing the application. You will be required to provide three pieces of your trademark currently in use in Texas.
You will fill an application. I have attached it. You will be required to pay $50 for each class you will be registering. After submitting your application, the state examiner will check to ensure that there are no conflicting trademarks in Texas. In case of anything, the state examiner will contact you. You will have 90 days to rectify any errors. You will submit another application after correcting the errors. If there are no more issues, your trademark will be registered. You will be allowed to use the symbol ™ beside your game name. If anyone wants to use your trademark, they will have to obtain written permission from you.
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