A long road to here, but no where would I rather be.

It all started with an idea that hit me while mucking stalls one day. It came out of no where, and really I've never thought of developing a game. That's what it's grown into though, a card game. From the very first day the concept hit me, I thought it would be called, "Top That!", since that might be a reaction that a player might give after submitting a really good answer. Alas, it would be a trip through intellectual property hell for me. The name Top That!, was too close to another card game, "Top That Toast", by Breaking Games. The next best thing that I could come up with was, "Beat That!", as it was along the same lines of the exclamation I was going for, but it was different enough. This time I did some dutiful research of US trademarks, and as far as I could tell, it was available... The funny thing about trademarks though is that there are international protection laws that state an entity can file in one country covered under certain treaties, and all other countries that abide by that treaty will give six months of free protection. A very kind couple from the UK ended up trademarking "Beat That!" in the UK for their game just one month before I applied for my trademark of "Beat That!" in the US. As I inferred previously, these kind folks had a legal case to take "Beat That!" in the US. I mentioned they were kind folks.... They not only kindly pointed out that they had inevitable rights to use "Beat That!", but they offered to pay for a new trademark filing, and they offered a fair amount of good advice. That said, check out "Beat That!" by Gutter Games. That leads me to the current name of my founding game, "TOP TALE". I still catch myself calling the game, "Top That!", but all in all, the name TOP TALE really does fit. The main premise of the game is telling tales anyhow. It's meant to be about true stories, so tale might infer otherwise, but you are meant to recount the best tale of whatever topic is presented. Anyhow, it's taken over a year to have a name I can legally sell product under. My trademarks are still pending publication, but you'd better believe that I've done more research that I probably needed to for vindicating the name, "TOP TALE". From here on out I'm sure it won't be sunshine and rainbows, but when backed by my lovely wife and supportive friends and family, I know that I will not fail. I know that TOP TALE will be successfully Kickstarted. Whether it's being over cocky as a Marine, or whether it is genuine confidence. All I know is that there's no other road that I'd rather be on than the one I'm on.... Wait, no I'd rather use "Top That!" and already have Kickstarted, making me a millionaire by now!!! I'll deal with it and make the best of it all the same. :) -Peter Seiler