2. Holding off on a trademark would be fine, though finding a unique name _should_ (IMHO) be done at the start, and at that point I'm not seeing a big reason not to trademark.
3. The stuff on patents makes no sense (at least to me) in this context.
That said, I claim no particular expertise on this topic.
On the contrary. If the OP goes into business without any sort of company as a legal shield and anything goes wrong resulting in legal action against them, then typically everything they personally own may be at risk: house, car, savings for the kids when they go to university, the lot.
> ... and anything goes wrong resulting in legal action
> against them...
Without properly weighing the risk of a lawsuit, there's no way that we can conclude whether the risk is reasonable.
So, who might be out to sue you? To summarize an article from nolo.com [1]:
* An employee
* A landlord
* A supplier
* A customer
* Don't hire anyone
* Don't lease an office
* Don't buy goods on credit. Buy high quality goods when
you can't afford to have a problem with them.
* Have an "as is" end-user license agreement. Be very
cautious about making service quality guarantees.
Don't sell software that can cause damage or personal
injury.
[1] http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/liability-concerns-so... [2] http://startuplawyer.com/incorporation/the-when-to-incorpora...
(edit: And a nice quote from HN favorite patio11:
> Incorporation? Incorporate when you have a good
> reason to. (I still don’t, but I might do it after I
> go full-time, largely for purposes of dealing with
> Immigration.) If you’re selling B2C software, your
> number one defense against getting sued is promptly
> refunding any customer who complains, and that pretty
> decisively moots the LLC’s (oft-exaggerated) ability to
> limit your personal liability. You’ll be personally
> liable for debts from the business, but since the
> business is fundable out of your personal petty cash
> that isn’t the worst thing in the world. If sales
> collapsed tomorrow I’d be on the hook for my credit
> card bill, which runs about $1,200 a month — not a
> financial catastrophe for an employed professional,
> particularly when the business generates far more
> than that in profits well in advance of the bill
> being due. Sole proprietorship — i.e. merely
> declaring “I have a business” — is the most common
> form of business organization, by far.
)That may well be true, but for a trade-off of risking everything I own in this world vs. an hour with an accountant/lawyer who actually knows what they're talking about, it's a pretty easy decision.
Also, there are other reasons to consider setting up a formal business entity besides a possible legal shield. You may not be able to access various financial services as a private individual. It may have tax advantages. Simply keeping your personal and business finances separate from day one may save more time and money when it comes to doing your accounts than it cost to set up.
Again, I'm not saying these would necessarily be the case for the OP here. I'm just saying that based only on what we've been told here, no-one in this forum is likely to be in a position to give reliable advice, while a qualified professional who can ask the right questions in their own field of expertise and in the relevant jurisdiction could.