Funded Before It Exists: Crowdfunding, Pre-Launch Disclosure, and the Rights You Give Away by Announcing
By Casey Scott McKay ·
A crowdfunding campaign is a public disclosure of an unreleased product, made deliberately, to the widest possible audience, before anything has been filed. That single fact governs most of what follows. The domestic grace period gives twelve months and most commercially important jurisdictions give none, which means a campaign launched before filing has surrendered protection in the markets where the copies are made. This article works through the filing sequence that has to precede a campaign, the clearance the campaign content itself requires, what backers are actually buying and what the platform terms say about it, the manufacturing agreements that follow a successful raise, and the copycat problem that arrives within days of a campaign trending.
IP and Technology > IP and IT in Corporate Transactions | Article | Published 2 October 2023 - Updated 8 August 2026 | Casey Scott McKay - marksy.us
Summary. A crowdfunding campaign is a public disclosure of an unreleased product, made deliberately, to the widest possible audience, before anything has been filed. That single fact governs most of what follows. The domestic grace period gives twelve months and most commercially important jurisdictions give none, which means a campaign launched before filing has surrendered protection in the markets where copies are made. This article works through the filing sequence that must precede a campaign, the clearance the campaign content requires, what backers are buying, the manufacturing agreements that follow a raise, and the copycat problem that arrives within days.
Keywords: crowdfunding IP · pre-launch disclosure · grace period · absolute novelty · design filings before launch · campaign content clearance · backer terms · reward fulfilment · contract manufacturing · copycat listings · marketplace enforcement · provisional applications · trademark clearance timing · equity crowdfunding disclosure · campaign video rights
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