[mnarayan01]

1. The OP gives no indication (AFAICT) that he is judgement proof as an individual. Incorporation to avoid liability is thus plausible, though obviously he would have to balance the likelihood of his getting sued against the hassle of incorporating. Additionally, as a non-lawyer, I'm not sure it would be a good idea to try incorporating _after_ gaining assets from the venture: it seems like a recipe for trouble if he had to go to court.

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.