I hope 2019 is going well for you so far! It seems we have finally received a reprieve from the government shutdown, even though it may be temporary. Federal workers may have borne the brunt of the shutdown’s effects, but many businesses — including some of my clients — were affected as well. SBA Loans, […]
Did the Government Shutdown Affect You or Your Clients’ Businesses? Read More »
Over the past six months or so I’ve written about privacy regulations that affect many of my clients. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect in May 2018, and while it looked like regulators were slow to enforce the new regulations, recently, enforcement has taken off, and a number of companies – primarily outside
Update on Privacy Regulations – GDPR Read More »
The California Consumer Privacy Act was passed and signed into law last summer. It takes effect at the beginning of 2020. The law, as it now stands, overlaps somewhat with GDPR, but also has its own framework that contains a set of different rules and requirements – some of which are quiet stringent. Tech industry
Update on Privacy Regulations – California Consumer Privacy Act Read More »
There are recent developments in the copyright space. The U.S. Supreme Court has confirmed that copyright owners can only sue for infringement after the copyright has been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Lawsuits filed without a registration will be dismissed. (In an unrelated case, the Supreme Court also limited the types of costs that
The Supremes Rule on Copyright Issues Read More »
I’ve been asked about this often from clients in certain industries, particularly in the furniture industry: How can we stop competitors from copying our product design? Trade dress refers to protection for the totality of elements of a product – including size, shape, color or color combination, texture, graphics, etc. Trade dress is protectible if
Protecting Your Product Design Through Trade Dress and Design Patents Read More »
Regardless of what type of business you run, chances are you are entering into contracts all the time. Having a few model agreements for your company can save you a lot of time and resources in the long run. For instance, having a solid non-disclosure agreement that you can trust will give you the freedom
Get Some Template Agreements That Fit Your Business! Read More »
There is always going to be some risk. Few agreements are ironclad, but it is helpful to conduct an assessment and build an internal portfolio of model agreements, such as non-disclosure agreements, master service and sales agreements, master purchase agreements (or PO’s), website terms and conditions and privacy policies, and, when appropriate, licensing agreements. I
How Can You Start to Reduce Risk? Read More »
For many business owners, the main goal of a business is to make money for its investors or principals. Everyone wants to increase their margins – for good reason – but many are starting to ask if a successful business can do more than that. Perhaps the true aim of a business is to generate
What “Benefits” to Society Does Your Business Provide? Read More »
In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve written a lot this year about big changes to data privacy laws. This month I thought I would hone in on a particular issue: using cookies on your website. You may have noticed recently that a lot of websites have starting using a banner or a pop up feature
The Use of Cookies On Websites Read More »
Corporate policies and procedures should be updated to reflect company culture and management goals, but also to comply with changes in rules and regulations. If you run a larger business, you likely have an employee handbook. Smaller companies may not have verbose handbooks, but should still have clear policies that are communicated to all employees.
Is it time to do a check up on your key corporate policies? Read More »
