Category: Business litigation lawyers

Businesses May Not Be Aware of the Assets They Have in Intellectual Property

There are so many advantages to owning your own business, from the flexibility of making your own schedule to making your own money and deciding what to do with the resulting profits—to the excitement of creating a business model, making products, hiring a team, and managing it all your way. The challenges can be enormous, but in the end so are the rewards. Because of this, asset protection is crucial, and this may include some ‘intangibles’ too, such as intellectual property.

If you are lucky, you may have the potential of earning an unlimited income—and depending on your business acumen you may accumulate many impressive assets in a short amount of time. Among those assets likely are at least one or two ‘pieces’ of intellectual property. For most business owners, this starts with the copyright which may be applied for to protect what are termed “expressions of art,” but may be architectural structures, software, or more. Patents may be applied for to protect complex designs and new products.

Trademarks are critical too for so many businesses as they may encompass logos, symbols to appear on letterhead and nearly everything attributed to your company, as well as service marks (a subset of trademarks) which indicate the service that you provide to the public. This type of intellectual property is usually created at the beginning as part of your company’s foundation and may be with you for the lifetime of your business.

For some, branding mechanisms maybe very simple, and you may not realize the value or the need for protection of these types of intellectual property. You are the rightful owner of your intellectual property upon its inception; however, you could be left out in the cold if a legal dispute were to erupt over its use. Imagine though if someone were to steal your logo or idea! Without the proper registration, and the help of a skilled intellectual property attorney, you could be out of luck when it comes to pursuing legal action. And when you are considering whether you even need trademarks or logos or ‘branding,’ think about how some of the most basic symbols stand behind worldwide leading companies such as Nike or McDonald’s.

The Bolender Law Firm can assist you in all intellectual property matters. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!

 

exiting

Exiting Business Partners & Confidentiality Agreements

If you have just opened a new business, you may be working with a partner—or you may have multiple business partners involved, all bolstering your business up in different ways, complementing each other with different skill sets. Some of us enter into business with a partner because we have been working on a business idea with them for years; in fact, you may have even gone to grade school or high school with your business partner and the company you now own together may have been a lifelong dream as you created a particular product or service and collaborated throughout the years to refine it.

 

You may have inherited a family business and learned to adapt to working with business partners who were already there. You may have also brought in investors or promoted employees to partners due to their impeccable level of work and personal investment in the company.

No matter your relationship, and no matter how solid or friendly it may be from the beginning, a business contract is a must. Not only will this outline the most basic details of your business partnership – from who is involved, what their titles and duties are, including financial information and profit disbursement details—but you can handle some potential planning for the future that could be difficult or awkward to handle in the moment.

Mapping out dispute resolution clauses are one great example. At the time you are writing your contract, chances are you’re not angry or put out with each other, but should conflict or issues arise, you will already have an outline for how a dispute will be handled, whether in litigation, arbitration, or mediation, along with what county to meet in, and even who will pay attorney’s fees. Beyond that, however, there are other important issues to address in a contract, such as the exit strategy. This is again, a topic that can be difficult to handle at time, so with an outline already delivered in the contract, everyone knows what to expect.

With an exit strategy, you can make plans for nearly everything—from what happens if you decide to leave the company, if you die, if you get divorced, to discussion regarding mergers, buyouts, and more. Along with that, it can be critical to the health of a business to have a confidentiality clause that ensures all trade secrets stay where they belong: at the office.

Do you need legal assistance with a partnership or business dispute? If so, contact the Bolender Law Firm. Our attorneys are experienced in representing clients in state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate level. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!

The Bolender Law Firm will advocate on behalf of clients through litigation, arbitration, or non-binding mediation. Our attorneys are experienced in representing clients in state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate level. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!

Business Disputes: Parties Are More in Control During Mediation

If you have become involved in legal disputes or business disputes with another party, the situation may be so stressful that you feel like your life is spinning out of control, consumed by conversations and concerns over the conflict, as well as worrying over pending court dates and all that could happen. In many of these cases, the tussle between everyone involved becomes little more than the urge to win—and later, many just want it all to be over.

In mediation, motivation plays a large part in the success of reaching an agreement that everyone can live with. Voluntary mediation means that the parties involved are amenable to reaching a settlement and having an open discussion about the problems at hand, even if that is not particularly easy. With the help of a neutral third-party such as the mediator—prodding the discussion along and offering encouragement and new ideas for communication during a stalemate too—those involved may find themselves not only saving money, but exorbitant amounts of time too; in fact, a legal dispute may be over in hours rather than months.

The mediation gives everyone involved in a legal dispute greater latitude, in comparison to the structure of the courtroom and the public in attendance. Mediation is confidential, unlike a courtroom setting or case—and basically the individuals involved can sit down and talk in a relaxed manner. The mediator does not decide or sway the case in any direction, and is there when help is needed for clarification, new direction, or more.

The individuals involved in the mediation can take the reins in pointing out why they are at odds, what they need from the other side, what they would agree on, and more. Working from a strong starting point, others involved can also explain their stance and move on to negotiating the finer points of a settlement. The mediator sometimes needs to step in further toward the end when the parties in dispute may have begun to grow weary or frustrated and begin to lose sight of the end goal.

In the end, the mediator draws up all the paperwork to be signed and submitted to the court. Once everyone involved has given their signatures, the document is binding, and everyone is expected to put the agreed upon resolutions into action.

The Bolender Law Firm will advocate on behalf of clients through litigation, arbitration, or non-binding mediation. Our attorneys are experienced in representing clients in state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate level. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!

partnership contracts

Partnership Contracts Can Protect the Health of a Business

In your lifetime overall, and in your life as a business owner, you will be responsible for creating, reading, authorizing, and signing a wide range of contracts, from vendor agreements to partnership contracts. Such action begins when you found your company and form your corporation, LLC, or whatever type of organization or structure you have chosen. From there it may seem as if the contracts just never stop. If for example, you are opening a restaurant, once you choose vendors, they will be showing up with a multitude of contracts to be signed. Once you have decided on a site for your business, more contracts arrive in the form of real estate or lease agreements, insurance policies, and more.

The partnership contract, however, is one of the most important. Not unlike a marriage, the person you enter a corporate relationship with could have the ability to make or break your business—and your livelihood too. Conversely, this person—or group of people—could also be the catalyst for changing your life in every way as you put a successful business model into motion, create intellectual property such as the trademark and service mark, hire a team, develop marketing to bring in the clients, and so much more.

Strong partnership contracts can protect your business from ruin, as well as helping you to know what to expect in the future as the inevitable changes will occur. On inception of your company, the partnership contract should outline who is involved in the company and in what capacity. This means including their job titles, duties, and pay—especially profit distributions and what percentage they will receive, and when. These items are some of the most important as they help fend off disagreements or resentments later about who is doing what.

The partnership agreement should also detail exit strategies. While this may seem like an awkward subject to bring up, it is highly likely that there will be changes of some sort in the future—and especially if there are multiple business partners. Developing an exit strategy while everyone is still invested and getting along allows you to create a sound plan for handling resignations, buy-out strategies, and more, to include what happens if one partner dies.

And just as important is the dispute resolution clause, again, allowing for planning before anyone has ended up in dispute. Being able to plan ahead of time means deciding on whether to use litigation, arbitration, or mediation in the event of serious issues, along with deciding where such issues will be resolved—and who will pay attorney’s fees if there are any.

The Bolender Law Firm can assist you in all intellectual property matters. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!

Trademark v Service Mark: Do I Need Both?

Intellectual property can be so confusing that many of us struggle to understand the delineation between the trademark, copyright, or patent, and all the different applications, registrations, and approvals that must be met simply to protect our branding mechanisms, our work, and our ‘artistic expressions,’ often which may have great value. The choices—and the process for registering can be complicated, which is why you should consult with an experienced attorney from the Bolender Law Firm as soon as possible.

The trademark is unusual as it also encompasses the service mark. For dynamic businesses of today participating in a world economy (and especially with the advent of the internet and online marketing and shopping), one or the other may be critical for marketing purposes. The trademark is one of the most common forms of intellectual property. Like all other types of intellectual property, it becomes yours as soon as the IP comes into existence; in other words, as soon as you create a mark designating the product that your company sells, you are in full ownership of it. Questions only arise should someone infringe on your creation, and then you are forced to ask them to cease and desist, or take further legal action.

More specifically, the service mark helps customers recognize the services that you offer—and because of the separation between the service mark and the trademark, familiarizing consumers with your products, it is completely possible that you could need both in terms of branding your company. Again, your intellectual property attorney can help you search whether or not there are other identical or extremely similar marks already out there that could cause your application to be rejected. If the mark is considered to be obscene or if it contains a symbol that could be the same or similar to that of a government seal of any sort, it may also be rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Filling out the proper applications and registration for any type of intellectual property can be arduous, sometimes expensive, and the approval process may take a long time. Because of this, you should have the help of your intellectual property attorney, who can educate you fully on the process as well as discussing your true needs in terms of IP protection.

The Bolender Law Firm can assist you in all intellectual property matters. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!

 

contract

Five Tips to Make Sure Your Contract is Airtight

While it is generally true that contracts can be broken—that usually does not occur without repercussions and sometimes severe financial and legal penalties. Walking away from obligations is never a good idea and allowing yourself to be vulnerable to the complications of a broken contract could be dangerous for both your financial standing and the health of your business overall. If you are a business owner, you will probably sign many contracts over the years—whether with employees and independent contractors, vendors, partners, or other entities.

There is little point in creating a contract, however, if is not as solid as possible. Here are five tips to achieve an airtight contract:

  1. Be serious about the finest of details – this begins with outlining everyone involved in the contract, down to any dates of expiration for a business relationship, whether that is for a contractor, vendor, or someone else or another company.
  2. If possible, include specific dates for any required payments. Finances are not a subject that should be left open to interpretation! Whether the contract is relying on you to make payments or for someone to pay you, this should never be left open to ambiguity.
  3. Add a dispute resolution clause – whether you would settle a legal dispute using litigation, arbitration, or mediation, you can outline that clearly in this part of a contract, with the potential for saving monumental headaches later. Here, you can even be specific about where dispute resolution would take place, and who would pay any possible attorney’s fees. Alternative dispute resolution like mediation is extremely popular today for business disputes, and especially when the parties involved are interested in preserving a long-standing relationship.
  4. Be clear about partnerships – outline titles, job duties, financial information and profit disbursement schedules, as well as information or agreements regarding exit strategies and what happens if a partner dies.
  5. Discuss confidentiality – while this is important for full-time employees in many cases, it may be even more so for independent contractors—no matter what amount of time they work for you. And if your work is particularly sensitive, it may be necessary to have other sign a confidentiality agreement too.

Do you need legal assistance with a partnership issue or business dispute? If so, contact the Bolender Law Firm.  Our attorneys are experienced in representing clients in state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate level. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!

 

patent

After the Patent Expires—Understanding the Public Domain

Intellectual property law is complex, and many entrepreneurs may not only feel too busy to understand IP in terms of application and registration, ownership—and ultimately, protection of the future—but they may also be intimidated by the entire process, and especially when filing a patent. No matter what though, IP is important to your own personal creations and those of your business. Intellectual property allows the global economy to thrive as invention and innovation are encouraged around the world. With your intellectual property duly protected, you also then have the free time required to focus on your business and expand research and development activity.

Patents can be extremely important for inventors, and especially valuable to a business focused on creating products and processes, for example. Dealing with a patent, and applying for one is best achieved with the help of an experienced intellectual property attorney who can help you determine what type of protection you actually need as well as searching to ensure there is not already a patent for an identical or similar invention. A skilled attorney will help you through the overall process of applying for a patent, as well as dealing with issues that may arise before you gain final approval. Getting a patent usually takes around a year or more, and you may have to jump through some hoops before you attain your goal.

But what happens if you go to all that effort, not only to bring forth innovation but then also to apply and register it, only to have your patent expires after around 20 years? While this can be good for the public domain in terms of innovations and processes that are in demand, you may be worried about what will happen once details of your invention emerge. And while you may be able to hold onto some of your trade secrets, once a patent is in the public domain that means that others have access to your prized work whether you wanted that to be the case or not.

There is also the chance that you may release your work into the public domain deliberately, allowing anyone to use it without permission—or you may release it into the public domain with restrictions on it too. None of these actions are recommended without the help of an experienced intellectual property attorney, however. The Bolender Law Firm can assist you in all intellectual property matters. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!

common errors

Avoid the Courtroom: Understanding the Most Common Errors in Business

Owning a business may be one of the most exciting endeavors you ever undertake, and undoubtedly you will make some common errors. However, it is no secret that being an entrepreneur is also full of challenges. While you have the satisfaction of knowing that you are your own boss, you can set your own hours, and can make the rules for the most part, the responsibilities can be endless. The goal is usually to create a product and keep the customer happy, but you must also consider many other behind-the-scenes issues.

Finding yourself embroiled in a lawsuit may be inevitable if you are in business for a long period of time, but there are preventative measures you can take, to include:

  • Creating partnership agreements – your partners may be people you have known for nearly your whole life and trust more than anyone else, but it is important to be realistic and realize that things could go south later, or one or more of you could opt to leave the company. It is critical to have an outline for many different details, starting with the basics such as the hierarchy of the company, responsibilities and titles, profit distribution schedules, to agreeing on what will happen if one partner wants to leave the company or passes away.
  • Protect your intellectual property – this means treating all your branding mechanisms with care, to include your trademark, service mark, and any patents your company may have created, along with any copyrights which are generally defined as expressions of art.
  • Be sure to have employees classified correctly – this is especially important in California with independent contractors, where employees may be categorized incorrectly, and the company may find themselves penalized. Also, be sure independent contractors have a solid agreement signed before they begin working for you to include the span of the project, their duties, confidentiality, and how ownership of any innovations they create while at your company are to be handled later.
  • Employee pay – this is one of the biggest reasons that businesses fall into lawsuits, as overtime may be miscalculated, a paycheck may be late, or there could be errors in accounting. Always make sure that you or your accounting team are completely on top of paying for your employees; after all: that is why they are there!

Do you need legal assistance with a partnership or business dispute? If so, contact the Bolender Law Firm. Our attorneys are experienced in representing clients in state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate level. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!

Why You Should Speak to Your Attorney About Non Compete Contracts

Most business owners are aware that their companies are only as good as their employees, but paperwork like non compete contracts are often necessary. You can have the best business model in the world and the greatest product to sell, but without an excellent team of employees to keep all the cogs in the machine spinning, there is nothing. Whether you are a new business assembling a team, or a well-established company maintaining a group of great employees and hiring intermittently, you may need to farm work out to independent contractors at times or bring them in as specialists.

Independent contractors may only be part of minor projects at times, but in other scenarios, they could be responsible for the bulk of the work in an important project, and they could also be the ones behind creating a significant intellectual property like patents. And while such creative results could be an incredible boost to your business, even opening new doors to innovation and establishing your position within an industry, it is critical to protect not only information and data surrounding your business but also whatever products are created there in exchange for payment to full-time employees or contractors.

Questions regarding how to handle hiring independent contractors are very common, and especially in California where it is vital to make sure that they are classified properly, along with following all IRS guidelines. Along with that, you should speak with an experienced business attorney from an office like the Bolender Law Firm about creating a comprehensive independent contractor’s agreement. Your attorney may create specific contracts each time depending on who you hire and the importance of the work, or they may be able to help you develop a template that you can repeatedly follow throughout the years in hiring.

The contract/agreement should outline how long they will work for you and in what capacity, pay information and any benefits offered to contractors, confidentiality regarding the company itself and any projects they are working on, details on ownership rights and a clear description of repercussions should those be violated, along with any other details regarding their time of temporary employment (although feasibly this could be years). Your attorney may also want to create a nondisclosure agreement or make amendments later.

Do you need legal assistance with a business or contract issue? If so, contact the Bolender Law Firm.  Our attorneys are experienced in representing clients in state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate level. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!

business partnerships

Business Partnerships: Do You Share the Same Future Vision?

Entering into business partnerships—and choosing the partner—can have a major impact on your business for decades to come, which is why you should share a future vision; in fact, you may not have formally chosen someone to share your company to begin with, but rather you may have worked together for years, and perhaps even before your business was started. Many business partners come up with an idea, product, or business model together, sometimes in high school or college, and work for years until they are actually able to open a company of their own.

You may spend more time with your business partner than you do your marriage partner in some cases, and at times the stakes may be high as you are forced to make serious professional and financial decisions that affect not only you and your ability to make an income, but that of your entire team of employees too. Because there will be many important decisions to be made over the years, it is important to work with someone who shares your vision.

Although you and your partner may have started a company together, and there was never any sort of selection or interviewing process, many details should be worked out as you create your business partnership contract with the help of your business attorney from an office like the Bolender Law Firm. Many of the details regarding your company vision should get worked out naturally when creating the contract, on deciding who will act as the head of the business or CEO, how profits will be paid out, how job duties will be designated, who will be in charge of the hiring and firing, and how shares will be passed on if a partner were to leave the company or to pass away unexpectedly.

A vision for the future is vital to the success of any company, so, along with many of your other employees most likely too, establish what you want to achieve in the present and in the long-term. Various business models should be created, with goals set and monitored closely. It is also critical to discuss how you want to hire employees, whether in part time or full-time capacity, or as independent contractors. You may also need to establish whether intellectual property requires registration, and how to handle such issues with contractors who could feasibly walk out the door with company designs.

While the challenges may be great, the rewards are often even greater when it comes to owning your own business. In many cases, every day is exciting, but most entrepreneurs or even large corporate owners will find themselves running into conflict at some point. Because of this, you should have a dispute resolution clause built into the business partnership contract. This can be created while everyone is still on good terms, allowing you to decide how any dispute would be decided—whether in arbitration or mediation—or litigation. You can also discuss who would be responsible for attorneys’ fees and where any proceedings will take place, in terms of the courthouse or county.

Do you need legal assistance with a partnership or business dispute? If so, contact the Bolender Law Firm. Our attorneys are experienced in representing clients in state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate level. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!