Why does ownership of a patent/patent application matter? A patent is a government-granted property right that can be used to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell or…
Departing Directors Board members tend to stay with companies for a relatively long time, but, like employees, sometimes it makes sense for a board member to leave. Here is what I…
Historically, private company stockholders would be expected to wait until the company went public or was acquired to receive any return on their investment. Over the last several years, however,…
What is due diligence? Due diligence is the process whereby the proposed investor in, or the proposed buyer of, your company investigates the company’s business, people, records and key documents….
For founders, moonlighting on a day job can be thorny. It isn’t lost on us that the vast majority of entrepreneurs have to start somewhere, and usually that somewhere is…
UK review by Colm Murphy The success of your new venture depends on avoiding costly and time consuming patent litigation. Mature companies often engage patent counsel to provide “freedom to…
Companies seeking to avoid employment disputes and to secure intellectual property rights to their employees’ inventions should make sure that all employees have signed confidentiality and inventions assignment agreements. These…
Generate your own version of the KISS documents here. In an effort to remove some unnecessary friction from early stage financings, a number of organizations have provided (on an “open source”…
You and your co-founders are getting your company off the ground. Everyone is excited and in perfect alignment. You have many people to be appreciative of as you launch your…
A company’s cap table is one of its most important records. It shows the ownership of the company’s stock, options and other securities, and it is key to understanding the owners’ economic…
For a general overview of the different types of business entities, see my other article Choosing the Correct Business Entity: The Basics. For a quick reference, see also the chart in our article Comparison…
Most startups offer equity participation in their company to people providing services to the company, whether as employees, consultants, advisors or otherwise (which we will call “service providers” in this…
1. Advisors Choose experienced advisors early, including attorneys and auditors. Advisors who work with the SEC and investment bankers regularly will expedite the process and help avoid glitches and delays…
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