A Business Law Blog for Entrepreneurs, Startups, Venture Capital, and the Private Fund Industry.
This post is the first in a series written by Nashville attorney Shane Cortesi on patent protection.
Patents are important to companies for at least two reasons. First, patents held by the company can serve as barriers of entry in preventing competitors from introducing similar products. Second, patents held by third parties can prevent the company from introducing a product or, potentially, even entering a market altogether. [Read more…]
In this era of specialization, a startup can’t simply have one lawyer who will do all of its work. A corporate and finance lawyer may handle projects such as the company’s initial incorporation, securities offerings, loan financings, and general contracts. But many startups also need to consult with an attorney on patenting their product or business model. A corporate attorney generally will not have much knowledge on this topic (and if he does, it may be a red flag that your attorney is spreading himself a little too thin – corporate law and patent law are both complicated areas requiring in-depth specialization). How does one go about finding a patent lawyer? For one, if you already have a corporate lawyer, you can ask him for some recommendations. [Read more…]
Every now an then, one of my fellow legal bloggers writes an excellent post that I feel would be of tremendous use to my readers. Since a lot of the people who read this blog are entrepreneurs in the media and technology fields, having a basic understanding of copyright law and its implications for their business models is very important. For those of you who’d be interested in learning more about copyright law, my colleague Rick Sanders recently wrote an great piece entitled “Copyright and Digital Content: A 40,000-Feet View.” I encourage anyone whose business model relies on copyright protected work, or who face potential copyright suits (this could be just about everyone in the media and technology fields!) take a look. And of course if you are curious about the subject it’s worth a look too.
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© 2011 Alexander J. Davie — This article is for general information only. The information presented should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.