QUESTION:
I’m curious, what are typical legal fee arrangements for a bootstrapped California startup like mine.
ANSWER:
Category: Legal & IP (Page 6 of 7)
QUESTION:
I hear a lot about intellectual property, but how do I know if my startup has real intellectual property? What constitutes intellectual property and how would I present this to a potential investor?
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QUESTION:
I really like my lawyer. She is excellent, and the law firm is well respected. That said, I feel like my lawyer is overcharging me for the work done? How do I best handle this? I don’t want to ruin our relationship.
ANSWER:
QUESTION:
My partner and I no longer get along. Over the past year, we’ve built some potentially valuable intellectual property. What’s the best way to split this IP between us? Should be both have full rights to it? Neither of us wants to pay for it, and we don’t want to be in a situation where neither of us can use it. Lucky, we don’t have any investors to worry about. It’s just the two of us. Any advice?
ANSWER:
Soody Tronson
by Soody Tronson, Founder of Soody Tronson Law Group
Assignment agreements, as are commonly used in employment or consulting arrangements, attempt to address, among other things, the transfer of rights held by one party, the assignor, to another party, the assignee. Employment or consulting agreements often, either directly or indirectly, address the assignment of intellectual property (e.g., patents) developed by the employee or consultant while employed by or under contract with the Company (e.g., employer). This is of relevance since, under the US Patent laws, the inventor is the owner of the patent and every inventor has an equal, undivided interest in that patent unless and until that property (IP) interest is transferred by law (different foreign jurisdictions may have different laws). Thus, the creation of “Assignment Agreements.”
QUESTION:
As a startup, we try hard to minimize our lawyer’s time to save money. We usually spend time reviewing the legal docs in advance, so we don’t have to ask too many questions. My problem is when I come across a phrase like: “pursuant to section 141(f) of the Delaware General Corporation Law”. Where can I find out what this is about?
ANSWER:
QUESTION:
I started up a company but it didn’t take off, so we moved on to another company that’s doing well. Now I want to dissolve the older company, but it still contains assets, like computers and intellectual property, and multiple people have claim to those assets. What’s the best way to dissolve a company in this situation? Also, what happens if my partners don’t want to dissolve? What should I do then?
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QUESTION:
We have a site that offers an online service. We’d like to get other sites to promote the service and share revenue with them. What should we look out for when doing revenue sharing deals?
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QUESTION:
My startup does product development. Whenever you develop a complex piece of software for a client, there’s potential the client will be unhappy or there will be bugs in the code that cause problems. It’s impossible to completely debug anything. How do I best protect my startup from a potential lawsuit?
ANSWER:
QUESTION:
One of our founders asked, “During a negotiation, when I said I do not want to be responsible for any liability that I’m not aware of, I was told by a lawyer from the other side of the table that I cannot contract out of corporate law and I must bear the burden no matter what. But don’t companies often sign indemnification agreements with their officers and directors, promising to protect them from any liabilities?”
ANSWER:
