Business Startup Art & Entertainment Law Trademark & Copyright Protection Cease & Desist Notices Contract Drafting & Negotiation Commercial Debt Collection Small and medium businesses have been the backbone of this country since its inception. They are the lifeblood of America’s economy. Because my wife is an artist and small business owner, I have firsthand knowledge of the daily trials and tribulations that smaller business owners face. I have experience assisting businesses in the formation and creation of their business, negotiating, drafting and revising contracts, and the enforcement of their rights including intellectual property rights and debt collection. Below are the major areas I concentrate on regarding business law. If you’re a business owner concerned with the legal protection of your business, then please give us the opportunity to assist you by making use of this website’s Appointment tab for a confidential consultation. Or, give our office a call at (253) 517-8767 or email us at  . Business StartupOnce your business is up and running, you’ll probably be busy constantly focusing on ways to generate revenue and keep your business aloat. You won’t have time to step back and consider the potential legal ramifications associated with the dozens of decisions you make each week. A decision you make today could have dire consequences for your business one or two years from now.That’s why it’s imperative to design a business structure and system that preempts these potential legal problems. To start, you need to select the appropriate business structure (sole proprietor, Limited Liability Company, limited partnership, general partnership, etcetera) and follow any necessary formalities (filing Articles of Incorporation, obtaining tax I.D. numbers, membership agreements). Once these various formalities have been accomplished, it is important to shield your company from liability and protect your tangible and intangible assets through properly crafted tools such as user agreements, employee contracts, and sales agreements. In addition, I can help you protect your business name, through proper trademark registration at the state and federal levels (see the section titled: Trademark & Copyright Protection). Starting up a business is hard enough. I can make the process at least a bit easier for you. Please give us the opportunity to assist you by making use of this website’s Appointment tab for a confidential consultation. Or, give our office a call at (253) 517-8767 or email us at . Back to Top Art & Entertainment LawArt and entertainment fill our daily lives. Our insatiable appetite has led to an explosion of creativity, with thousands of new songs, art pieces, books, and plays being written every year. Because these creations are so unique, they deserve special attention and protection under the law. However, this uniqueness also leads to confusion about what is entitled to protection and the degree of protection that should be afforded.If you’re an artist, publisher, writer, theater, software or video game developer, or some other entity involved in the entertainment industry, I can handle your legal matters. Whether you need assistance with the drafting of a contract or negotiations, product endorsement deals, enforcement of your trademark and copyrights, or litigation please give us the opportunity to serve you. Back to Top Trademark & Copyright ProtectionYour ideas are your livelihood-- they are what make you unique; they are what help you succeed in a competitive market. If those ideas are not actively protected, you not only risk floundering in the market, you also risk losing compensation for infringement upon those ideas.Copyrights Copyright protection is a federal right that comes into being the moment an original creation has been fixed in a tangible medium (such as being drawn, written, or recorded). Put another way, copyrights protect art after the idea has been created and archived so that it can be shared with others. You do not need to register your creation with the United States Copyright office for your copyright to be enforceable. However, there are certain distinct advantages to registering your creation. First, should you ever need to enforce your rights in court via a legal suit, copyright registration creates certain presumptions, which means the burden, in most cases, is placed on the infringer to convince a court that their conduct was proper under the law. Second, the amount of damages that are awarded in a copyright infringement suit often turn on whether the creation is registered. If the creation is not registered, you can usually only pursue what we call actual damages. This forces you, as the plaintiff, to prove the amount of damages you are entitled to as it relates to the profits made from the infringement. For example, if an infringer uses your art as a basis for a popular figurine and the infringer made $5,000 off those figurines, you would be required to prove to the court exactly how much of that $5,000 you are entitled to. It may amount to only a fraction of the actual amount, because the infringer could pose such arguments as but for his unique marketing talents, none of the figurines would have ever sold. However, had the creation been registered, you would be able to seek what we call statutory damages, which are far easier to obtain and argue. Not only would the burden shift to the infringer (because of the presumptions mentioned above), but statutory damages typically lay out exactly what a infringer must pay to the victim. Whether you need assistance registering your work, protecting your work on your website through Terms of Use, enforcing your rights against an infringer through notice letters and litigation (see "Cease & Desist Notices" below), or you wish to protect your copyright in a contractual agreement (such as a licensing agreement- see "Contract Drafting & Negotiation" below) please contact our office and give us the opportunity to assist you. Back to Top Trademarks Trademarks, on the other hand, do not simply protect ideas; they protect a business’s reputation by identifying the goods it sells. Trademarks may include anything from marks, words, symbols, colors, or smells; anything that aids another person in identifying the source of the goods. Unlike copyright protection, which is strictly a federal protection, trademark protection can be sought at both the federal and state levels. Determining the best method of protection is contingent on the scope of your business. If you intend to limit your business to a particular state, perhaps federal trademark registration is unnecessary. But, with the expansion of the internet, a local business may feel the need to federally register their mark. I can help you take preventive measures to ensure your creations and marks are protected. Whether it’s registration or proactively enforcing your mark against infringers, please contact our office and give us the opportunity to assist you. Back to Top Cease & Desist Notices
A "cease and desist" notice and a DMCA notice (internet take down notice) are the primary mechanisms used to warn someone that they are infringing on the intellectual property rights of another. Typically, these letters illustrate the law that the infringer has violated and why the infringing activity needs to stop immediately; otherwise litigation may be initiated to stop the activity. |
Business Startup