Category Archives: Articles
7 Myths About Incorporation for Small & Medium Enterprises
Incorporating Is The Only Way to Shield My Assets If There Is a Catastrophe. Starting a small business has its risks. It takes a lot of work, there are lots of long nights, and it needs a lot of resources, which leads to a lot of worries. What if the product somehow goes wrong, making […]
A Tilted Playing Field: Copyright Infringement and Attorneys’ Fees
In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread. […]
New Obligations to Defend Your Trade Secrets
On Wednesday, May 11, 2016, President Obama signed into law the “Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016,” which provides an extraordinarily strong civil seizure provision – and an important notice requirement to employees, contractors and consultants that all employers who even think they have trade secrets should add to their contracts and employee handbooks. This […]
New Employment Laws for 2016
There were new developments in California employment law that every business owner needs to know. Minimum Wage. Most already know that California raised the minimum wage to $10 per hour as of the beginning of the year. However, some local jurisdictions have raised it even higher: Oakland, for example, has raised the minimum wage in the […]
Dive On In, Justice Thomas!
by: Andrew K Jacobson On February 1st, the New York Times published “It’s Been 10 Years. Would Clarence Thomas Like to Add Anything?”, about the impending anniversary of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ last question to a lawyer appearing before the highest court in the land. Justice Thomas says that he wants to give counsel […]
PreIssuance Submissions
— Third Party Challenges to Pending Patent Applications — — New Procedure Under the America Invents Act — By: Sharon Adams November 14, 2014 One addition to U.S. patent law provided by the American Invents Act is the ability for a third party to challenge a pending patent application. See, 35 […]
Call of Duty — to Protect the Right of Publicity?
By: Sharon Adams Oct. 23, 2014 The recent case of Noriega v. Activision Blizzard presents the question: Does infamy give rise to the right of publicity? Manuel Noriega, the former Panamanian dictator, filed suit against Activision Blizzard, Inc. in July of this year, claiming that Activision’s use of his image […]
California’s New Mandatory Paid Sick Leave Law
By Daniel Richardson Beginning July 1, 2015, nearly all California employers will be required to provide full-time and part-time employees with a minimum of three days of paid sick leave per year. The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, signed into law by Governor Brown on […]
Obtaining ® For Your Trademark – Classification is Crucial – New Trademark Guidelines Regarding Service Mark Classification
By: Sharon Adams Every trademark application must identify the exact mark, and the goods or services that are associated with the mark. The Trademark Examination Guide (released in August 2014) makes clear that improper classification of the goods or services may result in rejection of the trademark application. The Guidelines […]
The First Amendment for Customers
By: Andrew K Jacobson California Governor Jerry Brown has signed new legislation that voids language in contracts that prevents a consumer from commenting on the performance of a product or service. New Cal. Civ. Code § 1670.8 states that a“contract or proposed contract for the sale or lease of consumer goods […]
