Category Archives: Business Counseling
Protecting Your Trade Secrets Starts with Knowing What They Are
Small business owners are the hardest-working people around. They are usually either the ones who unlock the door in the morning, or the one to lock up at night – or both. But keys and doors only protect so much: are your most valuable assets — your trade secrets — protected 24 hours a day, […]
Startups and Trademarks
You and your friends have discussed, with increasing enthusiasm, your idea for a new business. Maybe you want to produce an app, or maybe a restaurant pairing different cuisines. You know what you are going to do, and how you are going to do it, but you also know that you will be cash-strapped, with […]
Credit Card Surcharges Will Soon Be Legal in California
By: Andrew K Jacobson A group of California small businesses have successfully challenged California’s long-time ban on credit card surcharges. However, for the moment, they are the only ones to benefit. Credit cards are great for cash flow, but they cause headaches for small businesses. People rely upon them for even the smallest transactions – […]
Yelping About Yelp
Yelp and other business profile websites are a common sore spot for many businesses. At a minimum, it is a free service to advertise your business, showcasing your products or services and attracting customers. However, there are strings attached. Yelp also offers its subscribers the chance to review businesses online. Every once in a […]
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 […]
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 […]
What Season Is It? It’s Duck Season!
By: Andrew K Jacobson Look at the picture: what is it? A duck? A rabbit? Both? Depending on what hunting season it happens to be, a lot can depend on the answer. The same is true in copyright. Cable companies rebroadcast transmissions to their customers from broadcasters. Originally, the Supreme Court ruled that was acceptable, […]
What Flavor is your NDA?
By Andrew Jacobson Ah, the conundrums of a child’s summer: butterscotch, or strawberry? Mint chocolate chip, or triple fudge? Cone or cup? Businesses have their less-tasty choices, but they are still there: what flavor is your non-disclosure agreement? There are almost as many options for NDAs as there are at your local ice-cream store. […]
Game of — Pawns?
The FBI tells the story of Glenn Shriver, a former college student from Michigan who learned Mandarin and lived in China in 2004. He made some friends who encouraged him to find a job with the US government. He received some $70,000 merely to apply for such a job, but by the time the FBI arrested him, he realized that his friends were actually intelligence agents wanting to place a mole inside US agencies.
National agencies are not the only targets. US companies are also subject to foreign espionage. Just last month, the Justice Department announced indictments of five members of China’s military for stealing US companies’ trade secrets.
