Final SEC Rules for Raising Money via Crowdfunding

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If you have been considering raising money via crowdfunding for your startup or small business, you may already know that this has been somewhat of a gray area in securities law. Back in 2012, Congress passed Title III of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (“JOBS Act”). Since then, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) …Read more

Three Ways You May Be Sharing Trade Secrets With Competitors and How to Stop

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Trade secrets come in many forms. They commonly include customer lists, programming data, pricing information, employee compensation and benefits, cost matrices and secret recipes. Whatever information a company develops or acquires for the purpose of gaining a competitive edge that it does not share with others will likely fall within the definition of “Trade Secret.” …Read more

The Value of Keeping Corporate Minutes

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Many corporate clients ask why they should spend the time and money to maintain corporate minutes. This is especially common in small or family-run operations. Other corporate clients don’t even bother asking the question, they just don’t do it. When I am asked why they should go through the time and expense of preparing minutes …Read more

5 Key Agreements Every CEO Should Review With an Attorney

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From one vantage point, a business is only a business when it has “agreements” in place that govern its relationships with other parties: agreements with clients to deliver goods or services in exchange for compensation agreements with vendors to pay for products and services agreements with employees, financiers, landlords, insurers, etc. You get the idea. …Read more

Succession Planning for Your California Family Business

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First and second-generation family business owners spend an inordinate amount of time focused on building and preserving their family legacy. This is an enormous amount of work. For starters, it means not only growing the business and making it successful, but also positioning it for the unique and frequently delicate type of transition that takes …Read more

Why Protect Your Software With the Power of Copyright Law

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An enormous amount of any software company’s value is tied up in its intellectual property. One way to protect your software – the key asset of your company – is to seek copyright protection through the U.S. Copyright Office in Washington, D.C. A copyright is automatically created upon the completion of an original work of authorship that …Read more

Protecting Your Trademark Rights – Recent U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Raises the Stakes

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Every business wants to develop a positive image in the minds of customers.  Many companies spend lavishly on marketing to establish reputations for quality, performance and value. A company’s reputation can be among its most valuable assets. If an unknown computer company could use the name “Apple” – or something confusingly similar like “Appel” – …Read more

Crowdfunding for Businesses and Impact of Government Regulations

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Crowdfunding is a new and evolving fundraising tool social entrepreneurs use to raise money for their ideas and causes via the Internet. If regulated correctly, crowdfunding could become a powerful alternative method that for-profit entrepreneurs could use to raise capital to support a wide range of ventures and business models. To encourage the use of …Read more

Challenges to Raising Money Through Social Media While Complying with the JOBs Act

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In September 2013, Title II of the JOBs Act went into effect. For the first time private companies could lawfully raise investment capital from the public using Social Media to spread the word about the investment. More and more, Social Media is driving the capital raising process for small businesses across the U.S. The enactment …Read more

Finkel Law Group Helps Firm Secure Settlement in Contract Dispute

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Sometimes when a small company conducts business with a larger company, the respective bargaining power of each party is not equal. The larger company almost always has the small company over a barrel. That’s never the case when Finkel Law Group represents your company in litigation with a larger, well-funded adversary. Our firm recently helped …Read more