Category: Corporate

Businesses that engage in deceptive and unfair internet practices are subject to injunctions and large monetary damage awards under the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”). Just as importantly, the owners and principals of businesses can be held personally liable. In the case discussed below, FTC v. Ross, the website owner was fined $163 million […]

Business Contracts 101: The Basics When you are running your business, almost everything you do is contractual, even if you do not see yourself as making and accepting contracts. If you email over a purchase order to one of your suppliers, that is a contract. In business, contracts can be quite simple. They can also […]

In general, a breach of contract is any failure to perform what you agreed to do. Examples would be: Failure to deliver the goods promise Failure to deliver the goods in a timely fashion Failure to pay, etc. Contractual obligations are set forth in the contract between the parties. If the contract is in writing, […]

Intellectual property (IP) rights are valuable assets and startup companies need sophisticated legal and business strategies for monetizing these IP assets. The basic IP inventory for startup companies contains: Trade Secrets Trademarks Internet Domain Names Copyrights and Patents The obvious way in which new startup companies monetize their IP is to incorporate the IP into […]

Many startup companies do not realize that their intellectual property (IP) rights are often their most valuable asset. Few startups have portfolios of real property or vast quantities of retail inventory and other physical assets. What startups usually have are ideas, and ideas are valuable if they are properly protected. The Basic Intellectual Property Inventory […]

It is a common business practice for employers to require their employees to sign a non-compete agreement as part of the terms of their employment. Use of non-compete agreements are a particularly popular practice in situations where the employee will have access to sensitive or confidential business information as part of their routine job duties. […]

In certain advertising disputes, it may be possible and considerably more affordable to argue the advertising dispute before the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, rather than taking the matter to court or to some other government entity. The NAD is a branch of the self-regulating Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC) […]

Many, if not all, businesses need to utilize software in order to function. The software might take the form of an inventory ordering system, a payment processing system, or a smartphone app for the company. Software is everywhere and it is rapidly moving to cloud based platforms, but rarely is a company capable of developing […]

One technique that companies often use to advertise their product or service is by drawing comparisons against their competitor’s product or service. This advertising technique is known as comparative advertising. Comparative advertising specifically identifies the competitor by name and highlights discrepancies in the quality of the competitor’s product or service compared to its own product […]

Revenge porn is the posting of explicit photos or videos of another person without his or her permission, commonly by exes or a significant other. These videos or photos may have been consensual at the time they were taken, but once they are posted without one party’s permission, liability can ensue. Is Revenge Porn a […]