Category: Corporate

Business disparagement is a form of defamation, but directed at a business. In general terms, business disparagement, as defamation, is stating something false — provably false — about a business that causes injury or damage to the business. Importantly, expressed opinions are NOT defamation. Business disparagement can come in two forms — oral and written. […]

New lawsuits under California’s Unruh Act may face hurdles in light of a recent California Court of Appeals ruling, which requires a bona fide interest to use the website that is the subject matter of the lawsuit. In the matter of Thurston v. Omni Hotels Management Corp., the California Court of Appeals held that plaintiffs […]

The answer depends on how the trade secret became publicly disclosed. As defined legally, a trade secret is any sort of information that has commercial value from the fact that the information is secret. The law protects trade secrets. However, if the information becomes known publicly through disclosure, then, generally, the status of the information […]

The Lanham Act The Lanham act permits a plaintiff to bring a claim of false advertising in federal court. The Lanham provides that “Any person who…uses in commerce any…false or misleading description of fact, which…in commercial advertising or promotion, misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities, or geographic origin of his or her or another person’s goods, […]

Under both federal and state laws, trade secrets are legally protected from being stolen by employees, former employees, competitors, cybercriminals, and anyone else. Under both federal and state laws, a trade secret is some information or data that is kept secret that “… derives independent economic value from not being generally known to, and not […]

New York has recently passed a law that says “no,” employers cannot engage in electronic monitoring of employee phone calls, emails, and online usage without notice. Further, employers are required to obtain an acknowledgement from workers that they received the notice. The new law was signed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul on November 8, […]

Trade secrets are business information and data that derive economic value from the fact that they are kept confidential and secret. Under both federal and state laws, if an owner takes “reasonable” steps to protect the information/data, then legal action can be taken against anyone who steals — misappropriates — the information/data. Trade secrets can […]

It is common for businesses — particularly startups — to try and incentivize their employees (and other agents like directors and third-party vendors) with stock options. Very broadly speaking, stock options can be divided into two categories — incentive stock options (“ISO”) and non-qualified stock options (“NSO”). By definition, an ISO is a stock option […]

Form 83(b) is a form that is signed and sent to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) making a choice — an election — on when the signatory would like to be taxed on future-vesting equity, like shares stock, issued by a corporate entity. By sending Form 83(b), the signatory chooses to have the equity taxed […]

Legally, a “conspiracy” is some sort of agreement — express or implied — reached between two or more persons or entities to commit a crime or a wrongful act. Conspiracies are punished under both criminal and civil law. In criminal law, the agreement is the gist of the claim and intent that a crime be […]