Employers should be aware that the FTC requires disclosure of an employee's employment relationship when making an endorsement on social media for the company they work for. The disclosure must be in simple and clear language and placed conspicuously. The FTC recommends that companies establish a social media policy that includes these disclosure requirements, consistently enforce the policy, and provide employees with training. Employers that direct employees to create or share social media posts should implement a policy and monitor the posts for compliance. To avoid potential legal issues, it is important for employers to follow these guidelines to ensure compliance with the FTC's rules.
The trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets that make your business unique are assets that must be protected. Here are 3 ways to use legal infrastructure tools to help.
Intellectual property (IP) assets are essential to running your business and protecting those assets is vital. Why? Your IP, such as trademarks, are valuable, and it is easy to inadvertently lose some or all of your company’s rights to them. A business must identify what IP assets they own and know how best to protect... View Article
In owning a business, you take responsibility for an entity separate from yourself. Daily, you make operational and strategic decisions on behalf of the entity to increase revenue and serve your customers. The goals you pursue are a means of creating business value. The value, though, arises from the cash generated by the business and... View Article
When you map out your business planning for the new year, how does legal fit into it? For most, it’s an expense in the budget. But does it show up elsewhere in your planning? It should. Yes, legal is needed to “fix” things that go awry, but the real value of legal is in building... View Article
Nearly every business will need to sign a software license agreement to purchase and receive services. Many service providers will present a “boilerplate” or “standard” agreement. Still, the truth is, there is no such thing as a standard or boilerplate software license agreement. When investing in software, business owners must understand what the contract says... View Article
As if losing employees wasn’t distressing enough, a former Google executive’s recent criminal indictment for trade secret misappropriation has served as a reminder as to how messy things can get if proper precautions are not taken. Often times, a business’s success is largely attributed to a trade secret – whether it’s a list of valuable... View Article
Those of us old enough to remember our very first Star Wars figure, were too young when they first arrived in stores to realize (or, care, really) what it took for them to become and remain a reality for the next 40 years, earning over $14 billion in revenue. Primarily due to George Lucas’ desire... View Article
On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) into law after flying through both houses of Congress with a near unanimous vote – quite a feat in a highly polarized legislature. Why the relative ease you may ask? Both the President and Congress have emphasized the importance of protecting American... View Article
