Category: News

JGPC Law - Alameda County Business and Corporate Mediation Attorneys

Nondisclosure Agreements for Technology Companies

Written by JGPC Business Law on June 10, 2016.

Nondisclosure Agreements and Technology Companies While intellectual property laws present a significant amount of protection to individuals and companies, some “creations” are not capable of being protected through patents, copyrights, and/or trademarks. This is why many companies (especially companies on the cutting edge of technological developments) will have their employees sign nondisclosure agreements. These agreements essentially prohibit the employee from taking trade secrets and other...

Finding Honest Attorney for Startups

Written by JGPC Business Law on May 31, 2016.

Find an Experienced, Honest Start-up Attorney Finding an experienced, honest start-up attorney really shouldn’t be so difficult. If you know the right places to look and the questions to ask you will have no trouble finding an experienced, ethical and honest start-up attorney to help you with your startup. The legal profession has a bad reputation. This is particularly true in the startup world. Some of this is well deserved. Many startup attorneys take a one-size-fits-all approach to their new...

Equity Crowdfunding for Startups

Written by JGPC Business Law on May 21, 2016.

How to use Equity Crowdfunding to Fund Your Startup Equity crowdfunding has only recently become available to startups in the United States. Not long ago, startups that sold stock to investors over the internet risked running afoul of federal securities law regulators. If you were caught soliciting investors online in violation of federal securities laws you were in violation of federal civil and criminal laws and regulations and subject to prosecution by federal and/or state agencies. This has...

Crowdfunding Models For Startups

Written by JGPC Business Law on May 15, 2016.

4 Crowdfunding Models Your Startup Can Use to Raise Capital Have you been thinking about using a crowdfunding model to launch your startup? Then you may want to understand the 4 basic types of crowdfunding models and the financial and legal implications of each one. Before you go online and start asking friends and family for money, get yourself up to speed on the various crowdfunding models available and the benefits and drawbacks of each. The Four Basic Crowdfunding Models The Crowdfunding models...

The JOBS Act

Written by JGPC Business Law on May 7, 2016.

The JOBS Act and What it Means for Your Startup The Securities and Exchange Commission has been issuing new regulations to define the details of what the JOBS Act really means. Some new rules will take effect on May 16, 2016. There are several important titles to the JOBS Act. We’ll cover them here. We will continue to cover more about the JOBS Act – especially the Crowdfunding and general solicitation exemptions – in the future. What is the JOBS Act? In 2012 Congress passed the Jumpstart...

What Constitutes Copyright Infringement?

Written by JGPC Business Law on May 5, 2016.

Sometimes the most valuable assets a California business owns are not the physical buildings which house the employees or the land upon which such building sits, but the ideas, creations, and inventions that the company’s employees develop. Having any one of these creations stolen, pirated, or reproduced can rob the creating company of not only the idea or creation itself but also the time and resources that went into developing the creation and bringing its existence about. When the intellectual...

Securities Law for Startups Part I

Written by JGPC Business Law on April 29, 2016.

(Part I – The Basics) Is your startup planning to raise money from outside investors? Then you might want to have a basic understanding of securities law. Don’t worry. You don’t have to become an expert. But you do need to know what securities are and how (and why) they are regulated. In today’s post we are going to get you up to speed on the basic securities law issues that startups face. In a future post, we will show you how to raise capital using the major federal and state securities law...

What is Crowdfunding? (and how can it help your startup?)

Written by JGPC Business Law on April 22, 2016.

Crowdfunding is an innovative way to raise money for a project by pooling small contributions from a large number of people. It’s a simple idea that – when combined with the reach of the Internet – can lead to profound consequences. Barack Obama’s unlikely 2008 campaign was largely paid for by small contributions to his online crowdfunding machine. And Kiva.org – a crowdfunded micro-lending site – has helped over 1.9 million low-income entrepreneurs and students get small...

Business Disputes that Require a Business Attorney

Written by JGPC Business Law on April 15, 2016.

Even though Americans pride themselves on their rugged individualism and independence, there are some things that simply should not be attempted by amateurs or those without the proper knowledge and experience. For example, working on your car’s transmission when you have difficulty replacing the headlights can ruin your car and end up costing you thousands of dollars in repair bills. In the same way, it can be disastrous for your business if you attempt to resolve every dispute or issue yourself...

Business Law Attorney for Breach of Contract

Written by JGPC Business Law on April 7, 2016.

When to Call a Business Law Attorney for Your Breach of Contract Case? Written contracts provide some assurances that each party will carry out their obligations, but even written contracts can be (and routinely are) broken. When one party does not live up to the promises it has made to the other party, a breach of the contract has occurred. What happens next depends on the seriousness of the breach and the desires of the parties. The parties can, for example: Ignore the breach and carry on with...