WinSavvy

Marketing is already an intensive job. With the ROI of any marketing campaign taking considerable time to show, a marketer has his plates full quite often than not. What makes it even more complicated is the growing scrutiny over data, which albeit a much needed trend, puts marketers even more in a worry. For example, the GDPR regulations affect marketers worldwide , with the only qualification being collection of data from EU residents. It seems that marketers in this day and age, has to be aware of both the revolving tech world and the legal world around them - which is why, I asked legal experts in the US - what are the legalities that marketers need to be aware of? And, I got some really interesting responses. Let's begin-

If you have a startup, drafting contracts is supposed to be an everyday affair - whether it is a partnership contract with a co-founder, a supplier contract for goods or a terms of service contract with a customer. There are tons of different types of contracts that you may need to make on an everyday affair and for most, you might now get the help of a lawyer - unless, you are willing to shell out a lot of money. Therefore, we asked the experts - what are the essentials that a small business has to know when it's drafting a contract without the help of  a lawyer? #1. Develop a Framework for the Contract According to M. Salman Ravala, Esq , a contracts and business disputes lawyer in New York City, of Criscione | Ravala LLP , you should outline the basics of your proposed key terms so that you understand the deal itself.   “This can include such things as identifying the parties involved, their respective obligations, and key terms such as price, quantity, delivery dates, refun

Patenting is a prime concern for any inventor or business owner. There is a lot to know and understand when you try to patent any product or article, which is why patenting an invention by yourself is a very difficult task.   On the other hand, hiring an Intellectual Property lawyer in the US is very expensive. Bao Tran , a Patent Attorney and the founder of Tran Associates says –   “ Low cost options such as Legalzoom exist, but when you read the fine print, the cost is not low.  For example, Legalzoom at https://www.legalzoom.com/business/intellectual-property/utility-patent-pricing.html claims they can do a utility after spending $699 and $2500, but the fine line says they do 10 claims and 5 pages of specification.    The problem with doing the minimal is that 2 years from filing when the case is examined, if a prior art reference comes up and the differentiating details are not there due to the 5page limitation, the case is not salvageable.  That is why details are importan

Patenting is a very costly process, particularly in the US. And, if your invention has a lot of potential, you need to patent it all across the globe so that some other brand does not capitalize by selling a knock off version of your invention.   However patenting an invention is no longer a very lucrative procedure for small businesses. This is because, a large chunk of applications get rejected. Plus, those inventions which are granted patent protection, face a constant threat of being challenged in the courts by the competitors.   As such, businesses are trying to keep their inventions hidden as trade secrets in this day and age. However not all inventions can be kept as trade secrets. Plus trade secrets, if leaked, can result in a disaster for the business concerned.   In order to make sure that the process does not result in a humongous waste of time and money, we asked the experts – “ What are the due diligence essentials that an inventor has to do before submitting his/h

In the US, it is the states which have power to enact corporate laws. Companies incorporated in each state has to follow its own state law relating to its incorporation and operations. However, thankfully the situation is not that chaotic as appears in first glance. The Model Business Corporation Act, 2002 is used and followed by 22 states in the US. This helps promote uniformity and provides business owners and startup enthusiasts, a sense of clarity as to the law that applies to their organisation when their business operates in more than one state. Starting a corporation in the US is a great business legal structure . However, there can be some legal compliances involved. Read on to find out!

Article by Charvi Sharma The 1970 Patent Act, which modified the current legislation pertaining to patents in India, came into force in 1972.  In addition, the Patents Act, 1970 was amended in 2005, which extended product patents to all technology fields such as food and medicines, chemical products, and microorganisms.  Related Read : Should You Copyright or Patent Your Software in India? What is a Patent? Patents are legal licenses issued by the government, giving the inventor of an invention, the right over its ownership and the exclusive right to make and sell it. The invention becomes the assets of the inventor that no one can take over or imitate unless assigned to the person or licensed to him by the inventor himself.  But, what is an invention for the purposes of Indian law, in the first place? The invention as described in Sec.2(1)(j) of the Patent Act, 2005 “Invention” means a new product or process involving an inventive step and capable of industrial application.  The ba

Software is a product of human intellect and hard work; it would be appropriate to term it as “intellectual property”. Considering the pivotal role, it plays in world economy and its development, protection of software is crucial and it needs to be dealt with. The problems faced by the said sector mainly deals with unauthorized production or piracy. The protection has become increasingly necessary because every day the economy loses out on staggering amount of money. Piracy is increasingly becoming a global menace. For this reason, some developers go to extreme lengths to keep their software codes secret and impenetrable to reverse-engineering. Software copyright is generally used by developers to curb piracy and the unauthorized copying of their software.[1]  In simple words, a software patent or copyright is a legal way to protect your software source code, idea, or invention. Thus infringement of the said copyright can lead to legal consequences. Countries worldwide are n

What is a trade secret? Well, in layman's terms, it is pretty much anything, that - is secret, the owner tries to keep it secret, and it provides the owner with economic benefit by reason of it being secret. A basic example is that of an email list. A business spends considerable marketing efforts in order to grow its email list. This is usually confidential information.   Now, if the list is stolen by a competitor, the business can sue the competitor in order to stop it from using the list or disclosing it or if it is already out in the open, then seek damages from the trade secret infringer. Related Reads: How to Grow Your Email List Fast Data Privacy Laws in India that Businesses Must Know of Impact of GDPR on Marketers in the European Union and Outside The trade secret law in USA is guided via two separate statutes – The Uniform Trade Secrets Act, 1979, as amended on 1985 and a federal statute called the Defend Trade Secrets Act, 2016.    Earlier the trade se