Somehow I doubt that many of you really want to learn about the law when you’re starting a business. You’re probably feeling swamped by the vast amount of information you need to know to get your company off the ground. The sheer number of logistical details and decisions can be overwhelming.
18 Rabbits founder and CEO, Alison Vercruysse has said, “Starting a business is like jumping off a cliff every day.”
Life Coach Susan Hyatt of Ideal Life Design says that “Being an entrepreneur is like jumping into a moving car.”
But learning about intellectual property (“IP”) law can be critical for your startup’s success.
Last year my sister Julie and I started a production company, Willard Peak Productions, Inc. Our main project was to create a website for teenage girls, lookilulu.com, that profiles inspiring career women. We grew up on a farm in Utah. When we were young, we couldn’t see possibilities for ourselves. With the knowledge we’ve gained over the last twenty years, we wanted to help young women see what they can do—with a little imagination and a lot of hard work.
When we started lookilulu.com, I really thought, “How hard can it be to do a website?”
Yes, I was very uninformed. It was incredibly hard. But because I’m a lawyer, I knew many things we needed to do to set things up right. Because I’ve spent years doing litigation and I’m married to a corporate lawyer, it was a no-brainer to create a corporate structure.
As a specialist in intellectual property law, I also knew what basic steps we needed to take to own the IP being created for our fledgling company. I was glad I knew how to protect the IP related to our business name, logo and website designs, graphics, trademarks and copyrights. I also knew steps we could take to minimize the risk of IP infringement.
Although I’ve counseled startups for many years about IP issues, creating a company myself from the ground up gave me a new perspective. The process reinforced my concerns about the lack of knowledge many entrepreneurs have about intellectual property law.
I started thinking that many entrepreneurs could really use more accessible information about IP law. Most law blogs are written by lawyers for lawyers. Even the law blogs targeted to companies are so jargon heavy they are hard if not impossible for non-lawyers to understand.
So I started thinking about writing a legal blog for startups that teaches the basics about intellectual property law and explains some of the major issues in short easily digested chunks. I also created an Ebook that answers some of the most basic IP law questions and made it downloadable for free.
I wanted entrepreneurs to be aware of the legal dangers they face and understand how they can protect the intellectual property that they work so hard to develop. Intellectual property law can make a fundamental difference to the value of a startup and its future growth and success. With a little information you can avoid many mistakes and know what fears are realistic and what fears are unfounded.
Just as I want to help young women have information so they can take the best steps toward a rewarding career, I want to help entrepreneurs have more information about IP law so they can take the best steps to achieve a successful business.
Moreover, many entrepreneurs are women and very, very few women have access to venture capital or legal representation by the big firms with IP law specialists.
I thought a blog would be another avenue to help empower women who are starting companies. This blog will be full of very useful, educational information for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Although as an entrepreneur you may be feeling that you can’t quite face learning one more thing to help your business, rest assured that learning IP law will be well worth the effort. Although it is a complex and convoluted area of the law, I’ll try to make it easy.
Later blog posts will explain the value of IP knowledge in detail.
Also, if you have general questions about IP law or something in a post doesn’t make sense, please send me a message. I want to help you learn the fundamental information that is most important to know. However, I can’t answer specific legal questions based on your specific facts or circumstances unless you are already a client. So please don’t send questions seeking specific legal advice.
I’m not trying to be rude or unhelpful but because I’m a lawyer there a boatload of professional rules that I must follow. I’ve spent an enormous amount of money, time and energy to get my law degree and licenses and I want to keep them. So please read the legal disclaimer and terms of use carefully.
Also, if you send me a message, don’t send confidential information. Nothing you send me is going to be considered or treated as confidential if you are not already a client.
Stay tuned if you want to help your startup and learn more about IP law.
The information provided in this legal blog is not intended as legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not submit questions or comments seeking legal advice or submit confidential information through this blog. By communicating through this blog, you understand and agree that the information will not be treated as confidential and the publisher has no duty to keep it confidential.
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