Often when small or medium sized businesses who are contract dependent are dealing with their customers, one of the most difficult things to understand is how the layout of a contract improves the overall quality of the contract. Recently, there has been a trend in the legal world that lawyers...
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#mattthelawyer, Contracts, Design / 06.12.2019
Information Design in Contracts
How many times have you looked at a lengthy contract and thought to yourself – I really don’t have the time for this; I don’t understand this. Often times, non-lawyer folk want to understand the basic facts and leave technicalities of contracts to their lawyers or business advisors. Sometimes,...
#mattthelawyer, Intellectual Property, Trademark / 27.11.2019
Contract Terms for Intellectual Property
This is the fifth, and final, post in a five part series on Essential Contract Terms for Consultants, Independent Contractors, and Freelancers. This post will focus on protecting your intellectual property. A contract is not only an agreement regarding the exchange of goods or services for...
#mattthelawyer, Intellectual Property, Trademark / 25.11.2019
Likelihood of Confusion in Trademarks and Branding
For new start-up companies or small business, establishing a brand is necessary. Establishing a brand takes time, effort, and probably a bit of money. But when it comes to establishing a brand that may be trademarked, it is vitally important to consider whether your potential...
#mattthelawyer, Intellectual Property, Trademark / 06.11.2019
How to Prepare a Trademark Application
Filing an application for a trademark registration with the United States Patent & Trademark Office is surprisingly easy in terms of the actual process itself if you are prepared with your materials. There are services out there that will help you file a trademark registration...
Congratulations! You got your trademark registered with the US PTO. You have an officially registered trademark blessed by the United States government. If you think that was the hard part, it is not. Now comes the hard part of policing, protecting, and maintaining your trademark. Let’s...
#mattthelawyer, Employment Law / 04.11.2019
Employee Exemptions: Executive Professional Administrative
In the last post, we started a discussion on how to determine and properly classify employees to see if they are exempt. Be sure to check out that last post here. As a reminder, the salary level has to be at least a fixed $684...
#mattthelawyer, Employment Law / 01.11.2019
Exempt v Nonexempt Employees
The United States Department of Labor regulation regarding salary levels for exempt and nonexempt employees will go into effect in January 2020. The minimum salary for exemption status will be $35,568 (or $684 per week). Before that goes into effect, I strongly suggest that employers review the classifications of...
#mattthelawyer, Intellectual Property, Trademark / 23.10.2019
When to Submit a Trademark Application
One of the most common questions I get when discussing trademarks is when is an appropriate time to submit an application for a registration of a trademark. It is a good question that involves a number of factors. But the trademark office breaks things down into...