Something momentous happened in my life at Seattle Angel Conference VI (SAC). On November 12th, 2014, together with a community of supportive investors, I officially became an angel investor. But I am a lawyer and this is our firm’s blog, so why do I want to write here about my exhilarating experience of becoming an […]
By Megan Wargacki: Doissant. Cronut. Doughssant. These are variations on a croissant-donut hybrid. The Cronut is sold in New York, the Doughssant is sold in Ohio, and the Doissant is not yet on sale. Which name sticks in your mind the best? When you next visit Ohio, and you want to try this new pastry, […]
By Megan Wargacki: Globally, 46% of online consumers use social media when making a purchase decision.[1] So, if your business isn’t advertising on social media, it probably should be…but you must know what you are doing because the FTC has rules about online advertising. Thankfully, in March 2013, the FTC published a guide for businesses […]
By Megan Wargacki: Economic espionage, cybercrime and trade secret theft against U.S. businesses has doubled in the last seven years from 1988-199, doubled again in the nine years between 1995 and 2004 and is slated to double again by 2017. Business’ trade secrets are vulnerable to disloyal employees, neglectful employees, competitors, hackers, or even foreign […]
Could Coca-Cola sue a diner for offering Pepsi to customers who requested Coke? Clearly not, according to a California federal court that didn’t find any problem with Amazon’s merchandising practices. Multi Time Machine, Inc., (MTM), a watchmaker filed suit against Amazon for displaying competitor’s watches whenever Amazon customers searched for MTM’s. In this specific case, […]
The balance between managing your company’s interest and maintaining the integrity of your user’s intellectual property CAN and SHOULD be a SYMBIOTIC relationship. Social Media Campaigns, sweepstakes, and crowd sourcing are great ways to solicit ideas, inspire innovation, produce relevant videos, photographs, and testimonials, build user engagement, and cultivate your brand. However, high profile companies, […]
Terms of Use that users consent to by just using the site— Seems rather one sided doesn’t it? Maybe that is why there is so much distrust of sites like instagram and other social sites. Is there a better way to approach this so that Users trust my service? and don’t mind ‘consenting’? Our answer […]
According to a recent article by the New York Times, unpaid internships are proliferating. Given the continuing uncertainty of the economy, this shouldn’t come as a great surprise – it’s hard to beat the allure of free labor. However, employers need to be wary about how they structure any offered internships; otherwise, they could run […]
All employers with employees working in Seattle, even those who only work in Seattle occasionally, need to read-up on Seattle’s Paid Sick/Safe Time ordinance (PSST for short). If PSST applies to your business, it establishes minimum standards for paid sick leave and safe time for most of your Seattle employees. These minimum standards do not apply to […]
In Washington State, being socially conscious doesn’t mean choosing between doing good and doing good business. Incorporating or reorganizing as a social purpose corporation (SPC) allows socially conscious businesses greater flexibility to support social and environmental goals. What makes this emerging corporate entity unique is that maximizing the financial bottom line isn’t a social purpose […]