Law & Banking
Check out the previous article in Mary's series on IP here.
In the area of Intellectual Property (IP) , startups or small businesses tend to fall into two groups. Those who focus exclusively on patent protection and those who view patents as too expensive and pointless without the money to defend infringement.
What is a Patent? It is not a Trademark, Copyright, or Trade Secret
How often have you heard someone state, “My idea needs a patent” or “I will make a billion dollars on a patent for my <fill in the blank with exciting idea>.”
A client received an email from a competitor that demanded she stop using his “patented name.” Patents are not granted for names. In another situation, the name associated with a patented product may well be a potential trademark or copyright but the name itself will never be patentable.
The NextWomen Finance Theme.
It’s a big challenge to represent the top financial institutions in the world. It’s even more challenging when most of these firms are in New York and you are based in Los Angeles.
But one remarkable attorney accomplishes this task and succeeds with distinction. Julia Strickland stands at the pinnacle as the class action defense litigator and source for compliance and regulatory advice for the financial industry. No one in California represents as many high-profile financial institutions as her—and no one is more successful in defending those firms in class actions and in dealings with state and federal regulators.
Her impressive roster of clients includes American Express, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, Discover, HSBC, Sallie Mae, PayPal and many others. She manages the Los Angeles office of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP. She has been at Stroock since 1978 and was the first summer associate in the Los Angeles office in 1977. She is a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee. She oversees fifteen attorneys in her Class Action/Financial Services Group.
Guest post by Zaheer Anwari, part of The NextWomen Finance Theme.
With the current economic climate in the dire situation that it is in, women are increasingly looking into other avenues to generate an income. This may be to supplement a salary that they are earning, or, for the more inventive and entrepreneurial amongst you, to find a way to earn an income which fits in with your lifestyle.
Forex trading is one such avenue that people are turning to but, as is a well-known fact in the trading world, only 5% ever make a success from it.
ADVERTORIAL: Britain
has been fortunate enough to seize the initiative with the new media age and
grow the digital economy through the development of web based media services
and interactive communication tools that unleash the potential of the ecommerce
market place. Recent research has acclaimed the UK as providing a faster digital economy than any other G20 nation.
Web marketing is undoubtedly an innovative opportunity for success during challenging economic times as it extends the boundaries of a traditional market place. However businesses need to be aware that the opportunity requires a knowledge of the differing regulations between countries and the adaptation of legal practises to be successful.
Ecommerce presents opportunity and challenges for businesses, but only the best guided succeed.
This is the second in a series articles about Intellectual Property by Mary Juetten. Click here to read Part I and look out for Part III coming soon.
Many startups or even small businesses may answer, “I do not have any Intellectual Property (IP) because I am not a technology company” or “I have all my patents filed.”
Few business owners understand that IP falls into one of four distinct categories: Copyright; Trademark or Servicemark; Patent; and Trade Secrets. Identifying and protecting your IP is not just a legal issue, it is a business strategy. As such, ignoring IP can place a business at risk, impede growth, and even kill deals.
So you’ve taken the leap, realised your ambitions & gone and
only done it! You’re a Mumpreneur: Congratulations! Now the party is over &
it’s time to get down to protecting, securing and growing your business.
Parachute Policies in Mumpreneurship: Planning for eventualities that can impact your business, reduce & even halt your income.
If you are the main facilitator & essentially the lead income generator for your business it’s extremely important that you consider the “What If’s” that may reduce or stop the flow of money into & out of your venture. Being “Future Proof” is a very sensible step & yet one that only 6% of small businesses & sole traders take. In this complex & rocky financial climate it’s important to do all you can to protect your business & its potential risks & growth indicators.
If asked if your business has Intellectual Property (IP) and the answer
is “I do not know or I doubt it”, you are not alone.
Initially many start-up businesses focus on creation and inception tasks: forming an entity; reserving a domain name; signing up for online accounting services or hiring an accountant; and, in some cases, consulting with a business lawyer. Solo inventors or creators generally wear all the hats and adopt the DIY mode of operation without consulting anyone.
If you are among those who are aware that you have IP, but cannot necessarily articulate or produce an IP listing with protective steps, your valuable intangible assets may also be at risk. It is difficult to be in a business situation completely devoid of IP worth identifying and protecting.
In the Philipinnes, The Rizal Commercial and Banking Co. (RCBC), one of the largest commercial banks in the Philippines, has introduced an SME
business loan program which gives women the opportunity to increase
their financial capacity and meet the growing demands of their business, follows from reporting at Philstar.
Susan Cooney
is Co-Founder and Head of Marketing & Sales at MahiFX, a new
proprietary-built foreign exchange trading platform which launched earlier
this year and gives retail FX customers access to same tight spreads and cutting
edge technology as institutional FX traders.
Prior to founding MahiFX, Susan worked in forex trading at investment banks. In mid 2004, whilst she was working at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein selling e-FX technology to UK banks, Susan was asked by colleagues David Cooney and Tim Cartledge to join the team moving across to Barclays Capital. David was later to become her husband and co-founder.
In 2005 Susan was asked to recruit and head up a new team to expand Barclays’ institutional e-FX sales efforts in Europe, where she took the controversial approach of hiring people based on their character, rather than experience. In what was probably an Investment Banking industry first, Barclays backed this initiative and what was jokingly referred to as ‘Barbie’s army’ was born. 8 people were hired from all walks of life. The initiative was a success, which contributed to tremendous growth in Barclay’s eFX market share.
Susan went on to hire teams in Singapore, Hong Kong and the US. Susan’s e-FX career has taken her to many countries of the world, meeting many people and has given her valuable insight into the requirements of an FX trader. Insight that has helped her to contribute to much of the MahiFX functionality.
Nellie Akalp is a passionate entrepreneur, small business
advocate and mother of four.
As CEO of CorpNet.com, an online legal document filing service, Nellie helps small US business owners form an LLC or incorporate a business to start their ventures off the right way.
Nellie has been in the industry since 1997 and throughout her career has created over 100,000 business formations. Nellie and her husband (who is also her business partner) founded MyCorporation.com, which they sold to Intuit in 2005. They started CorpNet.com in 2009.
You can find Nellie on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
We spoke to Nellie about why she's passionate about helping entrepreneurs; about why small business owners should form a business structure; and why as CEO she still loves answering the phone.
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