We are part of a “do it yourself” society, where “DIY” is a well-known moniker. DIY is great for many things but drafting legal documents is not one of them. There are lots of form agreements available but they rarely do the job of actually securing a deal, protecting your interests, or otherwise functioning as a truly good contract.

Every deal is different and each deal is unique. If you’re involved in a transaction that requires a contract, it’s important enough that you want the contract to be good. Form agreements may do an adequate job of touching on the major issues (term of the agreement, territory, payment) but usually ignore the details that are so important to every deal. While some forms are better than others, it is virtually impossible to have one form cover all contingencies.

We often talk to people who want to use a form (or “canned”) agreement and then have us “touch it up” or “look it over.” While this may seem to be a money-saving solution, it can take a lot of time to go through a canned agreement and figure out what is missing, where the important terms are, and what may need to be added or edited. In fact, it often takes us less time to do the entire agreement ourselves than it does to fix and fiddle with a form or pre-packaged document. Think of it like building a house: would you try and build the house yourself and then hire a contractor to come in and figure out what is missing and what needs to be changed? It’s just not efficient.

You want your contracts to protect your interests, to accurately explain the deal, and to be properly drafted from the beginning. Canned agreements rarely accomplish these goals. But we can! Feel free to contact us with any questions about your contract.

There are lots of great ideas out there and every successful business starts off as just an idea. One of the most important steps in building a profitable venture is protecting your brand. Your brand may be something as simple as a name, it could be your logo, or even your design scheme or marketing campaign. It’s worth your time and money to safeguard your brand from the very beginning.

The most comprehensive brand protection is a federally registered trademark. You can register your name, logo, tagline or other branding even before using it in the marketplace by filing an “intent to use” application. If your branding is already in use, trademark it right away! Someone else may beat you to it and then you will have lost the right to use your brand – you’ll have to change your name and possibly cease operations entirely. Not worth it!

A little forethought goes a long way. Feel free to contact us about a free consultation on how to protect your valuable intellectual property.