1. Part IV – Initiating Entrepreneurial Ventures
Chapter 11 – Assessment and Evaluation of Entrepreneurial Opportunities
Chapter 12 – Legal Structures for New Business Ventures
Chapter 13 – Legal Issues Related to Emerging Ventures
Chapter 14 – Sources of Capital for Entrepreneurs
Copyright (c) 2004 by South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning. All rights reserved.

2. Chapter 13 – Legal Issues Related To Emerging Ventures

3. Major Legal Concepts and Entrepreneurial Ventures
I. Inception of an Entrepreneurial Venture
A. Laws governing intellectual property
1. Patents
2. Copyrights
3. Trademarks
B. Forms of business organization
1. Sole proprietorship
2. Partnership
3. Corporation
4. Franchise
C. Tax considerations
D. Capital formation
E. Liability questions

4. Major Legal Concepts and Entrepreneurial Ventures
II. An Ongoing Venture: Business Development and Transactions
A. Personnel Law
1. Hiring and firing policies
2. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
3. Collective bargaining
B. Contract Law
1. Legal contracts
2. Sales contracts
3. Leases

5. Major Legal Concepts and Entrepreneurial Ventures
III. Growth and Continuity of a Successful Entrepreneurial Venture
A. Tax considerations
1. Federal, state, and local
2. Payroll
3. Incentives
B. Governmental regulations
1. Zoning (property)
2. Administrative agencies (regulatory)
3. Consumer law
C. Continuity of ownership rights
1. Property laws and ownership
2. Wills, trusts, and ownership
3. Bankruptcy

6. Patents
A patent provides the owner with exclusive rights to hold, transfer, and license the production and sale of the product or process. Design patents last for 14 years; all others last for 20 years.

7. Securing a Patent
Rule 1: Pursue patents that are broad, are commercially significant, and offer a strong position
Rule 2: Prepare a patent plan in detail
Rule 3: Have your actions relate to your original patent plan
Rule 4: Establish an infringement budget
Rule 5: Evaluate the patent plan strategically

8. A Patent Application Has Two Parts:
Specification is the text of a patent and may include any accompanying illustrations.
Claims are a series of short paragraphs, each of which identifies a particular feature or combination of features that is protected by the patent.

9. Copyrights
A copyright provides exclusive rights to creative individuals for the protection of their literary or artistic productions.
Duration: life of the author plus 70 years.

10. Understanding Copyright Protection
For the author of creative material to obtain copyright protection, the material must be in a tangible form so it can be communicated or reproduced. It also must be the author’s own work and thus the product of his or her skill or judgment.
Formal registration of a copyright with the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.

11. Understanding Copyright Protection
Fair Use Doctrine: [Reproduction of a copyright work for] purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research is not an infringement of copyright.

12. Trademarks
A trademark is a distinctive name, mark, symbol, or motto identified with a company’s product(s) and registered at the Patent and Trademark Office.

13. Trademark Duration
The current registrations are good for 10 years with the possibility for continuous renewal every 10 years. It is most important to understand that a trademark may be invalidated in four specific ways:
Cancellation proceedings
Cleaning-out procedure
Abandonment
Generic Meaning

14. Trade Secrets
Customer lists, plans, research and development, pricing information, marketing techniques, and production techniques are examples of potential trade secrets.

15. Trademark Protection on the Internet
The emerging body of law governing cyberspace is often referred to as cyberlaw.

16. Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy occurs when a venture’s financial obligations are greater than its assets.

17. The 5 Largest Business Bankruptcies in U.S. History
Bankruptcy Date
Total Assets Pre-Bankruptcy
Company
Worldcom, Inc /21/ $103,914,000,000
Enron Corp /2/ $63,392,000,000
Texaco, Inc /12/ $35,892,000,000
Financial Corp /9/ $33,864,000,000 of America
Global Crossing /28/ $25,511,000,000 Ltd.

18. Chapter 7: Straight Bankruptcy
Sometimes referred to as liquidation, Chapter 7 bankruptcy requires the debtor to surrender all property to a trustee appointed by the court.

19. Chapter 11: Reorganization
Reorganization is the most common form of bankruptcy. Under this format, a debtor attempts to formulate a plan to pay a portion of the debts, have the remaining sum discharged, and continue to stay in operation.

20. Chapter 13: Adjustment of Debts
Individuals or sole proprietors with unsecured debts of less than $100,000 or secured debts of less than $350,000 are eligible to file under a Chapter 13 procedure. In the petition the debtor declares an inability to pay his or her debts and requests some form of extension through future earnings (longer period of time to pay) or a composition of debt (reduction in the amount owed).