Our latest newsletter with an article "The Perils of Using Other People's Photos or Videos". A common #copyright problem on the Internet.

Organizing your corporation or limited liability company - Event

Attorney Eric D. Morton will answer questions regarding organizing corporations and limited liability companies on January 16, 2018 in Oakland.  Business owners face many issues when organizing a business entity. Should they have a corporation or LLC? What should they contribute to the business? These and many other concerns face business owners when starting a new entity. Eric will discuss the issues business owners need to address and how to think about them.

Click here for more details. 

Privacy: More Legal Uncertainty Than Ever Before

From our latest newsletter, an article by Kellie Delaney on the latest news in Privacy Laws.

by Kellie M. Delaney

No sooner did many big companies breathe a collective sigh of relief that they had tackled some of their obligations under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), than the California Legislature passed the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA), aiming to head off a state ballot initiative that was otherwise headed for the ballot in November. The CCPA will take effect on January 1, 2020. So California businesses – and anyone who does business with California consumers – is understandably asking, now what?

Background on the GDPR

The GDPR is a comprehensive regulatory framework from the European Union that extends a host of privacy rights to individuals, among them the right to be forgotten, the right to data portability, the right to correct data that’s incorrect, and others. It could apply to companies who have employees in the EU or who hold or process some kind of personal data of an EU citizen. It includes extensive requirements for security breach notifications, designation of a data protection officer, requirements for international data transfers and sanctions that could be as high as 4% of a company’s annual revenue.

Suffice it to say, the GDPR is a really big deal if you do business in the EU and handle personal data of any kind. Companies were required to be compliant with GDPR in May 2018. In one PwC survey, 88% of companies expected to spend over $1M to comply with GDPR.

Many small businesses (SMBs) are under the impression that they’re not covered by GDPR as an SMB. However, if you handle the data of an EU individual on a regular basis, you’re probably subject to the GDPR. The only exemption is for SMBs who occasionally handle such data.

Which Businesses are Covered by the California Consumer Privacy Act

There are 3 different ways to be considered a “business” READ MORE

Is Your Business Ready For 2019?

I'll be at Peet's Coffee in downtown Oakland on December 11, 2018 for a question and answer session on planning for 2019.  Click here for more details: Is Your Business Ready for 2019?

Event: Corporation, LLC or Partnership

I'll be holding a question and answer event on November 13, 2018 at 8 a.m. at the Peets Coffee in downtown Oakland, California.  Click on the link below for more details.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/corporation-llc-or-partnership-which-do-you-need-tickets-52169957748

International Trademarks: Questions and Answers

I'll be giving a Question and Answer talk on October 18th in Oakland on International Trademarks. #trademarks #intellectualproperty #questionanswering  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/international-trademarks-questions-and-answers-tickets-50840469212

Breaking up is hard to do

Our September 2018 newsletter.  The article is on business relationships ending and how business owners can plan for them.