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Choice of Business Entity for a Startup
In Canada business entities considered by entrepreneurs include: (1) sole proprietorships, (2) partnerships and limited partnerships and (3) corporations. Each of these entities has advantages as well as disadvantages. Choice of the entity is usually not irrevocable, and often an initial decision will be made with the understanding that, at the appropriate time, a different form of organization will be used.
Protection of Intellectual Property in a Startup
Aside from competence of management team, control of intellectual property is a major focus of investor scrutiny. The ability to identify and protect intellectual property directly reflects on investor confidence and the resulting access to capital available to technology start-up. Protection of intellectual property assets is available through the law of copyright, trade secrets, patents and trademarks.
Canadian Trademark Applications For Start-ups
Canadian Trademark Applications For Start-ups promotion starts at 10:00 Eastern Time on Monday, December 12, 2011 and ends at 16:00 Eastern Time on Friday, December 16, 2011. This promotion runs concurrently with the Canadian Start-up Legal Package promotion and the U.S. Provisional Patent Applications For Start-ups promotion.
You got questions? We got answers.
1. Have not you done the same promotions last year?
Yes. We have done the same three promotions last year:
- Canadian Trademark Applications for Start-ups;
- U.S. Provisional Patent Applications For Start-ups;
- Canadian Start-up Legal Package;
2. What is the cost?
Canadian $300.00 for each trademark application.
3. How many Canadian trademark applications are included in this promotion?
As many as you have. Typically, our clients file at least three Canadian trademark applications.
4. What about Canadian Intellectual Property Office's trademark application filing fees?
You have to pay $300.00 as the Canadian Intellectual Property Office's trademark application filing fee for each trademark application we file on your behalf.
5. Who qualifies for the promotion?
(a) You must be a start-up. This term is loosely defined, so this should be an easy requirement to meet. However, the final decision whether or not your company is a start-up is made by Pinsky Law.
(b) You must be a company. That means that you must be incorporated in some province of Canada (or federally) in a way that we can verify via the web. Trademark law is federal law, so your start-up company and Pinsky Law do not have to be located in the same province. As such, our clients are located all over Canada and the world. If your start-up is not incorporated, you may use Canadian Start-up Legal Package to incorporate your start-up.
(c) You must have at least one registered domain name, and your domain name must be registered in the name of your company. We recommend that companies register their company name, product names, and trademarks as domain names in all of the generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) (including .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .ca, and .us). You should also register domain typos, including singular and plural variations. Registering multiple domains is cheap insurance to protect against possible infringing use. Also, we recommend registering domains in the name of your company using the exact same contact information for each domain.
(d) You must contact us electronically via our website. The fee of $300.00 is the only fee Pinsky Law will charge for preparation and filing of each trademark application.
(e) You must retain Pinsky Law as your trademark agent of record for prosecution of the trademark application(s) we file on your behalf. Retainer agreement(s) retaining Pinsky Law as your trademark agent and all payments pursuant to this promotion and the retainer agreement(s) must be made during duration of this promotion between 10:00 Eastern Time on Monday, December 12, 2011 and 16:00 Eastern Time on Friday, December 16, 2011.
To be specific, the value of this offer is Canadian $1,200.00 for each trademark application - our regular charge for preparation of a Canadian trademark application is $1,500.00. The fee of $300.00 covers everything from retaining our law firm to filing of a trademark application, including the trademark search, application drafting, and application filing. The fee does NOT cover any Canadian Intellectual Property Office's filing fees. It also does NOT cover any costs after the filing of a trademark application (such as responding to office actions and the like). Most of the trademark applications we prepare issue without major problems because we work hard to get them right initially.
6. Do existing clients qualify?
This proposal is for start-up companies that are new clients to Pinsky Law. This proposal is not for existing clients. But we will extend this offer to the existing clients as well. All you have to do is refer one new client to Pinsky Law, and we'll extend this offer to both of you.
7. Why are you doing this?
First, we want to help. Despite what some economists and government officials have said recently, most of us appreciate that we are entering year four of this recession. Second, based on a survey that Pinsky Law conducted, each company has, on average, five unregistered trademarks. So, we are counting on your future business, as well as your referrals. We are being fair and straight with you. We will trust you to be fair and strait with us.
8. Why $300.00?
Because it is a random number.
9. Can Pinsky Law prepare and file a U.S. trademark application(s) for us?
Yes, we can, but U.S. trademark application(s) is/are not included in this promotion.
10. How to engage Pinsky Law to file my start-up trademark applications?
Step One. If you wish to participate in Canadian Trademarks for Start-ups promotion check the point #5 above to make sure that you and your company qualify for this promotion, then click the ADD TO CART button below to book an initial consultation to discuss specifics of your case. The cost of the initial consultation is $280.00 and is NOT included in the cost of this promotion. You will be taken to our order processing page, which will collect your contact information before transferring you to our secure payment processing gateway administered by PayPal. You can use your PayPal account to pay or your Visa, MasterCard, or American Express credit card. Once the transaction is completed you will receive an eMail receipt.
Step Two. Following the payment send us an eMail and we will schedule a consultation in our office to discuss specifics of your application(s). Telephone and eMail consultations are available, for those outside of Toronto, after the payment is made.
11. Anything else we need to know?
Pinsky Law reserves the right to cancel and/or modify this offer at any time. If this offer is wildly popular, then we might not be able to keep up with the demand. But we think that it would be a good problem to have. If we have to cancel or modify this offer, then we will do so via a comment on our website. You can find the post at the following URL: http://www.pinskylaw.ca/News/news.htm.