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Choice of Business Entity for 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 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.
Data Protection
Increasingly, contracts require businesses to warrant that they comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Act (PIPEDA) and in some cases the deal won't get through unless the requirements of PIPEDA are met. If your company have information on living beings, even just employees and contacts at companies, that enables those individuals to be identified, your company actions are governed by PIPEDA. That information can be something as innocuous as a name and address or just an email address. Recent legislative as well as evolving common law changes in federal, provincial and state jurisdictions have made this a new and hot button issue. Clients must be careful in not only data bank creation but in processing and transferring information.
The Firm assists organizations in managing privacy and security risks associated with the collection, use and disclosure of consumer and employee personal information. We counsel clients on the new and evolving Canadian and global legal requirements that affect the use of information and work closely with clients to conduct full-scale privacy assessments. Our lawyers understand the public policy issues and business processes that inform the current privacy debate both in Canada and overseas, and we apply that knowledge in providing legal advice.
We provide practical advice and solutions for clients trying to address data protection issues, providing clients with real-time advice across multiple jurisdictions. This includes advice on transfers of personal data from Canada to the United States and other countries, dealing with access by third party contractors to employee data and general compliance assessments. The Firm represents clients on commercial agreements that are directly related to data security and privacy (business partner agreements, domestic and international data transfers, and data sharing) or that have data security and privacy components (outsourcing, licensing, and service agreements). We also handle data security and privacy issues in corporate transactions, particularly in the contexts of joint ventures, strategic alliances, and spin-offs.
Our strategies are tailored to the individual needs of each client, with an emphasis on efficiency and cost-effective use of resources. We believe strongly that effective use of technology enables us to serve our clients better and to conserve their financial resources. Technology is not an end in itself, but rather a tool that, when properly used, can bring significant efficiency to the delivery of legal services. Our philosophy is to apply our significant technology resources to our clients' needs in a cost-effective way that contributes value to our clients' pursuit of their objectives.
What distinguishes us from many other law firms is our businesslike approach to solving our clients' problems. We recognize that the most aggressive (and expensive) strategy may not always be the best solution to a client's problem. We also recognize that most clients would prefer to spend less money to alleviate their problems than spend more. The Firm’s unique understanding of such issues allows to communicate with business and technical personnel on a more meaningful level, and allows the Firm to avoid solutions that although theoretically sound, are impractical and unworkable.