Investors will eventually want to validate the intellectual property (IP) prior to investing but not just to hear about the opportunity.  After hearing an interesting presentation, these professional investors will engage with the entrepreneur in a process called “due diligence,” an exhaustive review of the business plan.  MORE >>

A full IP ownership transfer requires a signed, written agreement. Most importantly, attorneys who conduct due diligence for an investor will see such problematic contracts as a very, very bad sign. Well drafted contracts will also make due diligence by an investor’s attorneys a much smoother and pleasant process. MORE >>

Savvy investors hire lawyers to conduct IP due diligence before investing in a software startup for a very good reason: All too often the startup does not own the exclusive IP rights to its software! Many parts of IP law are counterintuitive and defy what people consider “common sense.&#. Wrong! MORE >>

You may think that you are saving money by not having an IP attorney review the contract, if any. If the Web designer doesn’t use a proper contract, then you won’t have clean IP rights to the website. You won’t be able to sell your website to a competent company who does IP due diligence. Warning!  Too bad for you. MORE >>

You want to make sure that your website can survive a due diligence examination by an IP attorney. Jill Hubbard Bowman is an IP attorney who helps emerging growth companies increase the value of their companies through strategic use of intellectual property. Trademark law may protect those elements. MORE >>