One of your first tasks in financing your technology company is likely to be completing your initial equity financing with outside investors. Typically, these financings are done with a venture capital firm (“VC”), angel investors or “friends and family” and the company will sell Series A Preferred Stock. Some of the primary negotiating points in
Reviewing Potential Investments With Your Clients
On August 4, 2014, the SEC issued an Investor Alert citing 10 Red Flags that should give investors an indication that an unregistered offering may be a scam. If you are considering an investment in an unregistered offering or you are advising a client who is considering such an offering, you should consider the following
Financing with IP Collateral
In a recent guest post on the Patently-O blog by Dennis Crouch, http://patentlyo.com/, William Mann, 
an assistant professor of finance at the Anderson School of Management, UCLA, notes the explosion in USPTO filings that record a creditor’s security interest in a patent. Secured debt can be a significant source of financing for many technology
Crowdfunding in Texas – When?
The Texas intrastate crowdfunding rules were adopted in April and the Texas Securities Board will consider comments to the rules through the end of June (even though the official deadline for comments is June 8th). The matter will be considered at the next Board meeting which is expected to occur in August. If
Crowdfunding: It’s Coming to Texas
In late April, the Texas Securities Board issued proposed regulations that would allow crowdfunding in intrastate transactions in Texas. The word on the street is that the proposed regulations will become final in August 2014. If they do, Texas will become the 8th and the largest state to enact intrastate crowdfunding.
Under the proposed
Trade Secrets: What an investor or acquirer will want to know.
If you are thinking about raising capital or selling your company, one of the most important questions that the investor or acquirer will want to know is whether you own your IP. One critical part of this is protecting your trade secrets. If you haven’t properly protected your trade secrets, it could kill your deal.
Intellectual Capital Development for Technology Companies, Cost Effective Adjunct to IP
The term Intellectual Capital means different things to different people even in the technology space. For business planning purposes, intellectual capital should be recognized as more than patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property, extending broadly to employee skills, knowledge, and problem solving abilities. This is sometimes referred to as a company’s or its
Anti-Dilution Provisions – A New Twist
We are all familiar with the modified ratchet and full ratchet anti-dilution provisions that relate to subsequent down rounds in the financing of start-up and emerging growth companies. A new twist on anti-dilution provisions is raising its head and, according to the Wall Street Journal, becoming more and more common. See “Startups Boosting the
Adam Carolla Refusing to Feed the Trolls
The WinTech blog previously covered a patent infringement lawsuit filed against the “Adam Carolla Show” from ACE Broadcasting Network, LLC.[1] The plaintiff, Personal Audio, LLC, alleges that the “Adam Carolla Show” is infringing on their patent for a “[s]ystem for disseminating media content representing episodes in a serialized sequence.”[2] The patent could also
SEC to Vote on Crowdfunding Proposal to Ease Investor Verification Requirements
On October 23, 2013, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) is expected to vote on a SEC proposal that would ease investor verification requirements under the crowdfunding rule. The crowdfunding rule, authorized as part of the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, is intended to benefit small businesses and startups too small