Category: Corporate & Business law
Attorney Carole Clark Isakson Speaks at Women Venture Event
January 10, 2018 | Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.On Tuesday January 9, 2018, BGS attorney Carole Clark Isakson had the pleasure of teaching a group of motivated women entrepreneurs about intellectual property issues in small businesses. Topics included trademark registration and use, software licenses, who owns the IP when you use a third party, and other topics relevant to small businesses in general. The seminar was arranged by Women Venture, a non-profit organization that serves women entrepreneurs in the Twin Cities area. It offers training, advice, loans and related services to women who complete various training and have a solid business proposal. To date Women Venture has served more than 1000 clients! Carole recently became a volunteer with Women Venture, and is excited to be part of such a great endeavor. Women Venture is an SBA approved micro-lender and CDFI; it also works with local banks and community partners. After the enjoyable and interactive seminar for female business owners, Carole answered questions for almost an hour! And then headed into a second meeting with the Women Venture staff to talk about the new LLC Act and how it impacts Women Venture and the community it serves. It was a long but productive afternoon at Women Venture. BGS is proud to support the work of Women Venture and entrepreneurs in general!
Read MoreHELP!!! Someone trademarked my company name!!
August 17, 2017 | Carole Clark IsaksonYep. Before explaining how this happens, a little background information is needed. Every state has an office charged with registering businesses that wish to do business in the state. In Minnesota, that office is called the Secretary of State’s office (hereafter SOS) and registering businesses is one of many tasks it undertakes. The SOS will not permit a company to be formed that has the exact same name as an already registered company, and other rules apply in choosing a name. Once the name is registered, it is yours to use – doing business in Minnesota. It is not reserved for your use beyond the borders of the state. There is a common misconception that forming an entity at the state level somehow reserves the name in the same way that filing a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) does. It does not… in fact, on the USPTO website you will see the following caution: However, a state’s authorization to form a business with a particular name does not also give you trademark rights and other parties could later try to prevent your use of the business name if they believe a likelihood of confusion exists with their trademarks. Although a trademark is frequently a name (or logo)…
Read MoreLimited Liability Companies and a New Minnesota Statute
April 26, 2017 | Daniel D. Ganter, Jr.The Minnesota legislature has adopted a new statute governing limited liability companies, Minnesota Statutes Chapter 322C. On January 1, 2018, all 322B LLC’s will be automatically converted to 322C LLC’s. This conversion could result in significant inconsistencies in the LLC governing documents which could cause problems in the future. Therefore, we are advising all 322B LLC’s to amend their Articles of Organization and adopt Operating Agreements which would avoid any inconsistencies. If you would like more information, call Dan Ganter at 763-783-5127.
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