Equal Protection Under the Law
Laws are generally in place within a society to provide protection for the citizenry.  There are many areas of law, with criminal and civil as the two main categories.  However, there exist many subdivisions and specialties within each class, and legal experts in one discipline may not know a great deal about some other discipline.  Franchise law has evolved over the years to protect franchise buyers and ensure that rules and regulations throughout the industry are fair and open.  A franchise law firm generally finds its clients within two distinct groups - individuals who are interested in buying a franchise, and companies that wish to start a franchise operation.  There is even an area known as franchise investment law, where some states require franchises to be registered before they can be bought or sold.  A competent franchise law attorney is a valuable commodity for any party involved in franchising.  He or she should be well informed on new franchise law developments as well as existing case law.

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Investing in the United States from Overseas
Depending upon the state of the U.S. dollar and its relative value against various foreign currencies, overseas investors may find that putting their money into U.S. investments will grant them a very favorable rate of return.  For foreign nationals who wish to take this path, the U.S. government asks that they apply for an E-2 visa.  This is a special document that allows someone from outside the United States to make a domestic investment and also relocate there for a period of time.  For non-U.S. citizens with money to spend, this can be one of the easiest ways to end up living and working in the United States.

E-2 Visa Requirements
An applicant for an E-2 visa must be a legal resident of one of the countries with which the United States enjoys a treaty of commerce.  It is called a “non-immigrant” visa because it does not guarantee the holder a direct path to U.S.

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Protection for Franchise Buyers
Once you have decided that buying a franchise is the right business move, and after you have done proper due diligence to choose a field or industry to enter, it comes time to wade through the vast amounts of paperwork supplied by the prospective franchisors.  Few people are able to do this on their own.  Don’t forget, you are making a huge investment in both time and money to buy a franchise.  Even if your only concern is in understanding the franchise agreement and other material that will legally bind you together with the parent company, spending a few thousand dollars at the beginning of the relationship could save you many times more than that during the time you spend as a franchise owner.

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Personal Liability
We all have responsibilities when it comes to living in a society.  If you own a home, you must maintain it properly to avoid affecting the value of other properties in your neighborhood.  If you drive a car, you must operate it in a reasonable manner to make sure you are putting no one at risk of injury.  If you own a company, you must conduct business in a fair and safe manner.  Failing to abide by these societal expectations can cost you, both personally and professionally. The purpose of insurance is to protect the person or the business entity from financial harm.

Business Insurance Plan
Owners of a business should have a plan to protect the assets of the company as well as those of the individual owners.  While there are many types of insurance for small business, here are the primary categories:

• Property insurance
• Liability insurance
• Health insurance

Business Property Insurance
Property insurance offers protection against loss or damage, whether by theft, natural disaster, or accident.  A policy will protect both the physical building and its contents, and most insurers will cover items that are lost or stolen even after they have been removed from the premises—a laptop computer that accompanies you on a business trip, for example.

Three Basic Types of Business Liability Insurance
Even as the “protected” owner of a corporation or LLC (limited liability company), there are still circumstances where you can be held personally responsible for damages.  For example, you may have signed a personal loan guarantee for your business.  You may have caused an injury to someone through direct action or negligence, or did something illegal or irresponsible.  In these instances, the corporate umbrella may not protect you from suit.

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The Crux of an Idea
There is an old saying that goes, “The world will beat a pathway to your door to buy a better mousetrap.”  The opportunity to cash in on an invention is one of the top dreams an entrepreneur can have.  All it takes is thinking up something useful that no one else has built.  But having an idea is a far cry from earning big bucks from its sale.  There are a number of steps one must follow to reach that goal.

What is a Patent?
A patent is defined as the exclusive right to control an invention.  Once a patent has been issued, the owner can prevent anyone else from using it, manufacturing it, or copying it without permission.  There are three basic patent types - utility patent, design patent, and plant patent - with each covering different methods and lasting for different lengths of time.  A utility patent is usually good for 20 years and covers machinery and processes.  A design patent is usually good for 14 years and covers a particular design that does not fall under the previous description.  A plant patent is usually good for 17 years and refers specifically to an inventor who has developed a new type of vegetation.  Generally speaking, once the period of a patent has expired, the item becomes public property.

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So you want to buy an accounting or law firm?  There are many details that you will need to attend to in order to take over a law firm for sale or other type of legal business for sale.  Locating a CPA firm for sale or accounting companies for sale can be quite a challenge.  However, it is not impossible and you can be quite successful in this industry.

Legal Background
It is important to have some sort of legal background before you even begin to think about finding a legal service business for sale or buying a law firm.  If you do not know the workings of the legal system, you will have trouble making the best decisions for the firm and to operate it efficiently to make a profit.

Accounting or Business Background
If you want to buy a CPA firm for sale or other accounting companies for sale, it is important to have an accounting or business background.  This will ensure that you can make operate and run the new company with the ease and with profitability.

Finding a Law Firm
Finding a law firm may be somewhat difficult.   Typically not a large number of firms go up for sale.  Most law firms that are established are usually operated and run by a partnership.  If one person wants out of the partnership, the other person traditionally continues the legal practice.

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A trademark search can, in actuality, be many different things. In theory, a trademark search is performed to determine whether or not the mark you are hoping to use is already taken by another. This allows an individual to apply with a greater level of confidence for the use of a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (herein referred to as the USPTO). A trademark search is, ideally, a comprehensive, analytical way of researching a name, slogan or logo for prior use.

A trademark search can also be performed in a sloppy and ineffective manner, and may not protect you from potentially infringing upon another’s name or logo. This is why it’s important to ensure that the trademark research you have commissioned is done comprehensively and thoroughly!

It is not unusual for a trademark research company to charge hundreds of dollars for searching the USPTO, which you can do for free. Comprehensive research firms search Federal, State and Common Law records, which is a more logical and thorough way to research your name. When commissioning research on your name, it is important to ask the company you’re considering using to clarify what exactly their searches entail, each step of the way.

Companies may try and save money in other ways, including letting you pour through the raw data they collect without any summary of what it all means. It is important to be sure once you’ve decided to commission research on your name, that the information is compiled into an easily readable report. Examining the results of your research can sometimes be difficult, even when placed in an edited report. If you’re left to decipher the meaning of a company’s raw data, chances are you may under react or overreact to the results.

When searching your name, it is important that phonetic spellings of the name are searched, as well as vowel variations.

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At one point or another, we’ve all seen a product or business name with a small, encircled R floating next to it. You’ve probably wondered what this R symbol really means, and how exactly it got there in the first place. Most people will tell you that it means something to the effect of “registered,” but that’s only a small part of the significance behind the circled R.

It’s correct that this symbol does imply the term registered, but registered with whom, and how?

A “registered trademark”, or ®, refers to a name, slogan or logo that has been officially registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Registering a trademark is beneficial to a business because it publicly states that your trademark is registered with the USPTO and therefore, you have exclusive rights to that name within your industry. This means that if your business had a registered trademark, and you found another business of a similar nature utilizing your name or logo, you would *likely have the legal right to use your name!

Each time an individual applies for a trademark, the USPTO performs a cross reference check of their name and/or design for similarities among Federally registered or pending trademarks ONLY. The USPTO search is lacking in State trademark AND US National Common-Law databases. Because the USPTO protects names in this fashion, you do not run the risk of another business utilizing and possibly soiling the reputation of the company that you worked hard to build!

Once you have applied for your trademark, the USPTO will consider it a pending mark for up to 18 months. This is among the many reasons why it is important to apply for your trademark sooner versus later. The sooner you apply, the sooner it is that you will be doing business under a registered, protected name!

*This is dependent on if the name is truly available at the time of filing.

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