22 September 2023
LLPs should review their membership arrangements urgently following recent binding tax decision
The recent Upper Tribunal decision in the Bluecrest case has confirmed the earlier FTT decision which considered the salaried member rules for LLPs.
22 August 2023
Lifecycle of a Tech Startup Series
Our investment and technology teams regularly advise tech startups as they progress from the initial pre-seed stage to being venture-funded enterprises on the cusp of an exit. Whilst the journey of every tech startup is unique, we’ve noticed that certain legal issues commonly crop up, and so we’ve created a case study to shed light on those issues and share our expertise on how to deal with them.
19 June 2023
Lifecycle of a tech startup series: expansion overseas
In episode 14 you successfully obtained VC investment from KNow Growth, allowing you to not only focus on increasing sales in the UK, but also expand by marketing your product overseas, and your initial target market is France.
However, as neither you nor Sarah have any experience of trading in France, you consider appointing an agent or distributor to help break into the market. Doing so would save the start-up costs of establishing your own sales operation and enable you to take advantage of that person’s established trade connections and local knowledge.
2 May 2023
“What’s in a name?”
“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” Romeo & Juliet – William Shakespeare
Company names and brand names, which may or may not be the same, along with the goodwill attributable to that name, is often a valuable company asset. However, even well-established brands are not immune to economic pressures, and you only have to take a walk down your local high street to witness the disappearance of many household names.
4 April 2023
IT consultancies: unravelling the intellectual property provisions in your customer contracts
IT consultancy firms are commonly called upon to advise customers on the best technology solutions to meet their operational needs. Treatment of the underlying intellectual property rights (“IP”) in each solution is a key concern for IT consultancies. Customers require clarity as to whether they will be assigned the IP in a solution, so that they own the same going forward, or whether they will be granted a limited licence to use the IP (on the basis that ownership will remain with the IT consultancy, or third-party, that originally developed the solution). The contracts IT consultancies sign with their customers therefore need to be tailored to reflect the specific solution(s) found for the customer and the resulting IP ownership position and, in this blog, we’ll flag some of the key considerations that IT consultancies need to be aware of when structuring the IP provisions in their customer contracts.