Legal Questions

Essential legal issues that startups face, including corporate formation, fundraising documentation, founders stock, and board relations.

1 Votes
1 Answers
4.19K Views
Is it legal to reverse-engineer a software in the US?

I'm creating a mac application that supports a file format from a closed-source application. We tried to contact the company but they refused to make their proprietary file format...

asked Feb 9 '14 at 09:49
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Beau Wrixon
6 points

1 Votes
1 Answers
5.75K Views
Legal considerations while starting a supplements business?

I've been contemplating starting a brain supplement product similar to Onnit's Alpha Brain. The supplements industry is ridiculously de-regulated (thanks Utah). Literally anyone can contract a...

asked Feb 3 '14 at 17:16
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Lyle Guerrero
6 points

27 Votes
9 Answers
47.2K Views
Does plagiarism apply to legal documents?

I want to copy a Terms & Conditions agreement from a competitors site & swap out their name for mine. A few entrepreneurs I know have also done it but I wanted to make sure there aren't any...

asked Feb 16 '10 at 05:40
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Yasmine
206 points

23 Votes
1 Answers
21.3K Views
Is there a Terms of Service (TOS) template that I can use for my SaaS product? Please help, I am a geek and this is new to me

I am at a point where I need to have a Terms of Service (TOS) page ready before I launch my SaaS product. Is there a template somewhere that I can use, or is this something that only a lawyer can...

asked Oct 18 '10 at 02:33
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Ricardo
4,815 points

-3 Votes
1 Answers
2.49K Views
Starting a business outside U.S

To avoid the hostile taxation and business code in the U.S. I was thinking of possibly starting a non-US based company (I did a little research a while back on some good places but forgot now)....

asked Feb 9 '12 at 14:18
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Uiy
106 points

-1 Votes
2 Answers
2.22K Views
Someone Trademarked my idea for Tshirt athletic apparal line 30 days before I did and stole my idea ? What can I do ? Can I win?

I play baseball, talking on twitter 8/12 put my little saying that I have used for years and was going to trademark. Another baseball player said he liked it told him I was going to patent it and...

asked Nov 15 '13 at 05:21
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Ogden
4 points

1 Votes
1 Answers
6.08K Views
Using existing PayPal and Amazon accounts for new LLC

I'm going to start out by providing a bit of background info here. My actual question is in bold, below. So my wife and I run a website for digital artists that sells download subscriptions. This...

asked Nov 15 '13 at 09:55
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Jordan Magnuson
8 points

0 Votes
3 Answers
3.57K Views
Is it is legal to work for personal use/in another company, while working in another private firm?

I'm working as an iOS application developer for the past 2 plus years. Now I would like to register my own developer account to iTunes for uploading my private apps. If I create an iOS...

asked Nov 24 '13 at 01:53
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Thampuran
13 points

1 Votes
1 Answers
3.23K Views
What's a basic "I'm not responsible for anything" legal policy?

I'm beginning to put out lightweight online communities pretty quickly -- about 1 every week! Many of these communities are oriented toward social change, and aim to provide the necessary...

asked Oct 27 '13 at 06:42
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Themirror
130 points

5 Votes
3 Answers
4.15K Views
Can I copy from a few different terms of service pages from competitors?

I'm working with little funds so hiring a lawyer isn't an option. I'm starting a website like gazelle.com, nextworth.com, etc. and I was wondering if I can just use their concepts and piece...

asked Oct 30 '13 at 15:10
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Colton
26 points

3 Votes
3 Answers
3.27K Views
How close to a trademark can I get before I'm at risk of getting sued?

Background So, you may have heard of the "Net Promoter Score" which is trademarked term and is a metric for customer satisfaction and loyalty. Basically, there is a formula for calculating the...

asked Nov 6 '13 at 09:28
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Kristian
141 points

1 Votes
4 Answers
5.26K Views
What stops another company from copying your idea?

I got asked this question at a local venture conference recently when pitching our product. I've heard this question a handful of times and I really would like to get some honest feedback on the...

asked Oct 1 '13 at 12:19
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George Mc Dowd
109 points

0 Votes
1 Answers
2.35K Views
Would requiring a Sweepstakes entrant to use a program (free trial) for 5 minutes make that a Lottery and incur additional legal requirements?

There are three types of "giveaways": Contest (requires skill) Sweepstakes (random chance of winning) Lottery you pay for a chance. But something like a Facebook "like" is considered...

asked Oct 8 '13 at 06:00
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Clay Nichols
737 points

1 Votes
1 Answers
2.07K Views
What are the UK company drawbacks for foreign owners?

we won a grant in an Italian incubator, and to receive that we should establish an Italian company. However, looking forward to gain international investments, we'd prefer having a German or,...

asked Oct 8 '13 at 17:35
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Serg Ik S
108 points

1 Votes
2 Answers
2.45K Views
Do subscription websites require a DBA?

I have a content website I will begin charging a monthly subscription fee for soon. The receipt the members receive each month will have the website's name on it, my name is not in the website name...

asked Oct 9 '13 at 23:09
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Chad
108 points

1 Votes
4 Answers
2.06K Views
Do I need any permit from US government for my startup website?

We have just finished and launched our web project. It is a kind of social platform for companies one of its tasks also enable companies to publish jobs advertisements. Every country would have a...

asked Oct 11 '13 at 23:44
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Disconnect25
16 points

0 Votes
1 Answers
2.28K Views
Legal aspects of making a for-profit website?

Disclaimer: I've crossposted on Reddit. I'll preface this by saying that I'm in Canada, so some of the legal aspects might differ from the US, but I'm sure lots of them carry across. I'm...

asked Oct 15 '13 at 13:50
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Jmite
101 points

2 Votes
1 Answers
2.06K Views
Should you add a cookie warning to your site?

Most sites (including mine) use cookies for analytics, and tracking site logins. I'm not explicitly targeting European users, and my servers are not based in Europe, but do I still need to add a...

asked Oct 17 '13 at 12:27
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Steve
310 points

1 Votes
1 Answers
2.9K Views
If I want to start my own Software Company and Employ people abroad - do I need to register with RCA for a business number?

To begin I am a software enthusiast with minimal business experience. I want to start a sole proprietorship where I develop ideas and then have people help me develop them for me. (people...

asked Sep 12 '13 at 06:30
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B Dillan
13 points

3 Votes
2 Answers
7.43K Views
How long after employment termination is it OK to file the patent for an idea being developed after leaving employer?

An idea came to me while I was employed. The idea is within my broader field of expertise, but completely unrelated to the projects I was doing for my employer. I started working on the idea after...

asked Sep 13 '13 at 08:20
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D. Terry
16 points