In This Issue:
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What to Ask Potential Investors Beyond “Is Your Money Green”
Overview Investment into U.S. venture-backed companies dropped 20% to $6.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to a year earlier, according to Dow Jones VentureSource, and was down 15% to $29.7 billion for… -
California Attorney General Issues Mobile Industry Privacy Guidelines
Overview In January, California Attorney General Kamala Harris further built on her high-profile 2012 campaign to improve privacy protection for consumers who use mobile devices by issuing a report titled “Privacy… -
Why Non-Unionized High Tech Companies Still Need to Pay Attention to the National Labor Relations Board
Overview The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is the agency that administers the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which is the law that protects employee rights to unionize and collectively bargain with… -
Finally – Video Privacy Protection Act Amended for the Internet Era
OverviewOn January 10, 2013, President Obama signed into law amendments to the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) that facilitate social media sharing of video viewing preferences when users consent to… -
Navigating the Tax Storm Clouds on the Horizon
Overview Seeking new revenues, states are starting to consider taxation of cloud-based services. For example, Washington enacted a statute which specifically taxes Software as a Service (SaaS) providers. Other states… -
The “Google Effect:” How High-Tech Companies Are Impacting Building, Architecture and Design
Overview Technology companies in the Bay Area have led the resurgence of the local commercial real estate sector. And these companies are also creating a new norm in campus design known as the Google Effect. Google… -
Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act of 2012: A Powerful New Weapon for Businesses
Overview On December 28, 2012, President Obama signed the Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act of 2012, which significantly expands trade secret protection by extending criminal penalties to the theft of a wider…
President's Message
PDF VersionTechnology Sector Leadership:
Presenting a Different Face of Carr McClellan
This special edition of Perspectives focuses on our firm’s expanding experience, knowledge and capabilities in representing technology companies and their investors. This knowledge base cuts across all practice areas of the firm, well beyond our corporate and intellectual property (IP) groups.
Litigation. Trade secrets. Licensing. Real estate. Taxation. Estate planning and wealth transfer. Over the years our lawyers have built broad experience in the technology industry across all these disciplines. Our firm has a long history of representing companies and their owners in their various business endeavors, spanning many industries and business models. That broad experience, which includes representation of many clients in the technology sector, forms the foundation of our growing technology practice.
Our corporate group has seen the most significant growth in the representation of technology industry clients. That growth includes representing entrepreneurs and their startups in all aspects of formation and early growth, as well as angel and other investors in all stages of equity financings. Ed Willig’s article on the evolving funding marketplace for startups provides important context for newly formed technology companies, the entrepreneurs that lead them and the investors that fund them. Helen Christakos explains the new privacy guidelines for the mobile industry issued by Kamela Harris, the California Attorney General. Valerie Menager points out why the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is not irrelevant to a technology industry workforce that is growing again. And although he’s a litigator, Scott Atkinson shows his versatility by parsing the salient provisions of important recent amendments to the Video Privacy Act.
Our litigators have deep expertise in a wide array of “soft IP” cases, including disputes involving trade secrets and licensing. Our real estate attorneys have represented both tech companies that lease space and landlords that lease facilities to tech companies, leading to valuable insights into a whole range of specialized, and often unique, business and legal issues. Sales tax issues regarding cloud-based software (often delivered as a service), and the shifting sales tax framework under various states’ laws are the subjects of increasing focus by our tax department. And not to be left out, our estate planning and wealth transfer group has built a considerable body of experience in deploying complex planning techniques for the tax efficient transfer of wealth created in the technology industry.
Read on. The articles that follow represent a cross section of our lawyers, providing just a glimpse into the myriad of subject matters in which our firm has developed expertise and experience that provide value for our technology industry clients.