Loneliness isn’t good for business

Loneliness isn’t good for business

Industrialization has brought us immense wealth and free time. But at what cost? University of Chicago professor John Cacioppo explores the hidden costs in his book, Loneliness, which is featured in The Nature of Loneliness.

As is more fully set forth in the article, we are mammals. We need physical connection with others as much as we need oxygen. And yet while we have become more virtually connected in today’s globalized economy, we have also become more physically isolated. People date online, do business online, and virtually live online. We have moved from the country, to the city, to the internet. Mr. Cacioppo has some very provoking thoughts about the costs of such virtual connectivity — and isolation — on our health. Workplaces who foster more physical networking and collaboration among the team often increase productivity. Perhaps that is why internet companies — such as Google, Facebook, and the like — are so successful. By collaborating with one other, their members feel more like part of the team that has a common purpose.

We measure your mountain of legal issues twice.

That way, we only have to climb once.

Ryan Long: Principal

Ryan Long: Principal

Professional Experience

Since 2006, Ryan has been solving tricky intellectual property issues for pioneering tech / media / design clients. Currently, he’s a non-residential fellow of Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, and Vice Chairman of the Licensing & Technology Transactions Group, California Lawyers Association. Ryan’s intellectual property, litigation, and transactional expertise has helped clients including Kanvas Labs (acquired by AOL) create, protect, and market their creations, solve complex litigation issues, and negotiate complex agreements. Along the way, he has written for, or has been interviewed by, the likes of El Pais, Cognitive Times, and Digital Trends about tech/media issues such as how companies should tackle “deep fake” posts. He recently finished teaching a media law seminar at Pepperdine Law School. Prior to starting this practice, Ryan was an antitrust litigator with Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes & Lerach LLP in New York City, among others.

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Aaron Jackson: Of Counsel

Aaron Jackson: Of Counsel

Aaron is of counsel based in San Francisco.  He provides Bay Area based technology clients with practical and yet creative problem solving focused counseling in corporate and venture capital raising matters.

Professional Experience

Aaron is of counsel based in San Francisco.  As the principal of Jackson Law Group, he provides Bay Area based clients with practical and yet creative problem solving focused counseling in corporate and venture capital raising matters.  Currently, Aaron represents several emerging growth clients in the technology industry, such as Hana Capital Partners, LLC and Fullerton Venture Partners, LLC.

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Media & Entertainment

Media & Entertainment

Since our inception in 2006, we have been representing award winning media & entertainment clients with their intellectual property, litigation, and corporate matters. Whether it’s an external dispute with a vendor, or an internal conflict with a partner, we have for more than ten years been by our media & entertainment clients side to quickly resolve problems as efficiently as possible and within the budget we set for the client.

More recently, for example, we successfully settled a contentious dispute between actor Mr. Edward Burns, who starred in Saving Private Ryan, and one of his vendors in New York after filing an answer and counterclaims alleging fraud, among other things. Other clients in this industry have included:

  • Manhattan based Bodega Studios, producer of independent films like Hello Lonesome
  • Grammy award winning Def Jam recording artist Ms. Chrisette Michele Payne (p/k/a Chrisette Michele)
  • Legendary recording artist Mr. Ramble Krohn (p/k/a “RJD2“), creator of AMC’s Mad Men theme music
  • Grammy award winning recording artist Mr. Winston Rodney (p/k/a “Burning Spear“)
  • Russian recording artist Ms. Liana Migulya, daughter of legendary Russian artist Mr. Vladimir Migulya
  • Audio-visual distribution company Victory Audio Video Services, Inc. (d/b/a “Victory Multimedia“)
Corporate

Corporate

After you graduate from your infancy to your adolescent corporate self, we will guide you through issues such as franchising, hiring employees, licensing, and bringing in new capital that are particular to the technology, media, and design industries. As you grow from your adolescent to your adult corporate self, we will seek to keep you away from the gazing and expensive eyes of the Securities Exchange Commission. To do that, we keep your capital raising efforts in the technology, media, and/or design industries within application exceptions, including the private placement exception, Regulation D exceptions, and accredited investor exception. That way, you can grow without worrying about complying with expensive and tedious SEC rules that may hinder your capital raising effort.

We regularly advise clients on such matters as:

  • Corporate structuring and governance
  • Venture capital financing
  • Board composition, procedures, and election contests
  • Committee compensation and procedures
  • Best practices for boards, committees, and officers
  • Special Committee formation and execution
  • Crisis management
  • State and federal securities laws (including complex disclosure requirements) and stock exchange requirements
  • Restatements and internal control
  • Shareholder and market communications
  • Shareholder activism
  • Privacy and data security
  • Public equity transactions
  • Debt finance
  • Employee benefits and compensation
  • Technology transactions
  • Employment law
Litigation

Litigation

We have successfully represented technology, media, and design clients in high stakes litigation concerning antitrust, appellate, class action, commercial, and intellectual property matters in both state and federal courts, including in the Supreme Court of the United States.

Antitrust

Antitrust law can often be a critical tool to protecting our technology, media, and design clients’ business interests. A burgeoning film distributor may be boycotted by a handful of larger competitors, which is a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Alternatively, a larger film distributor may unlawfully extend its patent over a distribution technology in order to keep the burgeoning film distributor out of the market, which is a violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act

Regardless of the cause of your particular problem, our litigation and counseling has involved the full spectrum of antitrust and unfair competition issues, including price fixing, market allocation, exclusive dealing, exclusive territories, tying arrangements, monopoly leveraging, essential facilities, trade associations, patent abuse, and the full range of antitrust exemptions and immunities, including the Noerr-Pennignton doctrine, which is a qualified privilege for private entities who petition the government.

Appellate

In light of the uncertainty inherent in litigation at the trial court level, having the ability to successfully appeal lower court decisions that adversely affect your interests is essential. On numerous occasions, we have successfully represented technology, media, and design clients on appeal in federal and state courts in connection with matters as varied as entertainment, unfair competition, and antitrust, in the following courts: the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department; the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department; the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Commercial

Our technology, media, and design clients often call upon us to represent them in connection with their important complex commercial disputes, whether they are in federal court, state court, or arbitration. Such disputes involve inherent uncertainty, are expensive, and divert much needed psychic energy away from our clients’ businesses. As a result, we aggressively seek to favorably settle disputes in their nascent stage before they proceed to litigation or arbitration. We have done so on many occasions. At the same time, we have successfully litigated a myriad of commercial disputes, including:

  • Breach of management, distribution, recording, co-publishing, licensing, and promissory note agreements;
  • Trade secret, non-competition, non-solicitation and/or confidentiality agreements; and
  • Wrongful termination, detrimental reliance, and breach of employment agreements.

Intellectual Property

The breadth and depth of our experience litigating trademark and copyright disputes on behalf of our clients is extensive. We have prosecuted trade dress and trademark claims on behalf of large fashion houses, in addition to defending independent magazines against claims of trademark infringement. Grammy® award winning recording artists and songwriters also often rely on us to represent them in connection with their copyright and trademark infringement disputes, whether they arise in court or arbitration. Many of the intellectual property disputes we have worked on involved related issues concerning antitrust, regulatory compliance, and licensing.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property

We seek to protect your intellectual creations in the technology, media, and design industries so that you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. To do that, we try to meet with you during the creative process so as to ensure that your works are eventually protected before or while they go to market. Even after your technology, media, or design creations have seen the light of the marketplace, we will develop a strategy with you so that you can properly police third party use of your creations. That way, you won’t lose what you have worked so hard to create.

Copyright

When you are an author of an “original work,” your work is generally entitled to copyright protection under the U.S. Copyright Act. However, you generally still need to have a registered copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office in order to enforce your rights in federal court. An “original work” can include software, paintings, writings, dramas, and musical works. As a copyright owner, you have the right to stop others from partially or completely reproducing your copyrighted materials. Still, others have the right to “fair use” of your work.

As a result, we counsel you on how to use copyright law so that you receive maximum returns for the authorized and unauthorized use of your creative works. We also guide you so that you do not take actions that may be construed as copyright infringement, including compliance with open source software licenses (Apache, GPL, LGPL, MIT) and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Trademark

Trademarks serve to identify a business as the source of its goods or services. These words, symbols, or designs become more valuable as business grows. Trademarks registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) generally receive more protection than trademarks that are not registered. That is precisely why most businesses who intend on receiving venture capital money or who intend on going public eventually have a registered trademark. For these reasons, we advise our clients on how to select a mark that is a viable candidate for registration.

Even when our clients have already used a trademark that cannot be registered with the USPTO, these marks still receive protection under what is called the “common law.” We advise our clients about their rights under the common law, and how to stop others from infringing their common law trademark rights. In addition to ensuring that our clients’ trademarks are properly protected, we advise them concerning the licensing of their trademarks for use by others via franchise agreements and otherwise. We also draft and negotiate appropriate licensing and co-existence agreements that fit our clients’ particular needs.

Trade Secret

Today’s highly fluid global economy is synonymous with increased employee mobility and spin off companies. That is why trade secret protection is of the utmost importance. Trade secrets are recipes, formulas, devices, techniques, patterns, data compilations, and methods which are essential to the survival of a business but which are not subject to patent or copyright protection. We advise our clients as to what qualifies for trade secret protection, and then we assist our clients to develop and implement trade secret policies and procedures tailored to their business.

With the necessary safeguards in place, our clients can then protect their own enforceable trade secret rights through all means, even by seeking an injunction or damages under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act or the Economic Espionage Act. Finally, we advise our clients on how to leverage their trade secret so as to generate revenue streams and open new markets. These contracts may be simple licenses or joint ventures that provide product and market access to both parties.

Fashion

Fashion

Over the years, we have represented fashion designers who are members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (“CFDA”) and/or who have won the coveted Ecco Domani© Fashion Foundation award, in addition to burgeoning and established designers.

Representative matters in this industry include:

  • Apiece Apart – Negotiated and drafted the operating agreement, independent contractor, and investment documents for Apiece Apart, a woman’s fashion company which has been featured in Vogue, among other publications;
  • Mr. Richard Chai — Negotiated a favorable commercial lease and drafted trademark licenses for Mr. Richard Chai, the 2005 winner of the Ecco Domani© Fashion Foundation award; 
  • Ms. Allison Cosmos – Defended Ms. Cosmos, a well-known interior designer who has been featured in the likes of Elle Decor, against copyright infringement claims in connection with embroidery;
  • Donald Deal, Inc. — Registered trademarks and negotiated several contracts for CFDA designer Mr. Donald Deal,  who is carried by the likes of Wilkes Bashford and Neiman Marcus, and who has dressed the likes of Sharon Stone and Barbara Walters; 
  • Industrias Integratas — Advised this Colombian based apparel manufacturer, concerning the company’s contractual rights against a New Jersey textile broker;
  • Tailors Keep – Drafted employment and investor agreement documents for this San Francisco based men’s wear company which has been featured in publications including The Wall Street Journal;
  • Emma Fox Leatherware, L.L.C. — Registered trademarks for Emma Fox Leatherware, L.L.C., a burgeoning purse design company; 
  • Danielle Nicole, Inc. — Successfully dismissed a breach of contract complaint brought against Danielle Nicole, Inc., an emerging purse design company, and its founder, Danielle Nicole; and
  • Fair Ends – Reviewed and negotiated investment documents for Fair Ends, a burgeoning fashion brand.