Business guides, webinars, and newsletters from Surge Business Law.
What Is International Class 41? When you apply to register a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you have to identify which class of goods or ser…
If you build software, develop apps, sell electronic hardware, or distribute downloadable content, your brand likely needs protection under International Class 9. This is one of t…
Iowa ranks among the nation's leading producers of pork, beef, dairy, and eggs, and that agricultural strength is increasingly showing up in consumer brands. From small-batch hot…
When you buy a franchise, you are not buying a brand. You are buying the right to use a brand, under specific conditions, for a limited time. That distinction matters more than mo…
If you just received a letter from the USPTO about your trademark application, take a breath. An office action is not a denial, and it does not mean your brand is unprotectable. I…
You built something worth protecting. Your brand name, your logo, the identity you have spent months or years developing. Now you are wondering whether a trademark is worth the co…
Austin's startup scene moves fast. New companies launch every week, venture money flows in, and a brand that took months to build can become a liability overnight if someone else…
You have spent real time building your business. The name, the logo, the product, the process you figured out through trial and error. But when someone asks whether you have prote…
No Texas law requires you to have an employee handbook. That’s true and also somewhat beside the point. What a handbook does is answer the questions employees will have, set the e…
A notice from the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) telling you an employee has filed a wage claim requires an immediate response, not because it’s an emergency, but because Texas…
If your business uses independent contractors, you’re managing legal risk whether you know it or not. The classification question doesn’t resolve itself because you signed a 1099…
Texas is an at-will employment state. That means you can terminate an employee for any reason or no reason, as long as the reason isn’t an illegal one. What it doesn’t mean is tha…
Commission pay is common in small businesses, salespeople, project managers, recruiters, service providers, and roles where tying compensation to results makes sense. It’s also on…
Healthcare practices face an employment question that other businesses do not: every time you bring on a contractor who will touch patient information, you have two separate legal…
No Iowa law requires you to have an employee handbook. That’s true and also somewhat beside the point. What a handbook actually does is answer the questions employees will have, s…
A letter from the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL) telling you an employee has filed a wage claim requires an immediate response, not because it’s an…
Most small business owners don’t think about post-employment protections until after someone has left. A key employee joins a competitor, starts their own competing business, or t…
Finding out an employee has been stealing from you, money, client data, company photos, or billing for services never rendered, is one of the most disorienting things that happens…
If your business uses independent contractors, you’re managing legal risk whether you know it or not. The classification question doesn’t resolve itself because you signed a 1099…
Iowa is an at-will employment state. That means you can terminate an employee for any reason or no reason, as long as the reason isn’t an illegal one. What it doesn’t mean is that…
The decision to hire your first employee is usually exciting and immediately followed by a low-grade panic about what you’re supposed to do next. Federal forms, state registration…