Control your valuable intellectual property. Learn how multiple startup owners can avoid common issues, be it in technology, film, music, games, art, literature or just about any other kind of tangible or intangible property.
Bill Broussard will cover issues that need addressing especially early if you will be involved in creating things.
Every startup shares some of the same legal issues, while each has its own unique challenges and inevitable problems. The faster the growth, the faster hurdles present themselves. Lack of preparation or slow response can lead to disaster, and most companies that experience rapid growth are unable to keep up with the challenges and, regrettably, do not survive.
Bill Broussard’s presentation will provide a brief overview of some things that every early stage company needs to address early on if they will be involved in creating things, whether technology, fine art or graphic art, motion pictures and similar works, literature or other writing, music, sound recordings or just about any other kind of tangible or intangible property. The discussion will include how to maintain control over various kinds of valuable property that would otherwise lose that value.
Bill will cover the primary areas of intellectual property protection, some things that entrepreneurs and other business owners can do from the start to protect the value in their creations, and how to know when it is time to get formal IP protection. He will also discuss some of the details that go into setting up a business with multiple owners, who ultimately have divergent interests to a greater or lesser extent.
Bill will discuss how multiple owners of businesses should establish ownership identification and governance standards, how business owners can protect their interests, and how to avoid common errors that lead to misunderstandings, and anger. Providing some fundamentals of how to avoid legal disputes is a primary objective of Bill’s presentation.
In addition to a planned Q&A session at the end of the program, Bill plans to stay afterward to visit and answer questions. Bill has an active law practice in and around the Austin area, which often extends across the entire United States and even abroad, and he can be reached at bill ( at ) billbroussard.com (e-mail if you would like a copy of Bill’s Powerpoint presentation slide deck) or (512) 263-7794. Bill has agreed to extend “favored customer” rates to certain members of the group who are interested in engaging Bill professionally; simply inform him of your affiliation at the outset of any matter, and please discuss fees and expenses early and often.
Your Presenter: Bill Broussard, Attorney & Counselor
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wmbroussard/
William Arren Broussard
Bill Broussard spent the first twelve years of his career with two large law firms, where he had great opportunities to work with major banks, technology companies, games producers, film studios and many others, eventually being invited to be a partner/shareholder of each firm. Since starting his own practice over twenty years ago, he has acted as outside counsel, and in many instances general counsel, often directly involved in management (frequently filling other roles relating to finance, marketing and other “non-legal” capacities), for a diverse array of companies. This has given Bill a wide range of experience, including entity selection, formation and governance, a huge array of different types of contracts, outsourcing, licensing arrangements, and other transactional matters, intellectual property, acquisition, and financing of various types of assets and equity, fundraising through venture capital, private equity, strategic investment, and other types of financing vehicles, human resources, non-judicial (and occasionally judicial) dispute resolution, business planning, financial planning, capitalization, reorganization and growth strategies for existing companies and startups, etc. His goal is to benefit clients by bringing a compliment of experience, skills and expertise to every engagement.
While ethical rules prohibit claiming “specialties” for the most part, Bill has meaningful experience assisting startup and emerging growth companies, which encompasses a vast array of matters, sometimes necessitating involvement of attorneys and other specialists in various areas. Much of his work has been for technology and creative businesses, including software, computer, console and mobile gaming and applications, music creation, scoring, performance and other forms of publication and production, duplication, marketing and distribution of sound recordings, computer aided design and design automation, original artwork ranging from advertising and graphics to fine art, various forms of image capture of still and moving subjects electronically and photographically and matters pertaining to post-production, marketing, distribution of photographs, video clips and motion pictures, instrumentation and other electronic hardware, complex networks and similar systems, all aspects data processing such as ISP operations, hosting, co-location, cloud infrastructure and operations, data security, backup, mirroring and disaster recovery, and overall data center matters, “big data” and other database management matters, telecommunications and semiconductors. He has also worked with numerous clients in “low tech” or “no tech” industries, developing experience in some unusual industries, such as aircraft purchase, sales, maintenance and joint ownership arrangements, yacht brokerage, purchase, sales and chartering, many matters pertaining to medical practices, stone quarry operations, and many more. He has been involved in matters totaling an estimated six billion dollars.
Mr. Broussard holds the degrees of Doctor of Jurisprudence with Honors and Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and International Business from The University of Texas at Austin, where he also studied electrical engineering, mathematics and economics, among other things. While in law school, he studied under and was Quizmaster to the late Professor Charles Alan Wright, served as National Secretary of The Order of Barristers and Exchequer of Phi Delta Phi honor fraternity, and he was made a member of The Order of the Coif upon graduation. For over 25 years, Bill has maintained the respected Martindale Hubbell “A/V” status, their highest peer review rating for legal ability and ethical standards, and he is included in their Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in Texas, The Best Lawyers in America and many similar publications. He was also nominated and selected as a Fellow of the State Bar of Texas Foundation, the Travis County Bar Foundation and the Austin Bar Foundation.
Bill also has been in the music, recording and sound business. While still in high school he earned a certificate of Trade and Industrial Education in Electronics, which he applied to work his way through college. He has and sometimes continues to work for recording and film studios, high-end audio operations, a speaker manufacturing company, and a manufacturer of professional sound equipment and instrumentation as a recording engineer, service and maintenance technician, manufacturing lead, and design technician, both in his home town of Baton Rouge and here in Austin, for over forty years. At one time he co-owned a music recording studio, and he also designed and fabricated custom electronics for musicians. His involvement in music continues as an occasional writer, musician, arranger and producer. He also has done work as a professional photographer for over forty years, with thousands of photos, many published, shot underwater, outdoors and in his studio, of architecture, auto racing and other sports, wildlife, landscapes, glamour and other artistic subjects, and culinary subjects, often complimenting prolific writing of both fiction and nonfiction. He is an active contributing writer and photographer for Louisiana Kitchen & Culture magazine, which has national circulations. He is father to a son and daughter and husband of an accomplished oil painter with vast experience in fine arts and nation-wide placement of her work.
When: Tuesday March 7th 2016; 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Where: Mister Tramps Sports Pub and Cafe, 8565 Research Blvd, Austin, TX, 78758
RSVP: RSVP on Meetup (membership required) or RSVP on Eventbrite (no membership required)
Cost: $10
6:00 to 6:20: Meet & Greet
6:20 to 6:25: Introductions
6:25 to 7:25: Main presentation
7:25 to 7:55: Information Q&A/Social
Organizer:
Dr. Ataollah Etemadi
All our events are for the benefit of the
Settlement Home for Children, and the Austin Children’s Shelter
Mister Tramps Parking
