A recent Twitter hack affected the accounts of several celebrity figures, including Barack Obama and Kanye West, and highlighted the need for businesses of all types and sizes to stay vigilant about cybersecurity as more workers and vendors work remotely. When shelter-in-place orders arose in March, many businesses very quickly moved to remote work, sending workers home with laptops that lacked proper anti-virus and security software and then never doing anything about it. In many cases,

It can be relatively easy to make a website and start an e-commerce business, or to start selling online the same products you already sell in a brick-and-mortar shop. It’s something you can even do on your own, depending on your skills and needs. With more people purchasing online, it can be a great way to keep your business afloat. But an e-commerce business also has its fair share of legal pitfalls, and because you sell

Any proprietary information that belongs to your business might be a “trade secret” or protected confidential information. Trade secrets are a type of “intellectual property” owned by your business and they are protected by law. You can require people who work for you to keep trade secrets confidential. Under federal law, a trade secret is defined as information from which your business gains “independent economic value” and which is not generally known to others. Also, you,

Electronic execution of agreements is quickly becoming more commonplace in most businesses. But how can you obtain authorized e-signatures and be sure it is a sound agreement? Contract formation is generally governed by state law rules, and the requirements are similar for a virtually executed contract: The agreement must state that the customer consents to enter into the agreement electronically. There has to be a way to identify the individual electronically signing the agreement. The process

Videoconferencing isn’t exactly new, and many people have been using Skype or FaceTime for face-to-face conversations for quite some time. But it’s no secret that the pandemic opened many more businesses to regular videoconferencing through a host of readily available tools, including Zoom. What many business owners might not be thinking about are the possible legal risks associated with the widespread use of these platforms. Generally, the tools companies are using were intended for more casual

Patent disputes are increasing, according to recent information gathered by Unified Patents, an organization that works to reduce patent abuse. According to the data, nearly 900 district court lawsuits relating to patents were filed in the second quarter of 2019. Patent fights tend to increase when the economy experiences a slowdown. New areas of patents, such as new smartphone-related technology, new cannabis products and new products in the life sciences space, may be behind an uptick

A Federal Trade Commission settlement with a California mortgage broker who posted personal information about consumers on Yelp after they posted negative reviews of his services is a cautionary tale to businesses, which should never publicly disclose clients’ personal information. According to a Department of Justice complaint filed on behalf of the FTC, mortgage broker Ramon Walker, owner of Mount Diablo Lending, responded to negative Yelp reviews by posting information about customers’ health, taxes, credit history,

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has boosted its maximum fines for workplace safety violations. The new maximum fine for “serious” violations is $13,500 per violation, while the top fine for “willful” or “repeated” violations is $135,000 per violation. Typically, an OSHA investigation is prompted by a worker contacting OSHA anonymously or an employer filing a required report. Employers generally are not obligated to inform OSHA about workplace injuries except in certain circumstances: a fatality must

A new rule raises the minimum amount foreigners need to invest to qualify for a U.S. green card under the EB-5 program. Created in 1992, the program grants green cards to foreign nationals who make the necessary investment in a commercial enterprise in the U.S. In addition to minimum financial benchmarks, the program stipulates that an investment must also create (or, in certain circumstances, preserve) 10 permanent full-time jobs for U.S. workers. The EB-5 Modernization Rule