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Normally you will incorporate in the State where your business is located or headquartered. You may have a factory, office or store. You may live in that State. Many people will look to other States because they were told certain States are better for the shareholders and rules. Some States will protect the privacy of Officers and Directors than others and some States have no State income tax. There are all good reasons. However if you are doing business in a State, even a State that has high in…

CALIFORNIA STATEMENT OF INFORMATION

     California requires a Statement of Information filing in order to complete the process of incorporating or forming a limited liability company in California. The Statement may be filed electronically. The Statement is due within 90 days of filing your initial corporation or limited liability company. There is a fee of $25 for a corporation or $20 for an LLC. The statement indicates the headquarters address, the registered agent for the corporation or lim…

Incorporating has been around since the USA was founded whereas Limited Liability Company's ("LLC") have only been around since 1979. The first State with an LLC was Wyoming in 1979. California allowed LLC's since 1995-a relatively short time. Thus many laws for LLC have not been reviewed by Courts and many decisions are based upon corporation law in California.

LLC

An LLC is a hybrid between a corporation and a partnership. The LLC has the benefit of limited liability meaning that the owner’s…

TRADEMARK REGISTRATION PROCESS

TRADEMARK SEARCH

Premise-Trademark rights are established based upon usage NOT registration. This is important to understand that you do not select a brand, name or mark and then own the Mark. It’s the opposite-you must check to see if your name or brand is available before spending money by marketing the name and building its value. You search first to see if you are the exclusive owner of the mark and so you do not infringe upon someone else’s mark.

BASIC SEAR…

Trademark rights are based upon usage not registration. This means that you don't own a trademark by selecting the name or brand. You own a trademark because you use the name or brand. To see if you can register a mark you need to find out if anyone else has the right to the mark.

United States Trademark Office Search-Structured Search

The first place to see if someone owns your name or brand is to see if anyone has registered th3 trademark or attempted to register the mark. The USPTO has a se…

TAXPAYER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER

(EMPLOYER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER)

What is an Employer identification Number?

            An employer identification number (“EIN”) is also known as a taxpayer identification number (“TIN”) by some. They are the same.  The number is issued by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) when you start a new business or hire your first employees. Think of the Number like your social security number. The Number is used to identify your corporation, limited liability comp…

Legal Stepz helps you create legal documents without being an attorney. You may want to form a business. You have options like going to a lawyer but those fees are typically in excess of $1500,00 plus. You can go to a paralegal on online service. You get what you pay for. You still will have to pay $500 to $1000-which is just a small saving from a lawyer. You can get a Do-It-Yourself book like nolo that will explain how to prepare the document. Reading hundreds of pages and understanding what th…