Your choice of the type of entity, such as corporation and limited liability company, is crucial to achieve your business goals. Your decision may depend on various factors, such as a whether the company will have a single owner or multiple owners, with or without employees, multiple investors, will be a local company, a Delaware-based company, a VC-funded company, or a subsidiary of a foreign company. We advise clients on the choice of entity to ensure your business has the structure best suited for your objectives.

Contracts are important tools to ensure your business can achieve your objectives and to protect you from liabilities. The terms and conditions in the contract may imply significant undesirable legal consequences that might not be clear on their face. Not only the language of the contract, but the negotiations and strategies for the execution of the contract are important for a successful closing and for your future business. We have handled countless cases of drafting and reviewing contracts, negotiations, advising on strategies for their executions. Examples include: product sale agreements, service agreements, distribution agreements, lease agreements, nondisclosure agreements, licensing agreements, OEM agreements, vendor agreements, and asset purchase agreements. We advise clients to help them understand the legal effects of the terms and conditions and effectively execute contracts for their further growth.

Hiring employees is an exciting growth step in your business. Employment matters, however, are heavily regulated at both the federal and the state level, such as minimum wages and overtime payments, workplace posters, and hiring and termination processes. Our firm assists business owners to create sound employment relationships with their employees pursuant to the federal, state, and local laws and regulations. We also help businesses to draft, review, and update employee handbooks and company policies and procedures to establish and maintain sound employment practices in the workplace.

The realm of technology transactions and licensing from the legal perspective requires well-structured analysis, considering many factors such as the type of technology, ownership of the technology, rights, products or services provided, and location of the technology. Our experience includes drafting and negotiating licensing agreements, IT service agreements, OEM agreements, hardware sales, and IT vendor agreements. We provide assistance to draft agreements for technology transactions and licensing while advising you on negotiation strategies and the legal effects of the contract and license terms.

Purchasing and selling business, in part or in whole, can be achieved in different ways, such as asset purchase, share purchase, and merger. We assist you to decide on a suitable method for buying and selling the target business to achieve your goals. Mergers and acquisitions also involve much effort and time-consuming processes. We provide support throughout the transaction, including the negotiation and execution of a nondisclosure agreement and a term sheet, due diligence, drafting and reviewing the purchase agreement, and the closing.

Branding your business and protecting your intellectual property in your merchandise, such as unique product names, logos, and textbooks, are important for the success of your business.

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination thereof that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others. A service mark is the same as a trademark, except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. Without appropriate protection for your trademark or service mark, you may be forced to rebrand your product or service, costing more than the expenses you might have needed to take measures to protect your mark, or you may face difficulties in enforcing your rights in your mark when your competitors use similar marks to yours.

Copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright registration with the United States Copyright Office in a timely manner is likely to provide you with strong legal protection as compared to delayed registration or no registration at all.

Our firm advises you on protecting your important marks and copyright and assists you throughout the necessary processes.

Baxter Law International PLLC is committed to promote businesses between the US and Japan from the legal perspective. Having years of legal work experience in both countries and good understandings of their cultures, our firm has a strong passion and focus on assisting businesses going into the Japanese market, entering into the US market, or local Japanese business owners doing business in the US. Starting a conversation with someone who has a different cultural and language background is already challenging and requires extra steps even to get business conversation started, and that is likely to continue throughout the discussions and negotiations until you achieve your goals. Our firm assists you in starting a business relationship with the other party from the country across the Pacific Ocean and to maintain a good and strong business relationship. Please visit the “Attorney Profile” page for more information about Eriko “Elly” Baxter’s background and experience in the US and Japan.