Earlier this summer, Philadelphia offensive lineman Chuck Warmack added another item to his list of noteworthy life events: he became the first NFL player to collect on a loss-of-value insurance policy. Loss-of-value policies have been common for some time among college players, because they protect a player’s financial future in the event of a career-halting…
Multimillion dollar sports sponsorship contracts require careful negotiations best handled by an experienced attorney. The Dallas Cowboys are rated the world’s most valuable sports team as of July, 2018. Blockbuster TV contracts and owner-friendly collective bargaining agreements are causing record sale prices in every major U.S. sports league. (source: Forbes) Lucrative sponsorship deals for players and…
More professional athlete and celebrity endorsement deals involve giving spokespeople ownership shares in emerging businesses, rather than large cash payments. An attorney can help businesses arrange these endorsement deals. Apple Inc. made headlines in May 2014 when it announced it was going to purchase Beats Electronics and Beats Music for $3 billion. A less widely-reported…
Investors in high-technology assets as well as banks and other financial institutions who lend to high-tech companies have to be careful when it comes to securing their investments. In the sometimes-nebulous world of intellectual property assets, it can often be challenging to define and enforce rights in and to continually evolving IP products, processes or…
Professional athletes are finding a new array of equity arrangements to consider in endorsement and branding contracts. The answer to that question is a resounding “yes.” Professional athletes are becoming the focus of new, creative equity-structured arrangements in which their personal brands are either leveraged in exchange for equity in companies; or athletes’ earnings and…
Trademark and copyright infringement cases are frequently in the news in California and across the U.S., and disputes are common among some of the big names in intellectual property. For example, Apple and Amazon recently dismissed claims against each other concerning trademark issues, a conflict that spanned over two years.Intellectual property lawsuits can stretch on…
People who are creative at heart may have grown up hearing that they need to get a 9 to 5 job to pay the bills and that their artistic endeavors should be relegated to a hobby. The reality however is that with the right legal advice, it may in fact be possible to derive income…
The world of intellectual property is confusing to most. Individuals may not know that they have certain rights when it comes to the protection of the works they create. Those rights are referred to as copyright. The rights that are provided under copyright are both moral rights as well as economic rights. Moral rights pertain…
Successful entrepreneurs may get the recognition for creating a successful company, but rarely do people talk about the talent that surrounds that entrepreneur — the very people that entrepreneur recruited and brought aboard. Talent acquisition is one of the most important tasks for an entrepreneur. In the company’s early days, having talented, smart people that…
Professional athletes may be asked to sign contracts that include provisions regarding injuries. A baseball pitcher’s arm is the “most valuable commodity in sports”, at least that’s the crux of a new book discussed in a report by National Public Radio (NPR). The book discusses the career trajectory of baseball pitchers, with a focus on…