Ogden Glazer + Schaefer Interact

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By: Ogden Glazer + Schaefer

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Jeffrey Glazer
Katie Mahoney
Erin Ogden
Collin Schaefer

Latest from Ogden Glazer + Schaefer Interact

We work with a lot of entrepreneurs and start-ups. Heck, at 5 years old, our firm is just getting out of the toddler stage!  So, I get asked a lot about the “how.” How do you start? How do you know what to do? How do you scale?  We can answer a lot of the legal ones easily, like “How do you create a company?” and “How do you protect your trademark?” The other ones are trickier and very fact dependent.  But throughout it all, the question of “How do you ‘be an entrepreneur’?” all comes down to being OK…
Big weekend! Taylor Swift has re-released her 2008 album “Fearless” to claw back ownership of, and agency over, her music after the much publicized sale of the original master recordings to a private equity firm. The release, of course, is taglined, “Taylor’s Version” – but what is the (copyright) legality behind how Taylor was able to make the re-release happen? Read on for…..some of the best cocktail knowledge you’ll get from me this year. A “Bundle of Rights” – Made Even Larger in the Context of Music Copyright “rights” are referred to as a “bundle of rights” that their owner…
People are weird. It really boils down to that.  And I’m not excluding myself from that categorization at all.  All people are weird.  Need proof? Veblen goods are proof.  A Veblen good is a good where demand rises as price rises. See?! Weird.  But, it turns out that people are weird in a somewhat predictable way on this one.  Often, this increased demand is because people feel its higher price reflects greater quality or greater status.  That means that this concept is usually attached to luxury goods or “prestige” brands.  Let’s remember those pair of Christian Louboutin heels from a…
In welcome news for renters across the country, the Centers for Disease Control have extended the current Eviction Moratorium, which was set to expire on Wednesday, until June 30th. Under the extended order, residential tenants cannot be evicted from their homes solely for non-payment of rent, provided they give their Landlords (or Landlord’s agent) a signed copy of the CDC Eviction Moratorium Declaration Form (link below). (Note also that tenants who previously provided their Landlords with the Declaration do not need to provide a second copy of the Declaration to take advantage of the “extended” Moratorium). According to some estimates…
As trademark attorneys, we get the absolute luck to work with marketing firms and graphic designers a lot.  It is a lot of fun to work with such creative professionals. One thing that I hear from them over and over again is “Branding is so much more than trademarks!”  I agree! But since I am just a simple trademark attorney, that is what I can help clients address.  I didn’t learn about branding in law school.  However, as a business owner and through years of discussion, I’m starting to get an idea of what it is and what it isn’t.…
This is a short post to make a short, but important point: Remember: The default rule, in the eyes of the government, is that your employees are paid hourly, and therefore entitled to overtime. Just deciding to “put the employee on salary” to avoid paying overtime is not how it works. Employers don’t get to arbitrarily choose, who is salaried and who is not – there are specific, and nuanced rules (read, exceptions from the default rule) for making that determination. In other words, only select categories of staff can be paid on a salary basis…here are some of them…
Are you thinking about registering a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”)? Registering a trademark can be a very smart and effective decision for your business, but it isn’t quite as simple as you might think it is. To register a trademark you need to provide a considerable amount of information about the mark itself, the goods or services provided under it, how the mark is used, etc. One of the most important things that you will be asked to provide is a specimen of use. If you’re currently thinking, “What in the world is…
I’ve been doing some research lately about the concept of decision fatigue.  What can I say, I’m a nerd.  But I have found it fascinating.  Decision fatigue is the idea that people get tired of making decisions, and as such either stop making them or are more likely to make poor decisions.  There is actually two “breeds” of it: 1) loss of will power or self-control (ego depletion); and 2) decision overload.  For the first, studies have shown that if you exert self-control over things (No, I will not eat that cake for breakfast!), it makes you…
Creating your Corporation or LLC is the first step towards the success of your new enterprise. But, as every entrepreneur already knows, creating the corporation (i.e. “mailing it in”), is only the first step. Here are a few additional items you should think about after your Articles of Incorporation have been filed with the WDFI. Get Good on Governance Right Away. The law may not require that you have a written document governing how your new company will operate – but you still need one. A written Operating AgreementBylaws will lay out, in detail, how the company will run, who…
A few years back I went through a blogging phase. Around the same time I had fallen deeply in love with thesauruses and chose to fill my blog with an abundance of overdramatic and ill-fitting words like “hullabaloo.” One thing was certain, my blog was never the cause of any kind of hullabaloo. I’m fairly certain my parents were the only ones to ever lay eyes on it, and I’m not even sure of that. I write to you today not to bore you with the mortifying details of my short-lived blogging hobby, but rather to inform other, far better…
Since I’ve gotten calls on this twice in the past two weeks, maybe it is good public information. No, your Wisconsin Liquor Store/Tavern/Restaurant/Bar cannot direct ship to consumers. It is certainly not legal to direct ship to consumers in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 125 requires “face-to-face” sales and prohibits delivery direct to consumers from any retailer (or wholesaler or manufacturer for that matter). [ed note: There is one exception to this in Wisconsin: Wineries with a Direct Wine Shippers Permit are permitted to ship directly to consumers in Wisconsin.] As for shipping from a Wisconsin retailer to an out-of-state consumer,…
You may already know a bit about notaries. That’s when you have to show your driver’s license and sign a piece of paper so the person who pretended they were a bouncer while looking at your ID can put a stamp on the paper confirming that you are you. Or as the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (“DFI”) puts it: A notary public is an individual issued an appointment by the Secretary of the Department of Financial Institutions to serve the public as an impartial witness, performing notarial acts as are allowed or required by law. Usually, this is done…
You may already know a bit about notaries. That’s when you have to show your driver’s license and sign a piece of paper so the person who pretended they were a bouncer while looking at your ID can put a stamp on the paper confirming that you are you. Or as the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (“DFI”) puts it: A notary public is an individual issued an appointment by the Secretary of the Department of Financial Institutions to serve the public as an impartial witness, performing notarial acts as are allowed or required by law. Usually, this is done…
I’ve written about this topic before, but it keeps reasserting itself in client questions, comments, and requests on a regular basis – so, I suppose it’s time to write about it again. “We want a quick one page agreement.” “Collin, I need a simple commercial lease, no more than three pages.” “They don’t like written agreements, they will never sign this – it’s too complicated.” “I remember the good ol’ days when deals were done on a handshake. Why can’t it be like that anymore?” Lets get right down to brass tacks: There is no conceivable way a three page…
For a relatively short and simple document, a corporate resolution can be of the utmost importance. The use of corporate resolutions are imperative to the lawful continuation of your business. So today, I am going to walk you through the basics of corporate resolutions and why they are so important. What is a corporate resolution? A corporate resolution is a document that creates a formal written record of decisions made by a corporation’s board of directors. Resolutions are binding on companies and should be safely saved and stored. Resolutions may be voted on during a meeting or they may be…