Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

There is no entrepreneur in the world who won’t need legal guidance at some point in their entrepreneurial journey.

For simple legal matters such as incorporation or basic start-up paperwork, services such as LegalZoom, LawDepot or RocketLawyer are a good place to start.

However, for more complicated matters like establishing a Privacy Policy, Terms of Use Agreement, or other documents tailored to your business, it may be worth consulting an attorney. If you are running short of funds, you can utilize RocketLawyer’s “Ask a Lawyer” feature.  You can get the answers to simple questions for free and find lawyers near you that charge reasonable prices for their services.

If you are filing for intellectual property, it may be worthwhile to have an attorney process your application to ensure that everything is completed correctly. For more basic things like trademarks, it is possible to file your own application; however, it is important to weigh the pros and cons of filing yourself.

Here are some helpful resources to explore if you believe that your venture will need intellectual property:

•      United States Patent and Trademark Office
•      World Intellectual Property Organization
•      United States Copyright Office

The Dingman Center holds Legal Office Hours on the first and third Fridays of every month from 10 a.m. -1 p.m. Sessions are free but available by appointment only. Sign up at ter.ps/legalhours15.

Terp Toolkit highlights resources for starting your business.  Interested in additional business guidance or have a startup idea? Come to Pitch Dingman on Fridays for feedback from our experienced EIRs, or consider applying to our incubator, Fearless Founders.