Technology

This month’s industry newsletter features an article on California’s Consumer Privacy Act, a Q&A with NYC incubator RLab, and a spotlight on LA’s type:A — a new company focused on health care brands.

Through its product, type:A is striving to bring clean beauty to the mainstream – and so far, that effort has been a striking success. Consumers, influencers, media, and investors have had amazing initial responses to the product, and type:A is working fast to capitalize on this momentum. With the support of Mintz, they have raised an extended seed round to fuel these efforts and allow the business to reach its full potential. Soon, they plan to be the go-to brand for safe, effective, and clean personal hygiene products.

The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property invokes fascinating theoretical questions.  With these questions, however, come significant practical issues that businesses, legal practitioners, and governments need to address proactively. Israel is embracing the challenge.

This issue’s topics include the SEC no action letter on utility tokens, raising capital as a public benefit corp, resales of private securities using Section 4(a)(7), distributing equity among start-up stakeholders, and the abc’s of California employment law.

The purpose of granting equity to management, employees and certain consultants is to align the interests of the parties pivotal to the growth of your company with the interests of investors. There are a number of different ways to grant equity in a start-up, the most common of which is stock options. (For an in-depth discussion of granting options, including reasons to give options, differences between Incentive Stock Options and Non-Incentive Stock Options, determining fair market value and vesting schedules, please see this post on our MintzEdge blog.

As societies and markets increasingly insist that corporations generate positive social impact alongside profit, investors have taken notice. The global impact investing market alone, for instance, doubled from $114 billion in 2017 to $228 billion in 2018, and will almost certainly continue to accelerate.

MintzTech upcoming events - April 2019

In late 2015, Congress amended Section 4 of the Securities Act of 1933 to add new Section 4(a)(7), which permits resales of private, restricted stock after 90 days without requiring a registration with the SEC.

This alert looks at recent SEC communications providing guidance on — and limiting the use of — digital tokens.

This article covers an immediate FAA rule change requiring markings for small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS, commonly known as drones). Beginning February 25, 2019, every UAS must have its registration number displayed and visible on the external surface of the aircraft.

Upcoming events - TechConnect Industry News - February 2019

This issue of TechConnect covers issues for emerging companies to consider when dividing and sharing equity and disproportional rights and controls for directors.

Upcoming events - TechConnect Industry News - November 2018

This issue of TechConnect covers liability considerations for directors of Delaware public benefit corporations and profiles FinTech company Templum.

Templum Inc., is a leading innovative financial technology company focused on the development of new market infrastructure for the digital asset sector. Templum Markets LLC, their captive broker-dealer and alternative trading system, offers issuers a platform for the initial sale of their digital assets and provides both issuers and investors a centralized platform for secondary trading.

This article explains why the “cryptocurrency” label can be misleading, and suggests we use “virtual currencies,” “security tokens,” and “utility tokens” instead.

Inspired by his own experience forgetting the correct notebook for an important meeting, Rocketbook co-founder Joe Lemay set out to find a modern solution for note taking in 2014. After testing out electronic pens and smart tablets, which were ultimately disappointing, Lemay teamed up with Jake Epstein to develop a new product, a reusable cloud-connected paper notebook called Rocketbook.

While many of the issues involved in various transactions are similar, every single transaction that we get involved in is nuanced and different in some way from other similar transactions. Pattern matching is important, but each successful enterprise is successful in a unique way. Building an enterprise requires a balancing of the economic interests of the various parties. The founders may want to control their destiny or be captains of industry, in addition to making outsized returns. Investors will be laser focused on those returns but may also be interested in promoting activities that involve sustainability or technical breakthroughs. Employees will be hoping for financial rewards but may also want to be involved in cutting-edge technologies and a flexible workplace. Finally, the board of directors needs to monitor the enterprise and provide relevant advisory insights. Getting this right is so much more than processing a form; it requires deep domain knowledge of the industry sector and a good sense of the people involved. It is similar to why the best doctors examine a patient before prescribing medication. Knowing the context of the situation truly matters and one size never fits all.