TL;DR: An IP assignment agreement transfers ownership of intellectual property, code, designs, content, inventions, from the person or entity who created it to another party, permanently and completely. Without one, the creator, not the business paying for the work, may legally own it. This is one of the most consistently damaging gaps discovered during investor […]
Author Archives: Prakhar Rai
07
Mar
Mar
TL;DR: Founders start a company on trust, shared excitement, and an assumption that everyone sees the future the same way. That assumption is exactly what a founders’ agreement exists to protect against, not because you distrust your co-founders, but because trust alone has no mechanism for resolving a genuine disagreement once one arrives. This guide […]
03
Mar
Mar
TL;DR: When an investor or acquirer’s legal team runs due diligence, they aren’t just scanning for red flags, they are pricing risk into every clause that creates uncertainty, liability, or operational restriction. Five specific clause types account for a disproportionate share of the valuation haircuts, deal delays, and collapsed term sheets founders encounter: broken assignability, […]
24
Feb
Feb
You’ve nailed the pitch. The investor is nodding. Then come the five words every founder both wants and dreads to hear: “Send over your legal docs.” This is where many promising startups stumble, not because of a weak business idea, but because of poorly drafted, incomplete, or missing agreements. Investors and their legal teams are […]
24
Feb
Feb
TL;DR: Drag-along and tag-along rights solve two opposite problems in a company sale: drag-along lets a majority of shareholders force minority holders to join a sale so one holdout can’t block a genuinely good deal, while tag-along protects minority shareholders by letting them join a majority sale on the same terms, so they aren’t left […]
24
Feb
Feb
TL;DR: A shareholders’ agreement earns its value the day shareholders disagree, not the day it’s signed. The provisions that matter most in practice are the ones most founders skip in the excitement of starting a business: how decisions actually get made, what happens when two equal shareholders reach a genuine deadlock, who has first right […]
23
Feb
Feb
TL;DR: A SAFE and a convertible note both let an early-stage company raise money without setting a valuation today, but they are structurally different instruments. A SAFE is not debt: no interest, no maturity date, no repayment obligation. A convertible note is a debt instrument: it accrues interest and carries a maturity date that forces […]
21
Feb
Feb
You’ve poured your heart into building your brand’s identity, the name, the logo, it’s everything. But what if someone else could legally use a similar name, confusing your customers and hijacking your reputation? A federal trademark is your shield. Getting that little ® symbol next to your name isn’t just for big corporations. The core […]
19
Feb
Feb
Whether you are a foreign company opening your first office in India, hiring your first Indian employee remotely, or an established company in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Gurugram, or Mumbai reviewing your existing contracts, the same question comes up: how should compensation actually be structured to be compliant right now, not under the rules that applied a […]
06
Feb
Feb
India is on the brink of a transformative shift in intellectual property law. The proposed amendments to the Designs Act, 2000, released in January 2026, promise to reshape how designers, startups, and businesses protect their creative work in the digital age. If you’ve ever wondered whether your mobile app’s sleek interface, animated icons, or virtual […]