Startup Central

Reading the Actual 506(c) Checklist: What "Accredited Investor Verification" Costs You in Time, Fees, and Deal Risk

Most founders treat 506(c) as a permissioned version of 506(b). It is not — it is a separate statutory creation with its own verification burden. The checklist: four safe-harbor methods, what each costs, and what the March 2025 SEC no-action letter changed.

AI Law

AI-Washing Litigation in 2026: What Public-Company GCs Need to Know

On Jan 14, 2025, the SEC charged Presto Automation with the first public-company AI-washing action. Four enforcement surfaces — SEC, plaintiffs' bar, FTC, and EU AI Act — now scrutinize every public AI claim. The GC's pre-clearance workstream is the answer.

AI Law

The Modern AI Vendor Contract: Eight Clauses Your Old Template Is Missing

After Bartz, Kadrey, and TRAIGA, the 2022 SaaS skeleton is missing eight clauses: lawful-training-corpus warranty, AI BOM, model-card delivery, audit, incident reporting, data-use limits, AI indemnity, AI termination. Plus a 24-month reformation program.

AI Law

Parallel Pipelines: Why the Strictest-Rule Strategy No Longer Works for AI

GDPR-as-baseline worked for privacy because regimes shared a substrate. AI regimes don't — TRAIGA intent, EU AI Act risk-class, Colorado discrimination, NYC LL 144 audit, AB 2013 disclosure. Build modular NIST + ISO 42001 spine; layer overlays.

AI Law

From Procurement Questionnaire to Standing Answer: How Vendors Sell Into Enterprise

AI-CAIQ v1.0.2 (Oct 2025) + SIG 2025 made the questionnaire the deal-gating event. Mid-market vendors lose deals when answers are ad-hoc and inconsistent with the MSA. Build the standing answer FROM the signable contract template.

Business Formation & Corporate Governance

How Much Does It Cost to Start a Company? A Founder's Guide to Startup Legal Fees

Most founders budget for product and marketing but leave legal out entirely. Here's what it actually costs to start a company: state filing fees, attorney formation packages, registered agent costs, and the first-year expenses that catch startups off guard.

AI Law

High-Risk AI Systems Under the EU AI Act: How to Classify Yours

EU AI Act Article 6 high-risk classification activates the full Title III Chapter 2 stack. Two pathways (Annex I product-safety / Annex III use cases). Four-condition derogation with profiling kill-switch. A five-step decision tree.

AI Law

Drafting AI Disclosures for the 10-K: Materiality Without Hype

Two-front pressure: 92 SEC comments / 56 companies push toward disclosure; AI-washing enforcement (Presto) punishes overstatement. Six-element Item 1A architecture, four-step pre-clearance workflow, integrated documentary spine.

AI Law

AI BOM Disclosure: The OWASP and SPDX Standards for AI Procurement

Two complementary AI BOM standards anchor 2026 procurement: OWASP AIBOM (six asset domains) and SPDX 3.0.1 AI Profile (machine-readable schema). California AB 2013 is the regulatory floor. Three implementation moves for procurement teams.

AI Law

Lawful Training Corpus Warranties: Post-Bartz Rep & Warranty Drafting

Bartz $1.5B + Kadrey caution = standard IP rep is not enough. Four-lane lawful-training-corpus warranty, AI BOM disclosure schedule, three indemnity calibration levers, three drafting fact patterns.

AI Law

AI Diligence for M&A: The Workstream Most Buyers Aren't Running Yet

AI diligence is now what cyber-DD was in 2018: a discrete M&A workstream that wasn't standard until the loss profile forced it. After Bartz $1.5B, Mobley, TRAIGA, and EU AI Act high-risk obligations, here is the buyer-side framework.

Intellectual Property & Branding

Trademark Symbols ®, ™, ℠: The Complete Guide (When and How to Use Each)

™, ®, and ℠ each carry different legal meaning under the Lanham Act. A complete attorney-written guide to what each trademark symbol means, when you may use it, how to type each on every platform, and the six mistakes founders make most often.

Fundraising & Financial Regulation

Pre-Money vs Post-Money SAFE: What Founders Need to Know

YC updated the SAFE in 2018 and introduced the post-money SAFE. Here's what the difference means for your dilution — with a worked numerical example.

Business Formation & Corporate Governance

EIN vs. Tax ID: What's the Difference?

A tax ID is an umbrella term for any taxpayer identification number. An EIN is one specific type, issued by the IRS to businesses. Here is what each identifier means, which one your business needs, and how to apply at no cost.

AI Law

A 90-Day TRAIGA Compliance Plan for Texas Tech Companies

TRAIGA takes effect Jan 1, 2026 with civil penalties up to $200K per violation. Section 546.103 makes substantial NIST AI RMF compliance an affirmative defense. A 90-day, four-phase workplan: Discovery, Governance, Vendor, Operationalization.

AI Law

Roll-Up Acquirers and the AI Compliance-by-Design Question

Roll-ups are repetitive by definition. Each acquired target imports its own AI exposure stack — shadow AI, pre-mid-2025 vendor reps, training-corpus gaps. Build compliance-by-design at the platform layer; phased Day 1-180 integration playbook.

AI Law

The Marchand Test for AI Governance: What Boards Owe Their Shareholders

Marchand creates heightened-scrutiny zone for mission-critical risk. Glass Lewis 2026 + CalPERS treat AI oversight gaps as director recall signals after material incidents. Six-artifact board record satisfies Marchand, TRAIGA, and Glass Lewis.

AI Law

After McDonald's: Why Chief AI Officers Are Now Personally Liable for Oversight Failures

In re McDonald's (Del. Ch. 2023) extended the Caremark oversight duty to corporate officers within their domain. With 60% of enterprises naming a CAIO, the named officer faces a personal-stakes posture that DGCL § 102(b)(7) does not cover.

AI Law

EU AI Act August 2: A Pre-Deadline Checklist for U.S. Multinationals

EU AI Act high-risk obligations apply 2 August 2026, with penalties up to 7% of worldwide turnover. Article 2(1)(c) reaches U.S. multinationals when AI output is used in the Union. A 10-item pre-deadline checklist for in-scope GCs and CAIOs.

AI Law

The TRAIGA Safe Harbor: Why the NIST AI RMF Is Now a Business Decision

TRAIGA went live January 1, 2026 with $200K-per-violation Texas AG enforcement and an affirmative defense for substantial NIST AI RMF compliance. That converts NIST adoption from a governance preference into a documented business decision.

AI Law

Tech, Privacy, and AI Law: A Product Leader's Guide

Most digital products are now data-driven by default — and increasingly AI-driven in ways that affect users in real time.

Startup Central

Domain Name and Trademark Strategy: UDRP, Cybersquatting, and Brand Protection for Startups

Most startups lock in a domain early (often the only available .com or a trendy .ai ) and postpone trademark work until fundraising diligence — or a…

Intellectual Property & Branding

Trademark Renewal and Maintenance: USPTO Deadlines, Section 8, and Avoiding Cancellation

For startups and SMBs, a trademark is often one of the most valuable “portable” assets you own — but it’s easy to treat a USPTO registration like a…

Business Formation & Corporate Governance

Why Legal Expertise Is Critical for Accurate Cap Tables at Startups

A capitalization table (or cap table ) is the record of who owns what in your startup.

Trademark

Trademark Lifespan and Renewal: How Long Protection Lasts, What Happens If It Expires, and How to Keep It Alive

If your trademark is a core business asset, its “lifespan” is not just a legal technicality: missing a maintenance or renewal deadline can quietly…