An Introduction to Business Law – Part Three
Business is the activity of earning money or creating something (including sales) by either producing or purchasing and selling goods (including services and products). Simply put, it’s any activity or venture entered into for gain. That is why it’s important to keep your business separate from your personal assets. A simple checkbook separates the two entities, and any money you borrow for business purposes is recorded as debt on your personal financial statement.
As previously mentioned, there are many countries in which business names are not recognized. To cater to these countries, many governments have enacted laws stating that corporations and limited liability companies must use their business names in correspondence and signage, with only the name of the owners allowed on company seals. You may need to apply for a legal business name in many countries, so you’ll need a passport. And if you choose to use a different name than the one already used by your competitors, you’ll need to get a new trademark. But what about international licensing?
Many countries have anti-business rules, especially those that govern foreign direct investment. An owner-orporated company is not allowed to act as a corporation or another corporation with which he or she competes, even if the others are incorporated in the same country. This is basically the same as saying that he cannot open up his own lemonade stand in the United States, if he’d bought it in Mexico instead.
Intellectual property rights, or IP rights, are another topic. They pertain to all forms of the intangible and tangible resources that are produced by businesses. These include such things as trademarks, design patents and copyrights. The main article on this topic, along with an introduction to the term, is included just above.
The third main article concerns the structure of a company’s board of directors. Like the other articles, this one has a brief introduction, a short description of why it’s important, and then a short list of things that are discussed in more detail in the main article. There is usually a short explanation, however, of how the companies benefit from having directors. Then there’s a list of duties that directors are expected to perform. These duties are, in turn, described in much more detail in the main article. After reading that, it should be fairly easy to understand the topic of corporate law.
Finally, there’s a brief mention of what’s called a trade union, which is a kind of small business association dedicated to improving working conditions, paying wages and otherwise making the workplace a safer place. There are several trade unions around, all of which play some role in making the world a safer place to live in. A brief mention of them follows the main article, as that is a topic that merits another look. There are several trade unions out there, and they’re worth looking into.