IP & Employment Law for Startups: Build Smart, Scale Safely

In the fast-paced world of startups, your biggest assets are your people—and your ideas. But without the right legal foundations, you risk losing both. This practical webinar dives into the critical intersections of employment law and intellectual property (IP) that every founder, startup executive, and early-stage investor needs to understand.

Join us as we break down how to:

• Ensure IP ownership is properly assigned from employees, contractors, and founders
• Draft employment and contractor agreements that protect your company
• Navigate non-compete and confidentiality clauses in a shifting legal landscape
• Manage exits and prevent IP loss when team members move on
• Build scalable legal policies that grow with your business

Whether you're pre-seed or post-Series A, this session will help you avoid costly legal missteps, protect your core innovations, and set up a compliant, growth-ready team structure.

Presented by the Entrepreneurial Strategy Series and Gearhart Law on August 28, 2025.

OUR SPEAKERS:

David Postolski, Esq. is a senior partner at Gearhart Law, is a registered patent attorney and Intellectual Property (IP) attorney for close to 20 years. David specializes in assisting inventors, creators, artists, start-ups, entrepreneurs, early-stage companies, and emerging companies with their U.S and international IP strategy, protection, enforcement, and monetization. David is a frequent speaker and author on emerging IP issues and technologies including, raising capital, business formation, food science, software, licensing, Data and Privacy Compliance, equity-based crowdfunding, and compliance with other US and International Regulatory structures. David is also a Professor at Temple University, Parsons School of Design and the Radzyner Law School (Herzliya, Israel) where he teaches master-level students about IP, ethics, and other regulatory considerations. David is a current Council Member of the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law, founder of their International Action Group, and editor of their monthly newsletter, and the outgoing Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Officer. David currently serves on Harvard’s Lemann Entrepreneurial Program Advisory Board. Read more at: https://gearhartlaw.com/

Steven Frydman is a trademark and copyright attorney at Gearhart Law with a B.S. degree in business from the NYU Stern School of Business. He obtained his law degree from the Benjamin L. Cardozo Law School. Steven’s focus is protecting clients’ intellectual property through helping them to obtain and defend their trademarks and copyrights. Steven is admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey. Read more at: https://gearhartlaw.com/

This event is sponsored by Gearhart Law, a full service Intellectual Property firm specializing in Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law domestically and globally. We serve inventors, entrepreneurs, and established businesses. We can help you strategize and build your IP portfolio based on your business needs. Call us for a free consultation at 908-273-0700 or contact us through: https://gearhartlaw.com/

Chapters

• (00:00:00) - The Entrepreneurial Strategy: Starting a Business
• (00:02:12) - Copyright and Employment
• (00:05:00) - Copyright Announcement
• (00:05:46) - The Most Valuable Asset
• (00:07:49) - Intellectual Property Basics, Trade Secret and Other Types
• (00:11:56) - Trade Secret Law, False Claims
• (00:15:35) - Trade Secrets: How Much Money Spent on them?
• (00:19:45) - The Right Balance on IP Law
• (00:21:17) - Patents
• (00:22:07) - Is a Patent an Effective Way to Protect Business?
• (00:25:48) - How Do Patents Work?
• (00:29:11) - Are Competitors Are Permitted to Practice Any Element of a Patent
• (00:34:20) - Copyright Basics
• (00:36:34) - Lanham Act on Trademarks
• (00:42:14) - State trademarks vs. federal trademarks
• (00:44:58) - Non-Disclosure Provision and Provisional Patents
• (00:47:27) - What is a Restrictive Covenant?
• (00:49:28) - Non-Compete Clause
• (00:50:15) - Non-Compete Clauses
• (00:55:55) - Copyright Ownership in Employment Contracts and Independent Contractors
<