Devoted to Corporate Attorneys, Corporate Lawyers, and Corporate Counsel

The following is not meant to be legal advice.

The attorney working in house will soon see a trend in legal policies as he/she hops from job to job and company to company.  There seems to be a uniformity in protecting someone’s own interests, a company’s own interests, versus looking for compromise or taking into consideration of the other side.  If two parties think the same, then how is it possible to ever close business?

First there is the policy to never sign a document first.  Let the other party sign first.  This is because if the other party signs first, it is sure that the party agrees to the agreement. If after getting back the document, a party changes it mind, the other party may still be obligated for the terms of the agreement even if one party does not sign.  Also, when another party signs first, a party does not have to go through the trouble of tracking its countersignature.

On indemnity for trademarks, some companies believe that agreeing to trademark indemnity outside the United States is ok with it is France, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia.  Usually these parties have similar trademark laws to the United States.  Details on United States trademark laws are found at the USPTO web site.  It is usual to advise against countries in Asia, Germany, Italy.