Start-up law, commonly known as “entrepreneurship law”, is a branch of synthesized law that has been put under protection by some regulations in recent years, although it does not yet have a separate law in our country.
We should start giving information on Start-up law by first answering the question of “who is an entrepreneur?” Entrepreneur is defined as the person who takes risk in order to make profit, although this is not the only purpose. With its comprehensive definition; it is the person who brings together the production elements under the best conditions in order to produce goods and services. These elements of production are labor, capital and natural resources.
Entrepreneur puts forward his/her idea and labor, the first element. The second element is capital. In order to start production, labor and capital must be combined. Most of the time, capital that can turn labor into production is obtained from domestic and foreign investors. The provision of capital is possible if the idea can support itself.
Therefore, the idea should be legally protected even in the process in which it will cooperate with capital. And the protection process should be carried out only by lawyers who are experts in the fields of Commercial Law, Contract Law, Informatics Law and if possible, who have a command of a foreign language.
Before undertaking an activity related to the initiative, precautions should be taken on certain issues such as stealing and copying of the idea, by carrying out official works. Patents, trademarks, models and ideas should be registered and processes related to copyrights should be performed. Necessary security measures should be taken before the project is presented to third parties and the idea should be grounded in a sound manner.
After reaching this point with the support of a qualified lawyer, the details of the contract should be discussed. The parties to the agreement are the shareholders of the idea, partners and persons who have an impact on the project. The rights of the parties are guaranteed within the framework of confidentiality agreements, preliminary protocol agreements, share agreements and agreements to be determined following the legal support given to the parties.
Unfortunately, the moment entrepreneurs need legal support most is the moment when they cannot protect their rights against the person/institution offering capital support. However, the initiative should be carried out with legal support from the very beginning. Thus, in case of incorporation, the person who will have a say on the company is considered to be the owner of the idea, that is to say, capital is not found for the idea, but the idea is purchased with capital.
It is hard to believe, but the same situation has come up with the social media giant Facebook. It is because many entrepreneurs do not know their rights when they sit down at the table for capital support, and after incorporation happens, they become a small shareholder of the company. However, in case of calculations made with the support of experts, calculations are made over the point to be reached by evaluating due diligence process. This ensures that you have a say at the table. The only thing to keep in mind is that what needs to be protected is you, and your idea…
Finally, the advice that we can offer about the initiative, which is a detailed issue that should be planned well at every point is that, if you think that you have an idea that can go into production, you should learn your legal rights with the help of an experienced lawyer before third parties and see the legal alternatives in case of serious problems. This is the only way to protect your initiatives.
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