Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by trussi 5446 days ago
Preface: This is not legal advice. Consult your attorney and CPA. Blah blah blah

This is a great question.

The short answer is to license the IP between several corporate entities.

Here's a structure that offers a huge amount of protection and risk reduction:

-You own 100% of Company A

-Company A owns all IP

-Company B licenses the IP from Company A

-Company B is an operational company (with a merchant account, employees, office, etc).

Any potential litigation will target Company B because it's exposed. However, you structure the licensing agreement between Company A and Company B such that:

-Company A is indemnified of all of Company B's transgressions

-Company A has very little value because most income is paid to Company B as the licensing fee. You want Company B to essentially be worthless, which means it's not a big target for lawsuits.

Company B would probably be a US-based company. However, Company A could be based in another country, which would further reduce the likelihood of a lawsuit touching the IP.

So you get to operate in the US, but still protect your IP from litigation. The best of both worlds.