Real Results for Real Businesses

The Challenge

This Vancouver-based startup had built something genuinely innovative - a machine learning algorithm that could predict supply chain disruptions with crazy accuracy. Problem was, they'd been so focused on building the product that legal stuff took a back seat.

When they started meeting with VCs, one of them asked point-blank: "What's stopping us from just building this ourselves?" They didn't have a good answer. Worse, their early employees had pretty vague employment agreements, and there was some question about who actually owned parts of the code.

They came to us about 6 weeks before they wanted to close their Series A. Not a lot of time, but we'd dealt with tighter deadlines before.

Our Approach

First things first - we did a complete IP audit. Went through their entire codebase, identified what was truly proprietary, and figured out what needed protecting most urgently.

We filed three patent applications covering their core algorithm and the novel ways they were applying it. Did provisional filings first to get them protection quickly, with plans to convert to full patents later. Also set them up with trade secret protection for the stuff that didn't make sense to patent.

Then we tackled the employee situation. Drafted proper IP assignment agreements and got all current employees to sign. For the early folks where ownership was fuzzy, we negotiated agreements that gave the company clear ownership while still being fair to the employees.

We also put together a comprehensive IP strategy document for their investors - basically a roadmap showing how they'd protect and leverage their technology going forward. Investors eat that stuff up.

The Outcome

They closed their Series A right on schedule. Lead investor actually told the founders that our IP work was a major factor in their decision - they'd passed on similar deals where the IP situation was too messy.

Beyond the immediate funding, we set them up for the long term. Their patents are now processing (looking good so far), and they've got solid agreements with all their people. They brought us back when they started hiring their first international team members too.

Related Cases

The Challenge

Our client was a successful BC-based manufacturer looking to expand their footprint in the US market. They'd identified a Washington State competitor that seemed like a perfect fit - complementary product lines, good customer base, reasonable asking price.

But once we started due diligence, things got complicated fast. The target company had some environmental compliance issues at one of their facilities. Nothing catastrophic, but enough to potentially trigger expensive cleanup requirements post-acquisition. Their employment contracts were also all over the place - some people on strange commission structures, others with non-competes that probably wouldn't hold up.

Plus, there were regulatory approval requirements on both sides of the border that the client hadn't fully appreciated. This wasn't just a simple share purchase - we needed to structure it carefully to minimize tax implications and liability exposure.

Our Approach

We assembled a cross-functional team - brought in environmental counsel to assess the contamination issues, worked with US partners on the regulatory approvals, and partnered with tax specialists to optimize the structure.

For the environmental stuff, we negotiated a purchase price reduction to cover potential cleanup costs, plus got the sellers to maintain liability for any pre-existing issues. Set up an escrow arrangement to make sure there was money available if problems popped up later.

We restructured the deal to be an asset purchase instead of share purchase - gave us way more flexibility to pick what we wanted and leave behind what we didn't. Yeah, it meant more paperwork, but it was worth it for the liability protection.

On the people side, we worked with their HR team to develop transition plans for all 120+ employees. Harmonized the employment terms where it made sense, bought out some problematic contracts, and made sure everyone landed on their feet.

The regulatory approvals were probably the trickiest part - had to coordinate with agencies in both countries, file all the right paperwork, and wait for clearances. We built in contingencies so the client could walk away if approvals didn't come through.

The Outcome

Deal closed on schedule, which is saying something given all the moving parts. The price adjustment we negotiated for environmental issues saved the client about $2M. The asset purchase structure also gave them significant tax advantages that'll pay dividends for years.

Integration went smoother than most acquisitions - having clear employment terms from day one made a huge difference. They kept about 90% of the target company's staff, which was way above their initial projections.

The combined entity is now the second-largest player in their niche in the Pacific Northwest. Client's already talking to us about their next acquisition.

Related Cases

The Challenge

This gaming studio had grown way faster than they expected. Started as a small indie shop, suddenly they had over 2 million active users across North America. Great problem to have, right? Except they were still operating with the same loose approach to data privacy they'd used when they were tiny.

They were collecting all sorts of user data - gameplay patterns, device info, location data, even contact lists to enable social features. Some of their games were really popular with kids, which meant COPPA compliance should've been top of mind. It wasn't.

What really scared them was when a larger gaming company tried to acquire them. The potential buyer's lawyers took one look at their privacy practices and basically said "fix this or no deal." That's when they called us.

We had about 6 weeks before the buyer was gonna walk away. The clock was ticking.

Our Approach

First step was a complete privacy audit. We mapped out every piece of data they were collecting, how they stored it, who had access, and what they did with it. Honestly, some of the stuff we found made us wince - passwords stored in plain text, analytics data with no anonymization, third-party SDKs shipping data to who knows where.

We prioritized the issues by risk level. Some things needed fixing immediately (the COPPA violations, the security holes). Other stuff was important but could wait a bit.

Worked with their dev team to implement proper data minimization - they were collecting way more than they needed. Cut their data footprint by about 60% and made the games run faster as a bonus. Put in proper encryption, fixed the authentication systems, and locked down access controls.

Rewrote all their privacy policies and terms of service. The old ones were basically copied from a template and didn't reflect what they actually did. New ones were clear, accurate, and actually compliant with PIPEDA, COPPA, and state privacy laws.

We also set up age-gating mechanisms for games that appealed to kids, implemented parental consent flows where needed, and created a data breach response plan (which they didn't have at all before).

The Outcome

Got everything buttoned up in just under 6 weeks. The acquisition went through, and the buyer was actually impressed with how quickly they'd turned things around.

Beyond the immediate deal, we set them up with ongoing compliance processes - regular audits, vendor reviews, privacy training for new hires. They're now way better positioned as privacy regulations keep evolving.

We still work with them periodically to review new features before launch. Much easier to build privacy in from the start than retrofit it later.

Related Cases

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Case details would be displayed here following similar format as above...

Case details would be displayed here following similar format as above...