Can You Keep a (Trade) Secret?

May 23, 2016June 3, 2016 Mike Burke Intellectual Property doing business in the united states, ireland doing business in the united states, ireland export, ireland exporter, ireland us affiliate, irish export, irish exporter, northern ireland doing business , dtsa, ireland doing business in the united states, ireland export, ireland exporter, ireland us affiliate, northern ireland doing business in the united states, northern ireland export, northern ireland exporter, northern ireland us affiliate, trade secrets

I’ve previously written in this blog about the importance of trade secrets. See: Protecting Your Trade Secrets in the US. Some recent changes in US Federal trade secrets legislation will help Irish and Northern Irish companies better protect their trade secrets in the US.

“Trade secrets” are defined in the US as (i) information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process; (ii) that derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to or readily ascertainable through appropriate means by other persons who might obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and (iii) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy. Continue reading →

LLCs May Be Right Unless They’re Wrong

May 12, 2016June 3, 2016 Mike Burke Choice of Entity, Formation Issues branch profits tax, doing business in the united states, ireland doing business in the united states, ireland export, ireland exporter, ireland us affiliate, northern ireland doing business in the united states, northern ireland export, northern ireland exporter, northern ireland us affiliate, permanent establishment in us, Smart Exporting, US affiliate, us ireland tax treaty, us llc, us uk tax treaty

As I’ve posted before, I usually advise non-US companies to form a corporation when expanding to the United States. Every now and then, I get some pushback because the non-US company has heard about ‘limited liability companies’ (LLCs) in the US and wants to take advantage of the pass-through tax advantages of the LLC form. Before diving too deeply on this, let me get some definitional items out of the way. Corporate law in the US is predominately a creation of, and within the control of, the states. That’s why you hear about a ‘Delaware corporation’ or a ‘New York corporation’ and not a ‘United States corporation.’ That’s our Federal system at work (when it works). The corporation form in the US is similar to the limited company forms in Ireland and Northern Ireland, in that the shareholders/investors in each are only liable for the entity’s debts to the extent of their investment. Continue reading →

You might be an Employee if….

May 10, 2016June 3, 2016 Mike Burke Consultants, Employment, Formation Issues Consultants, employment, independent contractors, ireland doing business in the united states, ireland export, ireland exporter, ireland us affiliate, misclassification, northern ireland doing business in the united states, northern ireland export, northern ireland exporter, northern ireland us affiliate, sales agents

On Friday, I used the phrase “Uber Settlement” as (maybe) click-bait to introduce an important, but hidden, issue facing Irish and Northern Irish companies operating in the US. As I noted in that post, many Irish and Northern Irish companies use a variety of ‘independent contractors,’ especially in the early stages of operating here—consultants and the like who are not intended to be employees. The risks associated with just labeling someone as an independent contractor can be significant, and very expensive. I’ve seen many Irish and Northern Irish companies make the same mistake—assuming that because the relevant contract states that someone is an independent contractor, such person is, in fact, an independent contractor and not an employee. Based on my experience, Irish and Northern Irish companies: Continue reading →

Irish Export Insights

Practical Guidance for Irish and Northern Irish Companies on Doing Business in the U.S.

northern ireland us affiliate

Can You Keep a (Trade) Secret?

LLCs May Be Right Unless They’re Wrong

You might be an Employee if….

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