Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Drake University Law School hosts seminar to help tech startups

Drake University

A seminar Friday morning allowed practicing attorneys an opportunity to earn Continuing Legal Education credits while also providing information for tech startups to navigate the legal maze.

The seminar included speakers and panels discussing various technology related topics from mobile applications, privacy issues, founders agreements, intellectual property and exiting a company. The seminar went from 8 a.m. to nearly 1 p.m on Friday at the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center.

Shontavia Johnson, Director of the Drake Intellectual Property Law Center—which sponsored the seminar—said as the Iowa entrepreneur and startup community grows, these questions pervade.

“We aim to offer these kinds of events and others to improve the efficacy of startups in Iowa,” Johnson said. “The topics are based on common issues that arise in the industry.”

Cory McAnelly was an organizer of the seminar and moderated the panels. He is an Intellectual Property Attorney for the law firm of Goodhue Coleman and Owens.

McAnelly told the audience he wanted to have a unique topic for this CLE seminars so it wouldn’t be the boring, typical CLE.

Drew Larson, an attorney at BrownWinick, spoke on privacy issues and website agreements.

Larson focused on privacy issues and on website terms of service.

“I’m a big believer that you want to do a good terms of service and they can be very important,” Larson said. “That first piece is knowing what your business does, and it sounds simple but it’s not just a matter of pulling the standard one down from Amazon.”

Larson said if a business is built on somebody elses platform, where you don’t control the method of delivery, founders need to pay attention to the terms of service.

“You have to comply with their terms of service and they are going to set a lot of standards,” Larson said. “So if they change them, they change them. And that’s on you to deal with that.”

He said it’s important to have a privacy policy because it’s important to customer relationships.

“999 out 1,000 people aren’t going to read it,” Larson said. “The reality is the person you are writing to is the cranky one. Customer relations matter and you want to put it out that this is how you will approach certain things.”

John Goodhue is a registered patent attorney who spoke about the legal relationship between mobile applications and the law.

Goodhue talked about what it takes for a newly developed app to be accepted into the App Store, user agreements, monetizing an app, distribution platform agreements and how an app can get rejected.

“To help understand the legal issues, (distribution platform agreements) are a great place to start,” Goodhue said. “If you look at what Apple and Google is requiring, it gives you a lot of insights into what some of the potential issues are.”

Goodhue said it’s critical for a startup company to get their app into the App Store for distribution.

“If they don’t meet all the requirements they won’t get on there,” he said. “Or they could get on and then be pulled at a later date. So compliance with these is critical.”

Past coverage

Drake University Law School is hosting seminar

Drake University Law School hosts seminar to help tech startups | Clay & Milk
A central Iowa ag-tech accelerator has secured more backers and finally has a name. The Greater Des Moines Partnership first announced the accelerator last year, naming four initial investors. On Monday, the Partnership said the program will be called the "Iowa AgriTech Accelerator" and named three new investors. The new investors include Grinnell Mutual, Kent Corp. and Sukup Manufacturing, all Iowa companies. They join investors Deere & Co., Peoples Co., Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Co. and DuPont Pioneer. Each investor has agreed to put up $100,000 for the first year of the accelerator. Startups entering the program will receive $40,000 in seed funding in exchange for 6 percent equity. Tej Dhawan, an angel investor and local startup mentor, is serving as interim director until the AgriTech Accelerator names a permanent leader. Dhawan held a similar role with the GIA before Brian Hemesath was named as managing director. As interim director, Dhawan said his main job includes hiring the accelerator's executive director, establishing a business structure and initial recruiting for the first cohort. The accelerator will place few filters, such as location and product, on the applicant pool, Dhawan said. "When you’re seeking innovation, innovation can come from every corner of the world so why restrict ourselves," he said. One area the the AgriTech Accelerator won't recruit from is biotech. For its first cohort, the AgriTech Accelerator will work out of the GIA's space in Des Moines' East Village, Dhawan said. A future, permanent home is still to be decided. The accelerator's program will host startups from mid-July through mid-October, ending with an event connected to the annual World Food Prize. The GIA, which the AgriTech Accelerator is based on, also ends with presentations at an industry event. The accelerator has also started lining up a mentor pool. The Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Pork Producers Association have agreed to provide mentors, as has Iowa State University. While the AgriTech Accelerator is loosely based off of the GIA, it will differ in its business structure, Dhawan said. The GIA runs through a for-profit model for both operations and its investment fund. The AgriTech Accelerator will have a nonprofit model for its operations and a for-profit setup for its fund. Dhawan said the nonprofit model is being used so the accelerator can better work with other nonprofit partners, such as trade associations. "These are all organizations that are nonprofits and can be amazing stakeholders without ever having to be investors in the accelerator," he said. "It becomes easier to work with trade associations in their nonprofit role when we are also a nonprofit." When it's up and running, the AgriTech Accelerator would be one of a handful of ag-focused startup development programs in Iowa. Others include the Ag Startup Engine out of Iowa State University and the Rural Ventures Alliance from Iowa MicroLoan. Matthew Patane is the managing editor and co-founder of Clay & Milk. Send him an email at mpatane@clayandmilk.com.
This Pop-up Is Included in the Theme
Best Choice for Creatives
Purchase Now