Blog

Your corporation is a separate legal entity so make sure that you keep it separate. You need to have a separate bank account for the corporation and make sure that all of the corporation's revenues go into that account and all of the expenses, come out of that account. Preferably write checks for all of your expenses to keep better track on what expenses you are incurring. If you make the mistake of paying a lot of expenses by etransfer you are going to have a much more difficult time keeping track of the expenses and reporting them properly [...]

In the federal government budget announcement recently, the inclusion rate for capital gains has been increased from 50% to 66.6%. This means that two thirds of your capital gains will be included in your income for individuals for that portion of the income above 250 K. For an individual's income below 250 K the inclusion rate remains at 50%. The increase applies to the capital gain over 250 K. For corporations however the inclusion rate is two thirds on the first dollar. So effectively the federal government is increasing corporate taxes by 33.4%  (again a 16.6% increase divided by 50% [...]

We are often asked by clients if they should put the title of their home into the joint names of themselves and one or more of their children. This is done to avoid probate problems so that you don't have to wait for the court to issue a grant of probate before the beneficiaries/children can deal with/sell the home. No problem with that reasoning. However recently the federal government has decided to create a situation where that example would be deemed to be a bare trust with the son or daughter possibly being required to pay taxes because they [...]

What is the benefit of incorporating? We are often asked what the benefits are of Inc. and there are several. First of all, you protect your personal assets because using a corporation you have limited liability. If someone wants to file a lawsuit against the company, that will not affect your personal assets because they're suing the company but you. The most that you would stand to lose would be the money that you've invested in the company. You would achieve significant tax savings by incorporating. Right now the combined personal tax rate for a small corporation in Alberta is [...]

When you name someone as executor or alternate executor in your will, make sure that you talk to them first to make sure that they are on board and agree to do this. The last thing you want is to nominate someone to be your executor or alternate executor to then find out that that's the last thing they wanted to do and they're not willing to become your executor. It is not pleasant for us to call an executor and tell them that our client has passed away and you were named as executor to only be told by [...]

People will sometimes purchase a will kit thinking that is sufficient. Often it isn't. We have a file where the deceased named his brother as the executor but did not say anything about who the beneficiaries were to be. This created a lot of extra work for us, significantly increasing the time it took to obtain a grant of probate. With another file where the deceased created several codicils to his will which are the short amendments where the codicils were on multiple Post-it notes stuck to the will. As you can imagine this created a lot of extra work [...]

Tradename is a business name that you operate under, different from your personal name or your company's name. Under the legal doctrine of passing off, if someone uses your tradename or something similar to it in the area in which you operate, you can commence legal action i.e. a lawsuit against them but you can only do that in the local market area where you operate. A trademark on the other hand is nationwide and once registered your trademark is protected across all of Canada or the US. This not only includes your business name but also would include the [...]

A tradename is any name by which you might operate your business if the name is different from your personal name or your company name. For example, you might have a sole proprietorship rather than operating under your personal name and you call it ABC Enterprises. You need to register the fact that you are using this business name as a tradename and you do that with a registry shop. Note that there is no protection afforded to you by doing this; it simply a means of identifying who is operating the business called ABC Enterprises. A trademark on the [...]

Many people think that they can go to one of the registry shops to have a business name checked out and then when they find out the name appears to be available they filed a notice of use of tradename. Many people think this protects the name. It absolutely does not. The only thing that is being checked by the registry shop is whether someone in Alberta is operating the business under the same name. It is not the same as a trademark search which is federal. Many people are confused because they adopted a business name and then they [...]

Intellectual property is the backbone of innovation for businesses all over the world. Copyright, trademarks, patents, and industrial design are all types of intellectual property assets that help ensure that all the hard work that went into developing a new idea or product is protected. That way, your competitors are discouraged from copying your innovations and you can better reap the benefits of your work and new ideas. How popular are intellectual property assets such as trademarks and copyright and what are Canadian attitudes towards them? In this blog post, we’ve gathered some interesting statistics about trademarks, copyright, and copyright [...]

You have a unique idea or name, what next? Consider that there are different types of IPs that define new innovation or discovery or a new improvement to an existing idea. In Canada, you can obtain patent protection from Canadian Intellectual Property office.  There are certain things you need to understand before pursuing a patent or a trademark. Three types of patents: Utility patents Design patents Plant patents A utility patent is one that involves the discovery of a new process, article of manufacture, machine, or an improvement of an original idea. Design patents are mostly concerned with ornamental designs [...]

There are many reasons why people come up with great innovations; some do it for the fame and fortune, others desire to meet a specific need while others stumble upon a new thing while looking for something else. Whatever your reason may be, a lot of hours and at times money goes into innovating and there is need for you to protect your invention at all costs. Here’s how to do it: Understand Your Product Not all innovations can be patented and for your idea to qualify for this license it needs to meet the following criteria: It must be [...]

Whether it is an app, a product or service, a life-changing service or a song that you wrote, if you value it and you came up with it then you need to let the world know that it’s yours. There are several ways to do this and trademarks and copyright happen to be some of the common ways to safeguard yourself. Which one should you choose? We will try to answer this question as we discuss both forms of intellectual property. Copyright Copyright protects original artistic, dramatic, literary or musical works as well as performances. Usually, the person that creates [...]

Have you ever asked yourself, “What would happen if I die?”. This is not a question about the afterlife, but rather about what would happen to all of your possessions once you pass on. You may wonder about things like: Will my family be taken care of? Who will get what among my assets and possessions? Will there be any problems with them getting my estate once I’m gone? If these are things that bother you, then hiring a competent lawyer to draft your will is the way to go. This will give you a sense of security and peace [...]

The most valuable property of every person is their intellectual property. If you have a unique idea that can be turned into a profitable business it is important to protect it. You can protect your idea with a patent. Patents support products and process, and not limited to high tech technology. Ideas surround every aspect of human life. Your idea can also be a useful improvement to an existing patented invention. It is quite unfortunate that some patents are stolen ideas. We share our ideas with friends, colleagues, and relatives, but we forget that they can possess it and use [...]