IANAL so this really depends on the person's specific situation i.e. like what state is the business in, how many members there are, and so on
imo if you want more protection, you need a C-Corp or a more than one member LLC... there are caveats to both routes and everyone should talk to a real lawyer about this or books from say NOLO
I have an S-Corp, and the typical upfront cost with my lawyer is $500, that includes one hour consultation and all setup fees. Legal paperwork is under $100 and one hour per year. Accounting comes out to $900/year, but that usually pays for itself in all the deductions that my accountant can find.
What is the best way to contact my elected government representatives to support a change in this area? I am not familiar enough with the laws in this area and don't really have the background knowledge to speak intelligently enough about it to be convincing. I'd really like to do my part on this but am not sure how to be effective.
Just get a pitch you can say about how these patents are making you fearful and how you cannot possibly take such risks as starting your own business (if you haven't) and hiring (more?) people. Keep it short, be confident, practice in mirror. Check various organizations for talking points.
Find a decent suit, get a hair cut, and make yourself look like the stereotypical successful business man / woman. Find out when your representative will be in town (most have multiple offices in their district), and go to a public meeting they are holding. Be pleasant, nice, and state your point. Followup with a letter and get others to write letters on the same subject. If you know one of the big campaign donors then get them to state the same thing.
I simply emailed my U.S. senators and representative, and let them know I would be considering their stance on patent reform a major issue when deciding whether to vote for them. You can find your legislators' contact information via the following link:
You could also contact the sponsors of the recent (and weak) America Invents Act - Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), but if you're not one of their constituents, they likely won't be too concerned with what you have to say.
If anyone else has other suggestions / tips on how to most effectively reach legislators to support patent reform, please share!
TortoiseGit has been working fine for me, no crashes or problems. They've done a pretty good job of taking the most common scenarios and making them easy to do, even for a Windows user. (And I say that as a Windows user:)
I used it about 6 months ago but ended up uninstalling it; it had a nasty habit of locking my git repo when I needed it and then crashing. Haven't used it since.
