Silicon Valley SaaS Lawyer Kristie Prinz will present a webinar on “Negotiating SaaS Agreements: Drafting Key Contract Provisions, Protecting Customer and Vendor Interests” on August 9, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.  The program will be sponsored by Virginia-based Clear Law Institute.  To register, please sign up at https://clearlawinstitute.com/.

Silicon Valley Software Lawyer Kristie Prinz will be presenting an upcoming webinar with FieldFisher partner Laura Berton on “Drafting Software Hosting Agreements: Service Availability, Performance, Data Security, Other Key Provisions” for Strafford on Thursday, July 25th from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. PST.   For more information on the program, please click here.

News Update 7.17.19

Silicon Valley Software Lawyer Kristie Prinz will present a webinar on “Negotiating SaaS Agreements: Drafting Key Contract Provisions, Protecting Customer and Vendor Interests” on August 9, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.  The program will be sponsored by Virginia-based Clear Law Institute.  To register, please sign up at https://clearlawinstitute.com/.

Silicon Valley Software Attorney Kristie Prinz will be presenting an upcoming webinar with FieldFisher partner Laura Berton on “Drafting Software Hosting Agreements: Service Availability, Performance, Data Security, Other Key Provisions” for Strafford on Thursday, July 25th from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. PST.   For more information on the program, please click here.

Silicon Valley SaaS Lawyer Kristie Prinz will present a webinar on “Negotiating SaaS Agreements: Drafting Key Contract Provisions, Protecting Customer and Vendor Interests” on May 6, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.  The program will be sponsored by Virginia-based Clear Law Institute.  To register, please sign up at https://clearlawinstitute.com/.

Silicon Valley Software Lawyer Kristie Prinz will present a webinar on “Negotiating SaaS Agreements: Drafting Key Contract Provisions, Protecting Customer and Vendor Interests” on May 6, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.  The program will be sponsored by Virginia-based Clear Law Institute.  To register, please sign up at https://clearlawinstitute.com/.

Press Release 1.14.19

The Prinz Law Office is pleased to announce the opening of its new Palo Alto office. To read the press release announcing the opening, please click on the link: Press Release 1.14.19.

Prinz Law Announcement 10.3.18

Webinar Mailer 10.26.18

The Prinz Law Office is pleased to announce the launch of a new alternative legal billing solution for our clients in the software/SaaS, tech and health tech/digital health, and IT/healthIT industries: the subscription billing model.  We have been following the recent popularity of this model with California companies, and have decided to adopt our own version.  We believe that it may be a good fit for clients with ongoing firm needs, particularly in the transactional space.  Our new plans will be based on daily and half-daily billing, eliminating traditional hourly timekeeping for clients who choose this option. For more information on how a subscription solution would work, please contact Kristie Prinz at

kp****@pr************.com











or 408.884.854.

If you run a SaaS company, you may come across a negotiation where a prospective customer or business partner insists on the inclusion of source code escrow in the deal terms.  However, the traditional source code escrow product is unlikely to provide the protections that your prospective customer or business partner is seeking.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog addresses the issue of source code escrow products designed for SaaS products and what SaaS companies need to know about them in the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/what-saas-companies-need-to-know-about-source-code-escrow-agreements/

News Update 6.29.18

Software companies are still taking steps to comply with the European Union’s General Data Privacy Regulation (“GDPR”), which just recently went into effect, but they now are facing the prospect of having to comply with a law closer to home: California’s New Consumer Privacy Act of 2018.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog discusses this development at the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/in-aftermath-of-gdpr-california-passes-consumer-privacy-act-of-2018/

If your Silicon Valley company relies on Gig workers as part of its business model, then the California Supreme Court’s ruling is likely to have significant consequences for your business.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog discusses this ruling at the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/california-supreme-court-strikes-blow-to-software-industry-reliance-on-gig-workers/

If your software company has pursued Privacy Shield certification and is relying on the certification to comply with EU data privacy regulations, then you will be interested to know that a challenge to the framework is to be heard by a European High Court.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog has addressed this development and what it may mean for the Privacy Shield framework in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/irish-court-has-referred-case-to-european-court-which-challenges-privacy-shield-will-the-eu-u-s-privacy-shield-framework-withstand-scrutiny-by-the-european-high-court/

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) will go into effect on May 25, 2018.  In case you are not up to speed on the law already, what do you need to know about it before it goes into effect?  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog addressed the highlights of the regulation in the following blogpost

:http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/what-software-companies-need-to-know-about-the-eu-general-data-protection-regulation/

Software Contracts Lawyer Kristie Prinz will give a live webcast for Florida-based MyLawCLE on “Drafting Software Hosting Agreements for ASP and SaaS” on March 15, 2018 from 1 to 3 p.m. PST.

Silicon Valley Software Lawyer Kristie Prinz will be featured as a speaker for the webinar “Drafting Software Hosting Agreements: Service Availability, Performance, Data Security, Other Key Provisions” for the Atlanta, Georgia-based Strafford on January 23, 2018.

Press Release on January 23, 2018 Webinar

Prinz Law founder and San Jose software lawyer Kristie Prinz will speak at a webinar hosted by The Prinz Law Office on “Best Practices for Drafting SaaS Contracts that Reduce the Customer Sales Cycle & Avoid Disputes.” The webinar will take place on October 26, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. PST. The webinar will address such topics as:
-What makes an effective SaaS customer contract?
-What terms should SaaS customers expect?
-Common challenges with customer negotiations.
-What drafting problems frequently result in stalled contract negotiations? Customer disputes?
-How can better drafting close deals faster? Avoid subsequent customer disputes?
To register for the webinar, please sign up at this link.

Software Lawyer Kristie Prinz will be featured as a speaker for the webinar “Negotiating Software as a Service Contracts” for the Arlington, Virginia-based Clear Law Institute on Wednesday, January 17th from 10-11:15 a.m.  PST.

Silicon Valley Software Lawyer Kristie Prinz will be featured as a speaker for the webinar “Negotiating Software as a Service Contracts” for the Arlington, Virginia-based Clear Law Institute on Tuesday, September 12th from 12-1:15 p.m.  PST.

Clear Law Institute is making available a special promotional discount of 35% off to attendees who sign up via The Prinz Law Office using this promo code:  krpri35.

To register for the event, sign up at this link:  http://clearlawinstitute.com/shop/webinars/negotiating-software-service-contracts-091217/.  

Prinz Law founder and San Jose SaaS lawyer Kristie Prinz will speak at a webinar hosted by The Prinz Law Office on “Best Practices for Drafting SaaS Contracts that Reduce the Customer Sales Cycle & Avoid Disputes.” The webinar will take place on October 26, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. PST. The webinar will address such topics as:
-What makes an effective SaaS customer contract?
-What terms should SaaS customers expect?
-Common challenges with customer negotiations.
-What drafting problems frequently result in stalled contract negotiations? Customer disputes?
-How can better drafting close deals faster? Avoid subsequent customer disputes?
To register for the webinar, please sign up at this link.

Press Release for 10.26.17 webinar

Press Release 8.17.17

Silicon Valley Software Lawyer Kristie Prinz will be featured as a speaker for the webinar “Negotiating Software as a Service Contracts” for the Arlington, Virginia-based Clear Law Institute on Tuesday, September 12th from 12-1:15 p.m.  PST.

Clear Law Institute is making available a special promotional discount of 35% off to attendees who sign up via The Prinz Law Office using this promo code:  krpri35.

To register for the event, sign up at this link:   http://clearlawinstitute.com/shop/webinars/negotiating-software-service-contracts-091217/.  

The “PATCH Act of 2017” has just been introduced in the Senate, which would require government agencies to submit security holes in software products they identify for independent review in order to determine any vulnerabilities that need to be addressed.  For more information on the bill, please check out the Silicon Valley Software Law Blog posting on the story:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/bipartisan-bill-introduced-in-senate-that-seeks-to-prevent-attacks-of-american-cyber-networks/.

The “Protecting Our Ability to Counter Hacking Act of 2017”  or “PATCH Act of 2017” has just been introduced in the Senate.  For more background on the bill, please check out this Silicon Valley Software Law Blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/bipartisan-bill-introduced-in-senate-that-seeks-to-prevent-attacks-of-american-cyber-networks/

The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into Uber’s use of the Greyball software program.  For more information on the investigation, please check out the following Silicon Valley Software Law Blog posting on the story:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/investigation-reportedly-launched-by-department-of-justice-into-ubers-use-of-greyball-software/

A common problem in software and SaaS agreements is that the fee terms in the contract make no sense.  Why is this the case and how do you fix the terms?  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog addresses this issue in the following posting:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/common-software-agreement-fee-drafting-problems-and-how-to-fix-them/

If your company is like most in the software space, your product requires some sort of initial set-up and configuration for customers that in an enterprise scenario can require a significant investment of time and resources.  However, many software contracts are silent regarding what is involved in this initial phase of a business relationship, which results in many disputes.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog discusses this issue in the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/does-your-customer-software-license-or-saas-agreement-leave-your-software-company-vulnerable-to-a-legal-dispute-over-implementation/

If you are a developer and you develop code that hackers then use to commit crimes, then you may be at risk for criminal prosecution.  Could prosecution of developers for code used by hackers be a new trend in law enforcement?  For more information on the risks to software developers, please check out this Silicon Valley Software Law Blog posting:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/could-a-software-developer-whose-code-is-used-for-hacking-be-convicted-of-a-crime/

If you are in the software industry, you probably have heard of a “service level agreement” or “SLA” but do you really understand what a service level agreement is or why you might need one?  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog addresses this issue in the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/service-level-agreements-what-is-a-service-level-agreement-or-sla-and-when-do-you-need-one/

If your company is like most, you may be using a software agreement that has nothing to do with your company’s business practices or business model.  Why is this a bad idea?  Well, several recent class action suits provide a recent example of why this can be very problematic for a software company.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog addresses this issue in the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/recent-software-class-actions-provide-valuable-lesson-on-why-saas-contracts-should-be-drafted-to-fit-companys-business-model/

If your company is like most and you have given little or no thought to your company’s privacy policy while also collecting data and looking for ways to monetize it, then you may want to rethink how you are operating in light of recent enforcement actions by the FTC in the user data space.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog addressed these developments in the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/recent-ftc-enforcement-actions-should-serve-as-warning-to-software-industry-about-privacy-practices/

Silicon Valley lawyer Kristie Prinz will be presenting a webinar on “Negotiating Software-as-a-Services Contracts” for Clear Law Institute on Monday, December 19, 2016 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.

Bitmanagement Software GmbH has filed suit against the US Navy alleging willful copyright infringement of its 3D virtual reality software “BS Contact Geo” and demanding $600 million in damages.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog discussed this and the issues likely involved in the dispute in the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/us-navy-responds-to-copyright-infringement-suit-filed-by-bitmanagement-software/

If you are a cloud service provider or a software provider who offers maintenance services to enterprise-level companies, then your company has likely had occasion to negotiate indemnification clauses related to data breaches.  Moreover, your company has probably had to provide warranties around data security or employee bad acts that would provide some protections to your customers in the event of a data breach.  But have you ever considered what the cost of a possible data breach might really be for your company?  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog addresses this issue in the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/takeaways-for-software-industry-from-new-study-on-costs-of-data-breach/

HP has set off a new DRM software controversy over printer cartridges with a recent security update to HP printers, which made third party printer cartridges no longer compatible with their printers.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog explores the controversy and suggests that new litigation over DRM software could be on the horizon in the following blogpost:

Digital Rights Management Software and the Printer Hardware Business

Silicon Valley lawyer Kristie Prinz will be presenting a webinar on “Negotiating Software-as-a-Services Contracts” for Clear Law Institute on Monday, December 19, 2016 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.

Silicon Valley attorney Kristie Prinz will present a webinar on “Negotiating Software as a Service Contracts” on Friday, September 9, 2016 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.  To sign up for the webinar, please click here.

Silicon Valley lawyer Kristie Prinz will present a webinar on “Negotiating Software as a Service Contracts” on Friday, September 9, 2016 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.  To sign up for the webinar, please click here.

The FTC has issued an order against a San Francisco software company for deceptive and misleading trade practices with respect to the distribution of the software product and with respect to advertising and promotions related to the software product.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog has provided a brief summary of the complaint and the order issued by the FTC in the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/ftc-announces-approval-of-final-order-in-deceptive-app-case-against-vulcan

SaaS Lawyer Kristie Prinz will be speaking on “Negotiating Software as a Service Contracts” at a webinar sponsored by Clear Law Institute, which will be held at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST on May 6, 2016.  For more information on the webinar, please contact Clear Law Institute at http://clearlawinstitute.com/.

If your software company is like most, it may have considered whether the office space it was leasing was compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) prior to signing the lease, but the idea that the products the company was selling might not be ADA compliant has never been contemplated by anyone.  However, now may be a good time to give the issue some serious consideration, as the Silicon Valley Software Law Blog explains in the following blogpost:

Should Your Software Company Be Concerned about Product ADA Compliance?

Microsoft has just launched a constitutional challenge against the federal government over its use of indefinite gag orders when the government subpoenas information from customer cloud account.  The action was clearly timed to capitalize on public sentiment against the government for its perceived instrusion on privacy rights in the recent action against Apple regarding the encryption of the San Bernardino terrorist smartphone.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog further explores this development in the blogpost linked below:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/microsoft-launches-new-constitutional-challenge-against-government-over-secret-data-requests

The U.S. Justice Department has announced that the third party who came forward and convinced the FBI that it could unlock the San Bernardino terrorist’s encrypted iPhone successfully unlocked the encrypted iPhone, ending the standoff between Apple and the FBI.   The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog addressed the developments in this fight between the U.S. Government and Apple in the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/third-party-hacks-san-bernardino-terrorist-iphone-ending-standoff-between-apple-and-fbi.

The Department of Justice signaled today that it may be rethinking moving forward with the Apple litigation over the iPhone encryption issue, canceling a hearing scheduled for tomorrow in order to explore a possible new method that had come to light for unlocking the terrorist iPhone that has sparked the dispute.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog further explored today’s developments in the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/government-backtracks-in-dispute-against-apple-over-unlocking-terrorist-iphone.

Silicon Valley SaaS Lawyer Kristie Prinz will be speaking on “Negotiating Software as a Service Contracts” at a webinar sponsored by Clear Law Institute at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. PST on May 6, 2016.  To sign up to attend the program, please register at the Clear Law Institute Website at www.clearlawinstitute.com.

When the Justice Department decided to wage a legal battle against Apple over encryption on the iPhone of one of San Bernardino terrorists, the government moved the encryption debate into the public arena and triggered a public debate over the issue.  Now, it is reported that the government is considering launching a second case over the encryption issue against yet another company.  Who will be the ultimate winner in this debate?  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog explores the issues in the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/who-will-ultimately-win-in-the-fbis-standoff-with-the-software-industry

The FTC has just reached a settlement with Lumos Labs over claims that the company was deceptively advertising the health benefits of its Luminosity software program.  The FTC’s action over this issue should serve as a warning to the health software industry regarding how health software companies are advertising their products.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog further addressed this matter in the following blog post:  http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/lumos-labs-case-signals-to-health-software-industry-an-intention-by-the-ftc-to-police-advertising-claims

Acquisition International recently recognized The Prinz Law Office as “Best for Software and SaaS Licensing” in the USA.  The link to the notice is attached below:

http://www.acquisition-intl.com/2015-the-prinz-law-office

The U.S. Supreme Court has just issued an opinion in the Commil vs. Cisco Systems case,  prompting members of the software industry to consider how the ruling will impact member software companies, as we further explored in our recent Silicon Valley Software Law Blog Posting:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/silicon-valley-software-industry-considers-impact-of-supreme-court-decision-on-patent-invalidity-defense-to-claim-of-induced-infringement

Privacy groups have voiced concerns about the Senate Intelligence Committee’s recent introduction of a cybersecurity bill, as was further explored by the firm in the following Silicon Valley Software Law Blog posting linked below:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/new-senate-cybersecurity-bill-may-expand-government-surveillance-pressures-on-cloud-companies

The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog looked at what the differences are between the software license and the SaaS contract models in a recent blog posting linked below:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/software-licensing-vs-software-as-a-service-saas-the-importance-of-the-technology-model-to-contract-drafting

The state of California has notified Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar that their services are illegal under California law, as further discussed by the Silicon Valley Software Law Blog in the post below:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/california-notifies-app-based-ride-service-uber-and-competitors-that-service-is-illegal

The Federal Trade Commission has announced that Google has agreed to refund customers’ unauthorized in-app purchases made by their children in the Google Play Store, as the Silicon Valley Software Law Blog discussed in its recent blog posting attached below:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/ftc-settlement-with-google-to-require-refund-of-unauthorized-in-app-charges

The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland has awarded damages in excess of $163 million in a FTC case against a “scareware” software company,  Innovative Marketing, Inc. and its founders, as further discussed by the Silicon Valley Software Law Blog in the blog post link below:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/federal-court-awards-163-million-judgment-against-scareware-software-company-in-ftc-case

FTC has announced that it is proposing an amendment to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (“COPPA”).  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog discussed the proposed changes as well as the pros and cons of potential implementation in its blog posting linked below:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/ftc-proposing-new-rules-to-protect-childrens-online-privacy

President Obama has announced the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights initiative, as further discussed by the Silicon Valley Software Law Blog in the following blog post linked here:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/president-obama-unveils-new-consumer-privacy-initiative-the-consumer-privacy-bill-of-rights

Amazon, Google, and the Wall Street Journal have all now modified their applications  on the Apple App Store in response to signals by Apple that it will be stepping up enforcement of its royalty policies, as was discussed by the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog in its recent blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/amazon-google-wall-street-journal-move-to-modify-applications-on-apple-app-store/

How do you protect your ideas before you launch your novel software start-up?  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog explored this issue in the following blog post linked here:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/tips-to-protecting-your-ideas-before-you-launch-your-software-start-up-company

If you are like many software start-ups, you probably think that equity is the only way to pay for your development work. However, this is not in fact the only option for a cash-strapped start-up, as the Silicon Valley Software Law Blog discussed in the blog post linked here:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/equity-not-the-only-option-for-software-start-ups-hiring-first-developer

If you are like most early stage software companies, you will complete your next development project without ever asking for or procuring a copyright assignment.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog explored this issue in the blog post linked below:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/copyright-assignmentsoverlookedinmostdevelopmentprojects