speaslee, Author at Polaris Law Firm

close up shot of a green perfume bottle on the sand

Likelihood of Confusion: The Law Behind a Trademark Rejection or Infringement

By speaslee October 16, 2024Intellectual Property

By Samantha Peaslee One of the most common reasons that the trademark examiners at the United States Patent and Trademark Office refuse a mark registration is that the new…

Recognizing Trademark Scams

By speaslee October 4, 2024Intellectual Property

By Samantha Peaslee It’s happened more times than we can count. An excited business owner just submitted their application for a trademark for their company. They paid the $250.00 filing…

Dissolution of Marriage in Colorado

By speaslee July 25, 2022Family Law

by Catherine Reynolds Colorado has a standard Dissolution of Marriage (colloquially called a divorce) process that allows everyone, even those without an attorney (also known as pro se parties), to…

Creating Emergency Plans, Part Two

By speaslee March 21, 2022Business

This is part 2 of our blog posts on creating emergency plans for your business, inspired by an Emergency Preparedness presentation that I gave for the Business Bootcamp at the…

Creating Emergency Plans

By speaslee March 7, 2022Business

I have worked with the Arvada Chamber of Commerce and Samantha Geerdes for the last few years giving a presentation to their Business Bootcamp along with Lisa Smith of Team…

Independent Contractor Factors: What Your Business Needs to Know

By speaslee February 10, 2021Employment

Many small businesses prefer to start their expansion by using independent contractors (such as Polaris Law Group) rather than hiring internal employees (like an employed in-house counsel). However, under Colorado…

What is the Difference Between an Employee and a Contractor?

By speaslee December 22, 2020Employment

Under Colorado Law, an individual is presumed to be an employee unless there is a written agreement that the individual is an independent contractor. The written agreement must comply with…

What Can Be Copyrighted? How To Protect Your Original Works of Authorship

By speaslee December 22, 2020Intellectual Property

One of my favorite types of intellectual property to work with are copyrighted works. Copyright is a protection that is provided in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the…

The Four General Categories of Intellectual Property – What You Need To Know

By speaslee December 22, 2020Intellectual Property

One of the most common things that happens for me with initial consultations relating to Intellectual Property is that I will get a call or an e-mail saying that the…

Attribution is NOT Enough – What You Need To Know About Copyright Use

By speaslee December 22, 2020Intellectual Property

Copyright uses, fair uses, and infringements are a vastly misunderstood source of law with significant misinformation out there in the universe. One piece of misinformation that I have seen get…

Minimum Wage and Exemption Law – Overtime Requirements

By speaslee December 22, 2020Employment

On July 15, 2020, the Colorado Department of Labor updated the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order (COMPS ORDER) #36. Included in this COMPS ORDER are the requirements for…

Is Your Business Ready for Colorado EPEWA Effective 1/1/21?

By speaslee December 22, 2020Employment

What is The Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (EPEWA)? Colorado is introducing a new wage discrimination law, the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (“EPEWA”), which becomes…

What is Dispute Resolution? Why My Business Might Need It.

By speaslee December 22, 2020Dispute Resolution

Many people don’t know what “dispute resolution” means in a legal context. They understand what litigation is, but often don’t know there are alternative processes. What is Dispute Resolution? Dispute…

What Makes an Effective and Enforceable Contract?

By speaslee December 22, 2020Business

I get questions at presentations about whether businesses or individuals can make a contract without an attorney. You absolutely can, but whether you should is another matter. What Elements Do…

What Does Personally Identifiable Information Mean For My Business? Is It Important?

By speaslee December 22, 2020Business

What Is Personally Identifiable Information? Privacy is all the rage these days and data privacy laws have made changes in leaps and bounds in the last several years. Most privacy…

Protecting Fan Fiction in the United States and Japan. Is there a place for US?

By speaslee November 17, 2020Intellectual Property, Publications

Learn more about protecting fan fiction in this article written for the Denver Journal of International Law and Policy, Winter 2015 edition, by Samantha Peaslee. Susan sits down at her…

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) & the Paycheck Protection Program

By speaslee April 6, 2020Business

On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law H.R. 748, also known as the CARES Act. One of the important provisions of this new law is the Paycheck Protection…