Entre

Sole Proprietorship

A business that is owned and operated by one person

Corporation

A business that is registered by a state and operates apart from its owners. It issues shares of stock and lives on after the owners have sold their interest or passed away. Corporations can purchase goods and services, sue and be sued, and conduct all types of business transactions.

Limited Liability Company

A company whose owners and managers have limited liability and some tax benefits, but avoids some restrictions associated with Subchapter S corporations.

Subchapter S corporation

A corporation that is taxed like a partnership; profits are taxed only once at the shareholder's personal tax rate. These corporations can have only class of stock.

Nonprofit Corporation

A legal entity that makes money for reasons other than the owner's profit. It can make a profit, but the profit must remain within the company and not be distributed to shareholders.

General Partner

A participant in a partnership who has unlimited personal liability and takes full responsibility for managing the business; all partnerships must have at least one general partner.

Limited Partner

A partner in a business whose liability is limited to his or her investment; a limited partner cannot be actively involved in managing the business.

Service Mark

A word, symbol, design, or color that describes a service business.

Shareholders

An owner of shares of stock in a corporation.

Partnership

An unincorporated business with two or more owners who share the decisions, assets, liabilities, and profits.

Unlimited Liability

Full responsibility for all debts and actions of a business.

Liability Protection

Insurance against debt and actions of a business.

Limited Liability

Partial responsibility of a corporate shareholder; he or she is responsible only up to the amount of the individual investment.

Contract

a binding legal agreement between two or more persons or parties.

Patent

a document that grants an inventor the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention during the term of the patent.

Uniform commercial code (UCC)

a group of laws that regulates commercial business transactions.

Uniform Trade Secrets Acts (UTSA)

a law that protects intellectual property, such as a formula, device, idea, process, pattern, or compilation of information that is not general knowledge to or accessible by other people.

Copyright

a legal device that protects original works of authors. These include; books, movies, musical compositions, and computer software's.

Permit or License

a legal document giving official permission to run a business.

FICA:

a social security payroll tax, figured as a percentage of an employee's income; an employer is required to contribute an amount equal to the amount deducted from each employee's paycheck.

Trademark

a word, symbol, design, or color that a business uses to identify itself with something it sells.

C-corporation

an entity that pays taxes on earnings. Its shareholders pay taxes as well.

Public domain

comprises all intellectual property whose protection has expired; people can use any aspect of the device in their own invention free of charge.

Bait-and-switch advertising

involves advertising at a very low price to attract customers who are then persuaded to switch to a more expensive product.

Warranty of merchantability

is a guarantee about the quality of good or services purchased that is not written down or explicitly spoken. An assurance that new items will work for their purpose.

Consideration

is what is exchanged for the promise. It causes the contract to be binding.

Price discrimination

the charging of different prices for the same product of service in different markets or to different customers.

Equal employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

the government agency charged with protecting the rights of employees. Ensured that employers do not discriminate.

Intellectual property law

the group of laws that regulates the ownership and use of creative works.

Capacity

the legal ability to enter into a binding agreement.

Wrongful termination

the right of an employee to sue his or her employer for damages in the event that he or she is terminated for unacceptable reason.

Patent Pending

the status of an invention between the time a patent application has been filed and when it is issued or rejected.