A14905 Legal Issues in Entrepreneurship and Innovation

At the end of the course, the student should be able:

1. to approach the companies’ life cycle from a legal perspective;
2. to develop facility with the major forms of business association, by learning the relevant legal characteristics and distinguishing the advantages and disadvantages;
3. to coordinate legal and business considerations in order to achieve optimal outcomes in business practice.

At the end of the course, the student will be familiar with the basic legal systems, challenges and the functioning of business associations, useful to serve to the entrepreneurship practice.

The course will introduce students to the major stages of the companies’ life cycle (ranging from the incorporation, the early development, the mature stage of business to the exiting or sale of the company). The course will put under the spotlight the roles and responsibilities of promoters and the legal challenges related to the carrying out of business.

In light of this, the course will deal with the following major topics:

1. fundamentals of Business Law (i.e. major forms of business association, rendering a practical insight on the incorporation steps, through the examination of incorporation deeds and bylaws);
2. focus on stakeholders (i.e. roles and responsibilities, including activism, if applicable);
3. focus on management (i.e. description of the relevant forms of management and description of the roles, functions and responsibilities of directors);
4. analysis of the business’ assets, focusing on Intellectual Property Rights and the applicable rules and regulations relating to their exploitation and protection;
5. brief introduction to Privacy Law and Data Protection;
6. analysis of some relevant challenges “typical” of the mature life of companies. To this extent, the course will deal with the basics of M&A deals, the fundamentals of partnerships and joint ventures, in addition to an introduction to international business transactions;
7. closing hints on the late stages of the companies’ life cycle, mentioning principles and structure of “exit” procedures.  

The course will approach the study of the fundamentals of Business Law under a practical point of view, offering a wide range of examples deriving from the day-to-day life of an international law firm, so that students will be equipped with a set of minimum legal skills useful to address a real-life business practice.

The lectures will be held with the aid of power point presentations, videos, relevant readings and papers and “real” deeds and agreements.

Students will be required to actively participate during the lectures showing a proactive approach to the topics and expand their reading to related material.

All the course will be held in English.

Details upon the evaluation criteria will be provided at the beginning of the course.

During the course, an intermediate test will be required.