The ultimate purpose of any business is to be sold – whether by private sale (which statistically is the exit method for two-thirds of all businesses) or by an initial public offering (IPO). Planning and daily operations that keep the “end in mind” are critical to a sale or IPO. To make sure the business assets are available for sale when the “exit time” arrives, key intellectual property assets must be protected by appropriate patents, copyrights, and trade secret procedures that include invention assignment agreements and nondisclosure agreements. The purchase or sale of a business involves preventive business law considerations from all of the Services described on this website.