Nevertheless, despite all the legal complexity, which is often accompanied by the creation of partnerships, interviews and friendly farewells, there are a few fundamental steps that any non-profit organization can take to better understand the law of partnerships. This article describes a number of basic terminologies and then explains the tax and intellectual property rights associated with the formation of partnerships. Finally, it highlights provisions that should be incorporated into any partnership agreement, regardless of the technical form of the relationship. First, it is often difficult to find standard legal documents for non-profit organizations. Several organizations, such as Z. O. Public Counsel, provide excellent business governance models, and tax sponsorship and other documents can be found by searching the internet. But it can be difficult to find examples of other documents, particularly materials related to non-profit programs and other activities that apply specifically to non-profit organizations. We wanted to start by filling that gap in the resource base. The name and acronym of an organization may be «marks» protected by law. By definition, a brand is any word, expression, symbol, design, slogan or tag-line (or combination of it) used by a company, individual or non-profit organization to identify the source of a product.
A service mark is the same as a brand, except that it identifies the source of a service. A certification sign is a mark used by an authorized third party to indicate that its products or services meet the standards set by the trademark holder. It should be noted, however, that there are several exceptions that prevent a trademark from being a protected trademark under the law, including the fact that the mark is too general or only descriptive. A recent article in The NonProfit Quarterly entitled «Collaborations: The Non-Profit Trend» discussed the movement towards collaborations and links between non-profit organizations to address a growing need for services with fewer resources. While the importance of cooperation is undeniable for many organizations, and in particular for solving major social problems, leaders of non-profit organizations should have a fundamental understanding of possible legal structures before entering into this cooperation.