Company foundation 3: Legal aspects of company foundation (WIW306/10 LP)
Hint
Module according to the new examination regulations for the sub-degree programme 3 (optional area) in the combinatorial degree programme
with the Bachelor of Arts degree (PO 2021) for students enrolled for the first time from winter semester 2021/2022. The module of the optional area lasts one semester and ends with a 90-minute final module examination on the lectures "Labour and company law for founders", "Legal structuring for company takeovers and participations" and "Industrial property rights for founders". The final module examination is therefore divided into three equal parts. All lectures can only be attended in the winter semester.
Combinatorial Bachelor of Arts
Submodules
Lecture "Labour and company law for founders"
Lecture "Legal structuring for company takeovers and participations"
Lecture "Industrial property rights for founders"
Sub-module 1: Labour and company law for founders
Students and those interested in founding a company acquire essential legal knowledge that is required for founding and managing a company. In particular, they identify fundamental aspects of labour and company law. In labour law, they first analyse various options for integrating human resources (e.g. work contract, service contract, employment contract) into a company. In particular, new forms of employment are considered here. Finally, the students clarify the possible labour law position of the founder. In the second part of the course, in addition to the choice of legal form, they analyse the actual start-up process (e.g. business registration, approvals) and liability as a corporate body. The financing of the start-up project is also important. For this reason, students also compare the legal framework conditions for equity, debt and hybrid financing. Students will be able to take legal aspects into account when integrating personnel and capital into a start-up company and evaluate alternative company law structures when setting up a company.
Lecturer: RA Frank Engelhard
Effort: 3 LP
Dates: Friday, 8:30 - 10:00 am (weekly)
Start of event: 24.10.2025
Room: Lecture theatre 13
Sub-module 2: Legal organisation of company takeovers and participations
Legal aspects are essential for the success of every business start-up and self-employed activity, and this also applies to company takeovers and participations. Students are familiar with the legal principles for structuring takeover and investment processes and evaluate these with the help of practical examples. They will be able to assess appropriate contract design from a risk perspective from the perspective of the "founding" shareholder or company transferee.
Lecturer: Dr Jens Schmidt
Effort: 3 LP
Dates: Tuesday, 12:00 - 14:00 (weekly)
Start of event: 28.10.2025
Room: Lecture theatre 11
Sub-module 3: Industrial property rights for founders
Students analyse the system of industrial property rights and the main features of copyright law from a start-up-specific perspective. They will be familiar with the law on trade marks (trade mark rights and the law on business names), the law on inventions (patent and utility model law), the law on designs and models (utility model law) and the relevant basic features of copyright law. They determine individual protection requirements for start-up companies, can develop and apply current property right strategies and evaluate the practical development, examination, acquisition, enforcement and utilisation of the respective rights in a national and international context.
Lecturer: RA Alexander Goldberg
Effort: 4 LP
Dates: Wednesday, 16:00 - 18:00 (weekly)
Start of event: 29.10.2025
Room: M.12.25
