Taxpayers who seek to claim deductions for ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred in carrying on a trade or business or for the production or collection of income or for the management, conservation, or maintenance of property held for the production of income must show a profit motive.

Without a profit motive behind the activity, in general, a taxpayer is barred from claiming deductions for activities not engaged in for profit under Section 183(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The big issue is whether an activity is a trade or business (or one for investment) or is rather merely a hobby.

A recent Tax Court case illustrates the difference between a profit motive and a hobby.

The USPTO's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board issued a decision recently in a case involving a trademark application for the word mark "Purple Rain" in connection with an energy drink, filed by a company unrelated to the late performer, Prince.

Prince's estate filed an opposition to the trademark based on the proposed trademark creating a false suggestion of a connection to Prince.

In a fascinating decision, the TTAB agreed with Prince's estate and so the opposition to the proposed trademark registration was successful.

Today's episode of Business is More Exciting than any Game discusses what business entrepreneurs can learn from this decision.

LLCs are probably the most popular choice for a business entity for small businesses to operate in the U.S. Many LLCs only have a single member, but many more have multiple members.

One of the inevitable events in life is death. So, what happens to an LLC when one of the members dies?

There are consequences to the LLC itself, to the other members, and the family of the deceased member.

This podcast discusses the importance of taking the inevitability of death into account at the beginning of an LLC.