Participants have raised concern over the terms and conditions of the Philly Enterprise Hackathon, the contest which aims to unite Philadelphia's developer and startup community with enterprise businesses seeking innovative solutions, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported in an April 10 article about the event. 

According to the article, some say the contest forces "winners" to further develop winning concepts on behalf of the sponsoring company before receiving the prize money. 

Entrepreneurial Law Clinic Director Steve Rosard, who frequently provides strategic legal advice to emerging businesses, interpreted the rules for the Philadelphia Business Journal.  “As I read this, it means that the winner is committing to use the prize/grant [money] to further develop/implement the winning submission,”  Rosard said.  Rosard also pointed out, however, that the rules "clearly state that each entrant retains ownership of the submission.”

Rosard's expertise in startup and entrepreneurial law also brought him to the 12th Annual Transactional Clinical Conference at the University of Texas School of Law on April 6.

Rosard was a panelist at the opening plenary, “Crowdfounding: What is it, and What Promise Does it Hold for For-Profits and Non-Profits?”

He also took part in a discussion “Serving the Start-Up Ecosystem’s High-Growth and University IP Businesses,” joining faculty from the University of Washington School of Law, the University of Tennessee College of Law, West Virginia University College of Law and Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.