About Us
Why Transaction Commons?
Transaction Commons was born out of decades of frustration with disorganized (and inefficient) business transaction document negotiation. Transaction efficiency depends on all parties communicating in an organized way. That goal is not served by email, and even if one party thinks they are organized, they are only part of the equation. Hence the frustration.
We started Transaction Commons to address the continuing inefficiency in business transaction communication and documentation.
Taking Care of Transactions
Bob Marsh, President
Bob is the president and founder of Transaction Commons. After decades as a transaction lawyer and as outside general counsel for business clients, Bob started Transaction Commons. His goal was to improve the transaction process - whether for large M&A transactions or any other complex (or slowly negotiated) transaction. Bob has graduate degrees from Northwestern University‘s School of Law and Kellogg School of Management.
Your Transaction Process Experts
Our focus is making the transaction process more efficient. We believe it is critical to keep all transaction negotiations organized - in one place - from the inception of the transaction (whether a nondisclosure agreement, term sheet, or letter of intent), through transaction document negotiation, the closing and any post-closing deliveries or issue resolutions. Transaction Commons is the platform that makes that possible, and at a fair price.
Why are we called "Transaction Commons"?
o We designed our platform to enable the completion of transactions with organization, confidentiality, and security and with fair access to all parties. So we chose the name Transaction Commons.
"Transact" means to conduct something – business, a project, or other activities – to a conclusion. The word is based on the Latin word transactus – meaning to carry out or accomplish. Sometimes transactions are discrete, other times they may define a long term relationship.
"Commons" is a place shared by more than one person or company and not necessarily controlled by a particular user. While Transaction Commons is a cloud-based application, access is equally shared among all of the transaction parties.
Where Deals Get Done!
The ultimate goal for all of the parties is the completion of the transaction. It's not just about the process - although an efficient one makes completion more likely and satisfying to everyone involved. So we keep that goal in the forefront and highlight that Transaction Commons is the "place" where transactions get completed.
Our Intellectual Property
Patents
Transaction Commons has licensed 4 patents relating to key aspects of an efficient, fair and accurate multi-party transaction process:
US Patent No. 8,856,175 covers a transaction management approach with multiple administrators (such as one for each transaction party) having separate control of, and information about, their own set of users.
US Patent No. 9,454,527 covers the visible marking of the finalized version of an agreement with a verification code to make it clear to each party that they are signing the correct final document.
US Patent No. 9,552,340 covers the use of software code to assist a user in selecting the most useful prior version of an agreement to be used for generating a redline to a new proposed version.
US Patent No. 10,474,995 covers the management of different governing documents (such as confidentiality agreements) that are applicable for different parties or participants in a transaction.
Trade Secrets
Our platform is based on our own proprietary software.
Trademarks
Transaction Commons also owns a number of registered trademarks used in its business, on this website, and elsewhere.