The growth of the internet over the last decade has meant that even the smallest businesses can now reach a worldwide customer base with relatively little expense or outlay. For an ever increasing number of businesses, the internet is now the only medium through which they conduct business. Web based businesses are subject to a huge amount of regulatory legislation which dictates the way in which they are able to trade online.
Many businesses do not understand that their web developer normally owns all IP rights in their website which can come as a nasty shock. It is important to sort out ownership rights in the early stages to ensure you own your website and all IP rights in it and you can port your website if needed.
Despite having been in force for some time, businesses, including some of the UK’s largest plcs, continue to fall foul of the laws governing e-commerce, in particular B2C. It is imperative that your business not only complies with the laws governing e-commerce, but also takes steps to ensure that it is fully protected against the unlawful actions of other web users.
Capital Law’s IP experts have considerable experience in advising clients on all aspects of the law relating to business on the internet, including:
- the development of your own internet strategy, including setting up and maintaining an online presence, dealing with domain name disputes and management
- e-business and e-marketing
- database rights, confidential information and data protection
- an appropriate course of action to deal with domain name infringement
- website terms of usage, terms and conditions, privacy policies and other related policies
- drafting website development contracts, sub-contractor agreements, web and website hosting contracts, website content licensing
- all aspects of cross-border trading
- online advertising (legal restrictions on what you can and cannot say online).
