On-line Trading
We work with start ups and creative internet businesses, both in platform development and as enterprise users. Our clients come to us for legal and commercial advice to anticipate risks and opportunities. The use of our flexible support service to help on critical issues proves popular.
Legal issues around fund raising for new platforms and investment into e-commerce;
Avoiding breaching regulatory requirements such as the regulations relating to e-commerce and data protection law;
Negotiating favourable terms in commercial contracts including procurement, supply, agency, distribution, franchise and merchandising agreements;
Ensuring technology agreements such as software development, collaborative and licencing agreements adequately protect rights and provide realisable commercial benefits;
Protecting and monetising intellectual property rights;
Managing employment issues such as director service agreements, employee incentives and employee exits; and
Managing acquisitions, disposals and re-financing arrangements for on-line platforms and retailers.
Online platforms cover a wide range of activities, including online marketplaces, social media and creative content outlets, application distribution platforms, price comparison websites, platforms for the gig economy, recruitment and collaborations, as well as traditional online search engines. Platforms are strong drivers of innovation.
We help developers of cloud-based platforms protect and exploit their algorithms and support them in achieving their business goals. Our combination of expertise means we can draw on a range of experiences specialists. Whether you are acquiring, investing, licensing or selling a platform we can provide commercial services to suit your business. We offer a full range of commercial services including:
As well as supporting platform developers, we work with a variety of organisations whose businesses are built on such platforms. Our recent work includes a wide range of businesses such as gaming apps, and websites facilitating online art sales. We have worked extensively with job-posting apps hosted on cloud-based platforms – we help you determine when a platform amounts to a regulated business and when employment rights are engaged.
Our team work with you to monetise your use of open interfaces and multi-platform software to benefit your business.
New legal and commercial developments are changing how the on-line trading platforms operate. For example, we are seeing increased awareness of the need to consider data protection across all types of on line trading platforms. Where the platform uses block chain technology the security obligations are increased. The requirement for platforms to present to consumers clear terms in a language they can understand, yet be detailed enough to protect the business,remains a challenge. Marketing departments in particular are having to re-think how they can legally use the data.
Our specialist data security team can help minimise the risk of infringement and maximise your business’ GDPR and PECR-compliance. But if you are the subject of a breach our litigation team will guide you through the necessary steps to resolve the dispute efficiently.
