Online trading can seem so easy: website + customers = business. But e-commerce comes with as many risks as traditional bricks-and-mortar business, and is also subject to broad and complex regulation and an ever changing business environment as our relationship with the internet develops and evolves.

You need expert advice from the start. That means, amongst other things, advice on your intellectual property rights, on the design and structure of your website, your trading terms, your website access and use policy, marketing consents and privacy policies. You need someone who understands every stage of your business growth and knows that each step in the right direction will require new strategies and new ways of working. You need a flexible legal expert with a proven track record in e-commerce.

We guide you through the maze

Our e-commerce experts will work with you at every step to provide a clear and comprehensive service. We’ll walk you through the regulations, advising on the relevant aspects until we’re confident that you have the best solution for your business.

We can advise on:

• Website design and content review and audit
• Website development agreements
• Hosting agreements
• Website linking agreements
• Website access terms
• Domain names registration and maintenance
• Adword registration and disputes
• Trade mark registration
• Intellectual property and licensing
• Marketing and brands
• Online terms and conditions
• Credit card merchant agreements and other payment mechanisms
• Dropshipping and order fulfilment
• Data protection and privacy issues
• Rights acquisitions and clearances
• Online betting and gaming, lotteries and competitions
• Product launch and licensing
• Joint ventures
• Ancillary IT agreements including maintenance and support arrangements, acceptance test procedures, integration services, service level agreements, modifications, confidentiality agreements, and escrow arrangements
• Advertising, compliance, distance selling regulations, consumer protection legislation
• Subscriber terms and conditions

Some examples of our work:

Terms and conditions and privacy policies for online retailers and service providers including clothing, jewellery, recruitment, lead generation, leisure and financial services

Enforcing copyright and trade mark rights to prevent plagiarism of website content for a major online retailer

Domain name and adword registration and disputes for a variety of business including a travel agent and an opticians

Content licensing clearance for an audiobooks platform

Gambling Commission clearance for a succession of “win a house” and related online competitions