E-commerce legal advice
E-commerce lawyers
A global presence is increasingly important to businesses which makes an effective website a huge asset in terms of advertising, sales and market awareness.
However, much is made of the internet bringing with it a fresh lawlessness in business practice. This is wrong. In fact, setting up a website can be a regulatory minefield. The Irwin Mitchell Information Technology team can guide you through it with its "one stop shop". We deal with all the legal issues you face in setting up a website. We will advise on the early stages of obtaining a domain name, through to website content and how to ensure your online contract terms are effective.
A close relationship with our specialist Intellectual Property team allows us to advise not only on the availability of domain names but also any potential intellectual property issues raised such as trade mark infringement.
In addition, we regularly deal with the preparation and use of terms and conditions, copyright statements and website disclaimers as well as delivering advice on areas of particular risk such as how to effectively conclude a contract online.
We also advise upon the effects of the regulatory regimes imposed by the Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002 and where consumers are involved, the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000. These regulations impose requirements on website content which can result in complaints to the Office of Fair Trading if not observed.
One issue which cannot be ignored in the context of online trading is privacy and data protection. Large amounts of electronic data are likely to be collected by successful e-commerce sites. This data needs to be dealt with in accordance with the intricacies of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 to avoid the risk of criminal and/or civil penalties. We have expertise in providing practical compliance advice on this legislation and how to avoid pitfalls.
Call us now on 0870 1500 100 to arrange a consultation, or use the links above to drop us a line.