Business Law in Rejuvenate

Business Law

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
.........................................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
The legal provisions applicable on commercial transactions or dealings in an organization
is called business law. The main aim of such law is to protect parties involved from legal
disputes. It is branch of civil law and deals with the issues of private and public law. It is also
called as mercantile law or commercial law (Mann and Roberts, 2015). The report covers
different areas of law that have potential impact upon a business and application of legal
principles to a hypothetical legal scenarios to show the working of such laws. These will also
include remedies that may be sought by consumer for infringement of legal obligations and
impact of law of tort in the case scenario.
MAIN BODY
In the given case, Sam is an aspiring businessman who is planning to set up his first
business. He will be selling a moisturiser manufactured with snail slime and other chemicals.
However, Sam is doubtful about his business venture because of the fact that he'll be legally
responsible for the product. At the same time, his obligations to public is not known to him.
According to Sam's prediction, the product “Rejuvenate” will be in high demand, thus, is
thinking to appoint employees for manufacturing, packing and distribution of the product. Along
with this, he would like to have the knowledge about how to protect product and have full
ownership on his idea.
Outline Sam's contractual and consumer obligations to potential customers and legal remedies
for infringement
A contract means an agreement between a parties executed with some valuable
consideration and legal consent which is enforceable by law. However, it should be a valid
contract only then can be enforceable by law. Contractual obligation can be defined as the
fulfilment of terms and conditions which have been mentioned in the contract (Fried, 2015).
Further, every contract include ways in which obligations are carried out. For example, if
the term of contract provide method of payment, then consideration involved will be made in that
mode or method. A person who wish to establish a all new business has to enter into contract not
with only customers, but also with shareholders, directors, employees, government, suppliers and
even the society in which is going to operate. It may be in written or oral form but must have
legal binding so that it can be enforced in courts. Contractual obligations mainly consist of
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payment, delivery and quality. Also, in case of breach of a clause, it will render the whole
contract invalid and revoked.
In the above case of Sam, after incorporation of the company, a contract will be formed
with customers buying its products. It will comprise of the terms about the ingredients used in
making the moisturiser. Further, a price that will be charged from all the consumer without any
discrimination. Also, there will a term of modes through which payment can be made such cash
or card. This will bind Sam to act within the contractual limits so that there is no scope of
mistake. Also, he can seek legal solutions in case of a disputes or issues.
The remedies that are available to consumers in case of breach in contractual obligations
are as follows:
Sue for damages: In case of breach of a valid contract, the party who has suffered
damages may file a lawsuit in a court for suing the other party (Howells and Weatherill, 2017).
Request for specific performance: A party may enforce other party to complete the
work prescribed in the contract. This is an out-of-court settlement.
Request release from the contract: If one party has been deceived knowingly by
another, they may be able to have a court grant them release from the contract at hand.
Consumer obligation is about meeting and fulfilling the rights of customers that have
been given in Consumer Rights Act, 2005. This act extends to whole England and Wales and
governs supply of good to consumers. It consist of legal provisions and rules that are applicable
on a seller selling products to buyers. Further, it assumed that, whenever a customer buys goods
from a trader, both parties enter into a contract (Wang, Shi and Barnes, 2015). In the above-
mentioned case, Sam will enter into a contract on selling the product. It will be termed as oral
contract and need not necessarily be in writing. Consumer Rights Act protects a consumer
against unfair trade practices or fraud by supplier. In case of a breach, legal remedies can be
sought by party who has suffered from loss or damages. Sam has various obligations towards the
consumer purchasing the product “Rejuvenate” which are as follows:
 The product must have to be gone through all the necessary and government prescribed
testing.
 Any allergic reaction that could probably occur should be provided on the product.
 Contents along with composition, price and quantity should be clearly mentioned on the
label.
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 Brand name along with trademark sign and logo of brand should be there on packaging as
well as on label.
 Invoice must be provided every time a goods is purchased which will have the name,
GST number, address of head-office in the letter head.
 There should be a provision for return and refund which should be described clearly to
the customers.
 In case any offer such as discount or similar deals are being provided by the owner, then
it must be for all buyers irrespective of religion, nationality, etc.
In case Sam fails to comply with above or other provisions of Consumer Rights Act then,
such event will be termed as breach of consumer and contractual obligations and legal actions
can be given as a result of lawsuit filed by a buyer (Giliker, 2017).
UK government provide remedies for breach consumer obligations which have been
described below:
 short-term right to reject the goods in which a period of 30 days from the date of delivery
or purchase.
 Right to repair or replacement in case of no rejection of goods or the period of 30 days
has exceeded.
 Right to reduce price or final right to reject.
Highlight how the law of tort impacts Sam's actions as a potential employer
Tort law is concerned with wrong doings that is of civil nature. It covers a wide range of
rights, obligations and remedies by judges in civil proceedings. A person who has suffered loss
or damages may seek relief as a result of wrongful or negligence acts of others. Under this law,
“tortfeasor” become is held liable for his wrongful acts (Luntz and et. al., 2017). In UK, it is
distinguished between two categories viz. Criminal law and contract law where former is
entertained by criminal courts and latter is governed by contract. There are various elements
under Law of tort which are as follows:
Negligence: It is the most common element against which legal actions can be sought.
However, there are four factors which are as follows:
 The party who has made negligence had a responsibility or owed a duty of care to victim.
 A breach has been occurred in duty of care.
 Causation.
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 Occurrence of damage or injury.
Economic torts refers to situations in which a person has suffered a loss which is
completely financial in nature. Relief can be availed for such acts.
In the case of Sam, he is planning to launch a moisturiser which is made from snail slime
and other chemical contents claiming to provide a skin that will look 10 years younger than the
current age if applied on daily basis for one month. The ingredients used in the product may
create problems and legal situations for Sam and his business. This could be for number of
reasons such as people from different communities may protect against using snail slime. Also,
there could be reaction and may not suit to every skin types or not fulfilling what has been
claimed to the public. Some more similar reasons can damage its business and create financial
distressing situations (Cornford, 2016).
Disputes and conflicts may arise due to reasons mentioned above and legal case can be
filed against Sam's company and product which can damage reputation. In such scenario, it will
be hard to survive because a good brand image attracts huge number of buyers. Furthermore,
there are remedied available under law of tort which can be prayed by consumer who has
suffered loss or damage. Remedies in tort have been elaborated below:
 Damages: In this, financial compensation will be provided to the claimant for the losses
suffered by him/her. There are different categories of of damages which are as follows:
(a). Nominal- The situation where a person has committed a tort but victim has suffered
no loss.
(b). Contemptuous- It is an event when claimant has brought a case of tort in court but
court believes that there was no need to bring such lawsuit. Further, a small amount of damages
can be sought (Cowen and Shenton, 2017).
(c). General- Under this types, damages of non-financial nature are there suffered by
claimant.
(d). Special- The burden of proof lies on claimant and damages must be pleaded as a part
of action.
(e). Aggravated damages- the court may have reasons to believe that act has been done
knowingly to harm claimant's character, then damages will be provided according to level of loss
suffered by the victim.
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(f). Exemplary or punitive damages- Under this, if court finds that action committed by
the defendant is of serious nature.
Sam should know the possible outcomes that may be affect its business and employment
of his workforce that he is going to hire. He is in doubt about the consequences that may occur
after introducing the product in the market. There may be situations which can force Sam to pay
damages in case a person has suffered loss or damages.
 Injunctions: It is defined as legal remedy by a court on the request of a party to compel
or refrain other party from doing something (Miller and Jentz, 2017). After a decisions of
injunction has been passed by the court, it has to be abide by and failure to follow it, there
will be monetary penalties and some case may even involve imprisonment. If Sam has
been given an order of injunction then it can not act further unless the injunction is taken
back. He will not have any right to prove his point, or carry business activities in order to
earn profits. Further, heavy fines may be imposed on his on individual capacity and on
business which may take it to a situation of insolvency. The employees can file for an
injunction, if the company's product is banned or any legal situation comes as their
employment may be affected. The reason being, if the product gets discontinued for
whatsoever reason, then there will no manufacturing resulting in no sales and
requirement of delivery. Hence, it is going to affect responsibility as an employer.
Ways through which Sam can secure ownership rights to the product “Rejuvenate” to stop other
businessman stealing his idea
Ownership refers to state of a person having exclusive rights or control over property. It
can be object, real estate or intellectual property. Further, ownership can be held by a single
person or jointly by number of people. It can be transferred from one person to another for
money or for exchange of a thing. Further, it can take form of a gift, acquired inherently, as
damages etc. However, in all the case it must a legal property which is registered under specific
provisions of law and can be protected (Lee, Kang and Shin, 2015).
In the given case, Sam is concerned about his idea of product being stolen by others. The
idea of mixing snail slime and other chemical contents is an invention which must be protected.
There is a specific procedure which must be followed for providing safety to it in order to
prevent invention theft. Inventions are patented which is an intellectual property and an
intangible asset holding huge value for an organization.
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Patent: An exclusive right obtained by a government by an inventor for a fixed span of
time. In UK, it is granted by UK Intellectual Property Office every time a new invention takes
place. There is a condition of disclosure of invention to wider public. When a inventions is
patented, it covers all the areas such as subject matter, novelty, steps and its utility. The legal
right protects theft of idea. There are prescribed steps which Sam can follow to patent its
invention which are as follows:
1. A detail search must be conducted in order to assess that current idea has not been used
before and is absolutely new.
2. Prepare a patent application to be file with Intellectual Property Officer (IPO).
3. Application form must be filled and a request for a search should be made to IPO.
4. Research report must be received within 6 months for making a decision whether to
proceed with application or not.
5. The application will be published within 18 months from the date of filing.
6. A substantive examination must be requested within 6 months of publication.
7. The comments made by IPO in substantive examination must be addressed and
answered. This can take long time from the time application has been filed.
8. After all the formalities are completed, Sam has to wait for approval or rejection of the
application (Durham, 2018).
The application form and process cost around £4,000 and takes approx 5 years to
complete. The right option to protect ownership of an idea is to patent. This will give a legal
right which can be used to seek legal actions or remedies in case of theft. Sam will have absolute
ownership on his idea. The invention will be protected after its registration and patent. It is an
intangible asset which is highly valued and Sam can charged consideration in case he wish to
transfer his idea of the product “Rejuvenate”.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that business law encompasses range of laws
that are applicable on business activities of an organization. This provide legal support to
commercial activities. An important part of business law is contract law which regulates
contractual obligations mentioned in the contract. Furthermore, a business planning to launch a
new product which might have legal situation should conduct complete analysis of potential
legislations and rules that may impact the business. Along with this, law of tort should also
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studies to know the outcomes that may arise in case of damages occurred to a person.
Furthermore, various intellectual property rights must be evaluated and used according to
requirement and best one must be chosen.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals:
Mann, R.A. and Roberts, B.S., 2015. Business law and the regulation of business. Nelson
Education.
Miller, R.L. and Jentz, G.A., 2017. Business law today: The essentials. Cengage learning.
Fried, C., 2015. Contract as promise: A theory of contractual obligation. Oxford University
Press, USA.
Wang, C.L., Shi, Y. and Barnes, B.R., 2015. The role of satisfaction, trust and contractual
obligation on long-term orientation. Journal of Business Research. 68(3). pp.473-479.
Howells, G. and Weatherill, S., 2017. Consumer protection law. Routledge.
Giliker, P., 2017. The Consumer Rights Act 2015–a bastion of European consumer rights?. Legal
Studies. 37(1). pp.78-102.
Luntz, H., Hambly, D., Burns, K., Dietrich, J., Foster, N., Grant, G. and Harder, S., 2017. Torts:
cases and commentary. LexisNexis Butterworths.
Cornford, T., 2016. Towards a public law of tort. Routledge.
Cowen, M. and Shenton, R., 2017. The invention of development. In Development ethics (pp. 3-
21). Routledge.
Durham, A.L., 2018. Patent law essentials: A concise guide. ABC-CLIO.
Lee, C., Kang, B. and Shin, J., 2015. Novelty-focused patent mapping for technology
opportunity analysis. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 90. pp.355-365.
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