E-contracts, ADR & Intellectual Property Rights

Running Head: E-contracts, ADR & Intellectual
Property Rights 1
Electronic contracts and the law
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E-contracts, ADR & Intellectual
Property Rights 2
Table of Contents
Question 1; The Extent, Nature and Legality of Electronic Contracts............................................3
(i) The scope..........................................................................................................................3
(ii) Nature................................................................................................................................3
(iii) Legality.............................................................................................................................3
Question 2; Out of court settlement of disputes..............................................................................4
Question 3; Intellectual Property Rights for small Business Owners..............................................5
References and bibliography...........................................................................................................6

E-contracts, ADR & Intellectual
Property Rights 3
Question 1; the Extent, Nature and Legality of Electronic Contracts
(i) The scope
The use of electronic contracts is not very widespread as things stand but the number of such
contracts keeps rising every single day (Monestier, 2018). With the rising of online trade,
especially that concerning the buying and selling of goods, e-contracts are slowly but surely
becoming a popular form of contract. Apart from goods, there is a trade of services on the
internet as well. Nowadays it is very easy for a buyer in Canada to buy some goods in the United
States just by a few clicks of their mouse. According to Statista.com (2018), the number of
digital shoppers grew from 19.5 million to 22.5 million between 2013 and 2018.
(ii) Nature
The term 'e-contracts' refers to contracts formed by people through the internet. In most
instances, the parties may never have met, for example, a buyer and an online trading company.
They may not have a huge difference with offline contracts. However, according to Goel (2012)
in his book on Law and Emerging technology, e-contracts may involve a lot of intermediaries,
for example, Internet Service Providers (IPS). What happens during the formation of these
contracts is that, one party drafts the contractual documents and ‘offers’ them to the other to sign.
They may also agree to meet in person to sign the contract.
(iii) Legality
Online contracts, just like offline ones are legally enforceable. This type of contract in many
instances involves people in different countries, and the United Nations Convention on Contracts
for the International Sale of Goods (1980) recognizes contracts for the international sale of
goods. Article 13 of this convention recognizes telex and telegram as forms of “writing,” and