Business Law: Sale of Goods, Credit Agreements, and Competition Law

This report provides a comprehensive overview of several key areas within business law. It begins by examining the implied terms regarding the sale of goods and supply of services, focusing on statutory provisions related to property transfer and possession. The report evaluates the remedies available to both buyers and sellers in sale of goods contracts and discusses the legal rules surrounding product liability. The analysis extends to different types of credit agreements, legal rules governing termination rights and default notices, and the features and types of agency, including the rights and duties of an agent. Furthermore, the report delves into monopolies and anti-competitive practices in the UK, the role of the competition commission, dominant positions within the EU common market, and potential exemptions for anti-competitive practices. Finally, it identifies and explains various forms of intellectual property rights, principles related to patent protection, copyright protection, and a comparison of trademarks and business names. The report uses the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and Consumer Credit Act to illustrate key legal concepts, providing a thorough understanding of the legal landscape impacting business operations.

BUSINESS LAW

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Implied terns regarding sale of good and supply of services .........................................3
1.2 Statutory provisions on the transfer of property and possession......................................4
1.3 Evaluation of buyers and sellers remedies in sale of goods contracts..............................4
1.4 Legal rules of product liability.........................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
2.1 Types of credit agreements ..............................................................................................5
2.2 Legal rules of termination rights and default notices.......................................................6
2.3 Features of agency and types of agents............................................................................7
2.4 Rights and duties of an agent............................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Monopolies and anti-competitive practice legislation in UK...........................................8
3.2 Role of competition commission in the context of monopolies and anti competitive
practices..................................................................................................................................9
3.3 Dominant positions within the EU common market........................................................9
3.4 Exemption situation provided in potential anti-competitive practices...........................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
4.1 Identify and explain the different forms of intellectual property rights.........................10
4.2 principles relating to the protection of inventions through patent rights and legal rules11
preventing their infringement...............................................................................................11
4.3 Principles relating to copyright protection and the legal rules preventing their.............11
infringement.........................................................................................................................11
4.4 Compare and contrast the protection of trademarks and business names......................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Civil law has a branch named business law. This business law is made to protect the
rights of the people involved in some business or for the conduct of people and to maintain the
relations of people involved in business activities. The law has certain rules and policies and all
the people involved in trade activities has to follow those codes of conduct and those rules.
According to the sale of goods act it is made to safeguard the interest of sellers and buyers. This
ensures that the seller always sells a product of good quality ( Bebchuk and Jackson.2011) and
the buyer does not default in payment and makes sure that he gets the right product. The
description of goods must be cleared and the good should be according to the description. There
are two parties involved in the sale of goods act namely buyer and seller and the agency principle
is followed. The agent works as a face of the principle and the principle holds a full
responsibility the acts of the agent. The present report revolves around Ben's case, he purchased
a car and after five days it started showing problem and it was not as per the description. All the
promises about the car was fake and he wants to return it but the seller is not ready to take it back
as he has Ben's signature on clause 9. so, Ben took an advice from citizen advice bureaux.
TASK 1
1.1 Implied terns regarding sale of good and supply of services
In accordance to the sale of goods act it is the utmost duty of the seller to sold goods as
per the description and the parties involved in this are buyer and seller and they must be involved
in a written agreement. The agreement should be accepted to both the buyers and the sellers as it
prevents the unnecessary miscommunication and defaults.
The buyer was told that the car had only one owner but it actually had two owners and the speed
is set at 18500 miles and it can’t handle to go up-hills and its engine seize ( Bishara and
Westermann 2012). The seller told that he has signed clause 9 and it states that they have no
responsibility of the goods that he has sold, Ben wants to return it as he is misled about the
product.
It is implied that the product must be according to the description and seller should not hide
anything from the buyer. Though he has signed the clause but the clause was wrong as per the

sale of goods act. It did not fulfill the implied conditions of the act. The business activity should
be always in good faith and they should not fraud one another. Ben has filed the case on these
implied grounds.
Section 12 ; 13; 14 and 15 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 can be explained as followings..
Section 12= According to this section of sale of goods act 1979, the goods are free until the
property is ton p-as to buyer. Second provision of this section is that after the full payment of the
product and goods in contract..
Section 13= According top the provision of this section of sales of goods act 1979 ,the seller
should provide complete description about the goods and if any already damage, he should tell
everything to the buyer and mention it in contract also.
Section 14= there is a provision this section of sale of goods act 1979 that the quality of the
goods should Up to standard or fitness at the time of delivery .Otherwise it will be breach of the
contract as the seller of car gave a bad quality product to Ben.
Section 15= In this section of sale of goods act 1979,the sample or trial of the product should be
equal to the real product which is delivered to the buyer after contract signed.
1.2 Statutory provisions on the transfer of property and possession
The laws and regulations regarding the sales of goods act are included in these statutory
provisions. The buyer gets the right to possession and he gets various rights. These statutory
provisions are required to be satisfied by the buyers and sellers as at the time of selling and when
Ben has make payment then the property has been transferred by the seller and Ben has the right
of possession.
These are the provisions of statutory transfer of rights and provisions:
Sec 16: Buyer will get the ownership title when the seller sells the product.
Sec 17: Transferred goods must be specific and according to description.
Rule 1: There must be intention and acceptance in selling of goods.
Rule 2: The goods will be transferred after the after the contract is signed and it is certain.
Rule 3: After the sale of product the seller transfers the title the buyer got the title.

Rule 4: With the transfer of goods (Cantwell Dunning and Lundan.2010), there involves a
transfer of risk also. and it shifted to buyers from the sellers.
Rule 5: There is a definite transfer of ownership
1.3 Evaluation of buyers and sellers remedies in sale of goods contracts.
In sale of goods act there are the remedies available to both the buyers and the sellers.
These are the remedies available to any of the party who breach he contract the other party has
the remedy against it. The buyer gets the remedy against the seller for providing the products not
as per description and if the product is not as per the quality standards. The remedy that the seller
gets is on the behalf of non-performance of the contract by the buyer.
Remedies of sellers:
Suit for price: in accordance with the sale of goods act the buyer is liable to pay for the
goods he has purchased and in case he does not make the payment or he delays in making
payment then the seller has the right to claim the money and can file a suit against the buyer for
the money (Cantwell Dunning and Lundan 2010). He also has the right to sue him in case he is
not making payment on the decided date and in decided mode of payment.
Non-acceptance damages: the law of acceptance states that both the parties are liable to
the contract in terms of abiding by the contract and if anyone has default then he must pay
compensation for the non-acceptance of the contract. It applies when either of the party breaks
the promise of acceptance of contract.
Remedies of buyers:
 Damages of non-delivery: The buyer has the right to sue the seller in case he has not
delivered the product on time and he can claim for damages he has suffered due to non-
delivery of the product. The loss that he has suffered because of the seller can be claimed by
him.
 Breach of warranty: If there is a case regarding the breach of warranty then he can file the
case against the seller.
 Specific performance-This remedy has the provison for the buyer to claim for damage or
injury.The most common reason courts grant specific performance is that the subject of the

contract is unique, when it's not merely a matter of money or where the true amount of
damages is unclear
 Quantum merit-This is the measure of damage made after the delivery of the goods.In this
condition there is provision to make seller responsibility for the damage.For example Ben
family member got injured.It will be liability of car seller company.
 Reduction in price-This remedy has the provision for the buyer to sustain an action against
the seller to reduce the purchase price payable when the seller delivered defective goods
1.4 Legal rules of product liability
The statutory provisions of buyer and seller are based on:
defective goods: these are those goods which are not suitable for the consumption and these are
the responsibility of the seller to deliver the goods that are only fit for consumption by the buyer.
They should not deliver the goods that can be hazardous to the buyer’s health. As in this case
Ben family got injured because of the quality of the car and the engine has seized (Colpan and
Hikino 2010). It is the responsibility of the plaintiff to prove the points for filing the case and
these are:
 That the product which he has bought is defective.
 Should prove that he has suffered from the loss because of the defective goods.
 The defendant that is the seller in this case is liable for the defective product. In this case,
the car dealer was liable to pay damages.
TASK 2
2.1 Types of credit agreements
There are several types of agreements made to protect the right of the people involved in
transactions. There is a legislation holding the agreement of the credits. The consumer credit act
is formed to protect the interests of the consumers and later it is amended and become the
consumer act 2006. it safeguards all the rights of the consumers and the consumer can use it for
their protection against any kind of breach or default. Accordance with the case Ben wants to
become a car dealer and sell second hand cars. He wants to seek the credit card agency and apply
consumer credit on it. Ben uses credit to pay for his cars and he wants to take credit from various
option and for this he must pay interest and principal amount to them (Colpan and Hikino 2010).

These are the credits taken by the consumer and they are paid back on the decided date. Ben used
the following types of credits:
 hire purchase: this is the type of agreement in which the buyer purchase an item and pay
the amount of money in instalments. In this agreement, the buyer gets the possession of
goods but the title of ownership remains with the seller and the ownership is transferred
after the payment of last instalment. The product can be taken back if there is default in
payment or the buyer breaches the contract.
 Condition sale: at the time of the end of contract, buyer is liable to make payment and
contract is to be completed. They are under the obligation the whole time. This mode of
credit agreement is not very popular and it does not give much benefit to the buyers.
They prefer hire purchase more.
 Credit sale: the buyer gets the ownership in this ( Crane and Matten 2016). In this type
of agreement, the buyer is liable to pay the amount needed to fulfil the contract. He must
pay back the entire amount of which he has taken credit.
2.2 Legal rules of termination rights and default notices.
Termination rules exist when the contract is ended. The rights of the buyer are terminated
in case where the buyer and the seller are not entitled for that right contract. The rights that Ben
has in case of termination as when he was a debtor are:
 There are situations which happens when they want to revoke the contract before the due
date of the contract. If the things don’t go as per their choice then they can change the
contract.
 The termination happens because of the unsatisfactory performance of the contract.
Either full or partly.
 When the parties to contract does not need the goods and services of the contract.
 When either of the party is going in bankruptcy.
 When the contract has been revoked then the parties has the right to get back the
products.
 In case of termination the debtor is only liable to pay for the amount that is decided in
terms of contract.

Default notice: this notice is given by the third party in case the customer is making
default in payments and they are due for the money (Di Matteo 2010), then they send a legal
default notice and they then recover the due amount.
Notice is sent by the creditors if the party breaches the contract: when the party breach the
contract and the contract is terminated because of the fault of one party then the creditor sent the
legal notice for recovering the product and take back the possession of goods.
When a borrower has missed 2 payments and then the creditor issues the default notice for 30
days to make the further payments other wise he will take legal action against debtor.On the
other hand if the debtor wants to terminate the credit agreement then he has to issue a default
notice to creditor for 7 or 14 days.
2.3 Features of agency and types of agents
An agency comprises of principal and agent. An agent is person appointed by the
principal to do the task for him. There is a written agreement between a principal and an agent.
The liability to fulfil their duties lies on both the parties (Foss and Knudsen 2013). Features of
agency relationship are that there consists of two persons viz., agent and principal. Here in
agency there is one person who has the capacity and power to give orders and the other person
has to obey him and act as a representative in front of third party.
Types of agent
 Executive agent: This type of agent has a contribution in the planning and they
help the parties to a contract to execute the plan or contract. They take decisions
which are correct.
 Collaborative agents: The principle does not control them. These are the agents
who takes their own responsibility. Their contribution in any contract is direct,
unlike another agent’s whop are not directly involved.
 Contributory agents: Their actions and deeds impact the contract directly.
 Communication agents: They are the person who manages the communication
among the parties to contract. They are responsible for managing the relationship
between principal and agent.
 Service agents: They look after the legislative services.

2.4 Rights and duties of an agent.
An agent is a person who acts on behalf of a principle (Grundfest 2010). He is the
representative of principal which is the main party in agency contract. There are certain rights
and duties associated for the agent and these are:
Rights of agents:
 Right to Remuneration: Agent has the right to receive a fixed amount of payment
from principal party after completing the task or transaction in contract. So for
this work done by an agent, he is entitled to get the remuneration from their
principal party .
 Right of lien: the agent has the right to retain the goods, property of the principal until
the time he receives his/her commission. Lien can either be or general.
 Right to compensation: When the agent got injured while working for the principal then
he gets the right to compensate for the injuries (Miller 2015). The injuries occurred
because of the negligence of the principal are required to be compensated.
 Right of stoppage of goods in transit: the goods can be stopped by an agent if he got to
know that the principal has become bankrupt or if agent has purchased it by personal
liability.
Duties of agent:
 To follow directions of principal.
 To do the work with due diligence
 Accounts must be rendered.
 Communicate with the principal.
 It is his duty to not to make any profit apart from his commission and remuneration.
 Termination can be done by the agent when the principal become of unsound mind, or
because of his death or insanity or disqualified by law.
 It his duty to abide by the authority. He cannot delegate his authority to someone else.
TASK 3
3.1 Monopolies and anti-competitive practice legislation in UK.
Monopolies arise in the market where there is a single seller and he sets the prices
according to his wish. The United Kingdom has prohibited the monopolistic activities in the
market under the competitive act and they have the rights to investigate the case of concern. The

European elements affects the competition law of United Kingdom. The UK law comprises of
the most important dimension in regard to competition law and these are: competition act 1998
and enterprise act 2002. The business is said to be in monopoly when he has more than 25%
market share. Situation of monopoly arises when the market share of the company is high and
the product gets successful (Nichols 2012). It can also occur when they have merged their
operations into some other entities and they capture even the more larger market share. In
accordance to the competition act and the enterprise act they have prohibited all the anti-
competitive activities such as they banned the predatory prices, free trading, gouging, dumping,
stop the firm to exploit the market and repression of cartels. They are made to manage and
control the mergers and acquisition to capture the market share and create monopoly. They make
sure that market is protected from monopoly.
3.2 Role of competition commission in the context of monopolies and anti-competitive practices.
The role of competition commission was to regulate the activities of the market and these
comprises of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and the activity of monopoly. The
recommendations are made by the office commission and they take care of the fair-trading
practices. The mergers and other activities should be in the interest of the public. And they
should be for the benefit of the public (Percival Schroeder and, Leape 2013). It is the duty of the
competition act to take care of these issues. For checking that the mergers are I the interest of
public or not are:
 check the market share of the local firm
 market share of new entity.
 What are the kind of activities that are going on in the activities.
 Research and development activities are to taken care of.
 Economies of scale.
The other objectives and roles of the competition act is to take corrective measures regarding
the issues of the public who have file the complains regarding anti-competitive practices. They
solve the problems of the market that is not running well or doing unfair means. The competition
law has a connection with the deregulations of the market access, subsidies etc. the fair-trade
practices are enforced under this enterprise act of 2002.

3.3 Dominant positions within the EU common market
The dominant position of the market is where one firm is having the control over the
entire market and they maintained the strong position which can exploit the market and the
customers can get exploited because of this (Scholes 2015), if the firm is in dominant position
then more than 50% market is in their control and they can manipulate with the prices and the
customer will suffer. They can create barriers by:
Price discrimination: it is the situation where a firm charges different price from
different customers. It violates the principle of same price from same customers.
Predatory pricing: this is the situation where product and services are offered at a low
price than the price offered by the competitors in the market. It violated the concept of fair
competition.
The EU makes the dominant firm illegal and unenforceable by law. The dominant
position has the impact on the trade practices of more than one country and the application
regarding to the exemptions are:
the firm must satisfy their customers and make sure that the price discrimination is not
done. Th products that are made and manufactured must abide by the quality of product.
Technological advancements should be done.
3.4 Exemption situation provided in potential anti-competitive practices
Article 102 consists of the exemptions for the ones who can prove that they get benefit
from the competitive practices. In article 101 principle in this the not important agreements are
exempt. The small business comprising of less than 10% and they can get the customer
satisfaction and who does not harm the customers and quality products are provided.
Cartel-This is the term which is used to describe a group of independent origination or persons
who increase their profit in unfair way by fixing the price of product.They limit their supply of
their product in market and other restricted.
The following types of arrangement are generally prohibited under Chapter 1 and Article 81:
 Agreements which fix prices (both purchase and selling prices)
 Agreements which fix trading conditions, for example discounts

 Agreements which limit or control production, markets, technical development or
investment. Setting quotas is probably the best example of this.
 Agreements which share sources of supply
 Agreements which place other parties at a disadvantage. An example of this is placing
different terms on different parties for the same kind of agreements.
Source: www.inbrief.co.uk/regulations/anti-competitive-agreements/
TASK 4
4.1 Identify and explain the different forms of intellectual property rights
Intellectual property refers to the inventions, symbols, names, images used in commercial
work. To protect and boost the growth for new inventions and the innovative ideas which are
different so that they are not copied by the other competitors or other companies (Siedel and
Haapio 2010). It is basically the new creation of the mind. It includes two basic components they
are -
1. Industrial Property
2. Copyright
The industrial property includes trademarks, invention patents, designs for industries and
indications for geography.
Copyright covers all the work related to literacy like- books, poetry etc.
films, sculptures, photographs, paintings and all the architecture designing work.
Basically, these right aims at protecting the work of any company so that only that
company enjoys the right to do a work which is invented by it. By these rights the company gets
the trademark, patents, or copyright which benefits them to have benefit from their work. It is a
reliable source to aim at legal protection against the new creation by the companies. It also
enhances new job opportunities and enhances growth which leads to an excellent quality lifestyle
in the country. The focus is on protecting the small business as well the large business so as to
have a lead over the market the country can enjoy the economic growth globally as well as
domestically. The interest of the business is protected to have positive working environment.

4.2 principles relating to the protection of inventions through patent rights and legal rules
preventing their infringement.
As it is understood that patent right provides the right of the intellectual property in UK.
And it prevents a lot of issues like illegal and wrong usage of the intellectual property of the
owner. If in case any fraud occurs than it aims at giving the right to owner to act against the
misuse of the invention of the intellectual property.
All the legal rule defines the principle of working by following the rules and regulations
maintained and made by the country. The established standard of rules and regulations for the
countries people and companies. If these are not followed than the person who violates them is
taken under charge (Spalding 2011). So, in this if the information and the intellectual property is
misused by someone other than stated by the law and order than it can be taken under charge for
the activity. The invention of intellectual property is protected by the government to violate its
misuse.
In UK, this law is comparatively strict than any other country and it is aims to prevent
crime against the legal rules of the country. It also unable the infringement to have least control
over the economy to have a protected and legal environment in the country. And people have a
fear in mind before performing any malpractices against someone.
4.3 Principles relating to copyright protection and the legal rules preventing their infringement.
Copyright protection means the protection against the books, poetry, photographs etc.
which says that no other person can use the data without your authority. It is established to have
least misuse of the intellectual property.
Infringement of copyright relates to the without permission usage of the protected work.
And there are various steps taken by the government for this like penalties to those who
infringes the copyright and the infringer must pay the loss to the actual authority. The loss paid is
of between $200 to $150000 which is a huge amount. The law related to this is very strict.
This done to prevent the any type of copying of the work. If any infringer is being
suspected violating the rules it can be taken under charge for doing so and is punished as under
the law stated for the violation of the rules and regulations (Sprague and Wells 2010). It is to
protect the image and the data of the one who have invented by their own which is a good step
by the government to protect the right of any person or a company working in the market.

Nobody have authority over your data without permission. This also build the confidence of the
new developer who is coming up in the brand-new market to work and aims at retaining the
business in the market.
4.4 Compare and contrast the protection of trademarks and business names.
The trademarks are the symbols, marks which distinguish the business from the others. It
reflects the identity of the business. The business name is the name of the company through
which they do business as an company is an artificial person (Ye Law and Chen 2011).
Trademark is protected under the intellectual property right and it is providing protection only
for 10 years but the business name continues till the company runs.
They both are somewhat similar in nature and helps in building the image of the company.
CONCLUSION
As to conclude the above report it is observed that the business law is made to protect the
rights of the consumers and it is for the safeguard the interest of the public. The UK Govt. has
banned the monopolistic practices which has proved to be very useful for saving the consumers
from price discrimination. The understanding of intellectual property rights helps to differentiate
among trademarks, copy rights patents etc.

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Business Law. 2017. [Online.] Available through: <https://law.ucla.edu/academics/areas-of-
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