With his “Start-up Law 101” talk, Vircon Legal co-founder Erdem Mümtaz Hacıpaşaoğlu joined İstanbul Maker Meetup on 2 May 2018.
Selling a physical product changes the legal picture
Makers move from building to selling faster than software founders, and the moment a device reaches a consumer a different body of law applies. The seller answers for conformity of the goods and for defects, and those duties cannot be contracted away in a B2C sale — the warranty terms, the withdrawal right and the mandatory information a buyer receives before ordering are all set by consumer legislation rather than by the seller.
Production adds its own layer. A device assembled by a workshop raises subcontracting and quality-liability questions, and tooling or moulds paid for by the company should be documented as belonging to it. On the product side, the enclosure and the visual design can be registered separately from the trademark, and a prototype shown publicly before any filing narrows what remains protectable. See Intellectual Property and E-Commerce Law.
Author
If this is on your desk
Templates and checklists are free in the Founder Academy; for a specific situation, book a 30-minute intro call.
Founder AcademyBook an intro call