Browsing by Subject "contract law."

Abstract Faculty: Faculty of Law Degree programme: International Business Law Programme Author: Aitor Sevillano Orbegozo Title:” Exclusivity agreements in international business operations; Risks and best practices. Level: Master’s thesis Month and year: November 2023 Number of pages: 79 Keywords: Exclusive dealings, competition law, international law, employment law, freedom of contract, choice of law, EU Law, exclusive clauses, contract law. Supervisor: P. Sean Morris Where deposited: E-thesis Helsinki University Abstract: This thesis will address the question of exclusivity clauses in business operations at the international level, consequentially establish what the risks are, and determine the best practices for entering into an exclusive commercial agreement in an international context. I will explore the international business environment and how companies interact with other undertakings in this environment. We will proceed by studying exclusivity in its different forms and aspects in a contractual context and dissecting exclusivity dealings exposing its features and effects, as well as looking at them through a dimensional prism. This will serve to understand and see how exclusivity terms affect the parties to an international business arrangement and the effects they have in the market they operate. Using principles of legal theory such as freedom of contract, and using a theoretical approach, a study of the effects of exclusivity will be elaborated considering the factors and attributes inherent to the inclusion of exclusivity terms in a commercial contract. Classifying and studying the effects of exclusivity considering the effects as isolated items and how these shape the relationship between the parties and play a role in international business operations. We will examine how exclusivity clauses position the parties in respect to their contractual relationship. Laws and regulations applicable to exclusivity agreements will be identified and considering these, the applicability and validity of exclusivity clauses and agreements will be scrutinised. Competition law and employment law will be the main fields of exploration to observe and study how these two fields of law regulate exclusivity terms in view of the horizontal and vertical direction of exclusivity agreements between the parties. We will use the examples of EU and UK regulations as they have a different angle in approaching the validity of exclusivity agreements. Following the identification of the main elements of exclusivity agreements, based on Competition end employment regulations as well as business elements, I will classify and identify the risks that the use of exclusivity agreements has for international commercial agreements, from an operational and legal perspective. Considering the risks and the features of exclusivity agreements, I will propose best practices to avert or remedy the risks and to achieve the best efficient use of exclusivity agreements.