Key issues include:
- What territory they cover and whether they have exclusive rights to that territory.
- Which of your products the agreement relates to.
- Any restrictions on their sale of competing products.
- What each of your responsibilities are in terms of promoting your product, making sales and fulfilling orders.
- Rights and restrictions in relation to your intellectual property.
- Terms and conditions of sale, and when ownership and risk in relation to products will pass from you to the distributor.
- Restrictions on disclosure of confidential information.
- What will happen if you or they wish to terminate the relationship.
The agreement needs to be carefully drafted to take into account what you are trying to achieve and the implications of competition law and other regulations.
