full right as a distributer

[skyhigh007]

Hi

A company wants full rights to be the main distributor in the UK and Ireland. What does Full right involve?

[rpermana]

i think it means full power of ownership in UK and Ireland and copyright free.

[skyhigh007]

Does that mean they can do whatever they want? change the whole product or price?

[rpermana]

price should be yes, they bought product from you and they will have the right to mark up certain percentage...

but product, im not too sure, try checking with them..

it is better for them to list out in point form or it might complicate stuff in the long run.

[rdc]

It doesn't mean anything.

Until you define it in complete detail, in a legal document. If you simply wrote that term, and both parties signed, it would be nearly worthless, because there is no way to really construe it without either a mutual agreement (good luck with that after things go wrong) or endless litigation in court.

If you've got a business and someone is really approaching you with something as important as international distribution rights, get an attorney and negotiate a real agreement (international law issues will abound with such an arrangement, as well, so you should be prepared).

[peteVA]

They want exclusive rights to distribute your product, pure and simple. They want to import and sell through a distribution system they either have in place or create.

Right now if you want Cadbury chocolate in the US it is going to come through Hershey. You may buy it at a c-store, who bought it from a wagon jobber, who bought it from a grocery distributor, but that grocery distributor bought it from Hershey.

Same thing there. You can include in a contract the details about keep the product as it is, participating in promotions, trademarks, etc. But basically you are telling them they are the only people in the UK that you will sell to and they have the rights to distribute in a manner that you are agreeable with. You will sell to no one else in that territory.

[lamiara]

@peteVA : what you say, about exclusive rights, can you please tell me if still exist in Europe? are there exclusive rights in Europe?
Thanks

[peteVA]

I would certainly think so. I do not know for sure, and it also depends on the company.

These are not "national" or "regional" things, they are legal agreements between a manufacturer and a distributor and can vary from country to country and most definitely between one manufacturer and another.

Company A may assign distributors by postal code, company B by country, company C by a section of a country, company D by "Europe", etc. You are asking for firm answers when these are agreements between 2 parties that can vary widely in each instance.

Even the same company may give a distributorship for "the Caribbean" and another for "metro Paris" and yet another for a specific province. These are negotiated one by one.