Trademark and domain name
The identity of the service is protected by registering a trademark, which gives an exclusive right of exploitation, and by reserving domain names consistent with that trademark. Monitoring makes it possible to detect imitations quickly. See intellectual property.
Source code and copyright
Copyright protects software from its creation, without any formality. The company must nevertheless make sure it actually holds the rights: contracts with developers (employees, contractors, freelancers) must provide for carefully drafted assignments of rights. Confidentiality agreements and evidence dating the creation (for example a deposit with the Agence pour la protection des programmes) strengthen the company's position.
Terms of sale, terms of use and licence agreement
The terms of sale and the terms of use set the rules of the relationship with users and limit the publisher's liability. The SaaS licence agreement specifies access to the service, service levels (SLAs), confidentiality, intellectual property and reversibility. These documents are adapted to the publisher's business model (subscription, usage, freemium).
GDPR
The publisher acts, depending on the case, as controller or as processor, which entails distinct obligations: privacy policy, record of processing activities, data processing agreement, security and management of data subjects' rights. See digital law.
Disputes
Copying of features or interface, exploitation of reputation or trademark: the law firm acts in unfair competition and free riding, by formal notice, summary proceedings or proceedings on the merits. See the case study on a competitor copying a software interface.
