Almost every business today runs software, and for many it is the business. We work with software companies, SaaS providers and data businesses to protect what they build, sell on terms that scale and expand into new markets.

Maybrook Law advises on the legal challenges that software and information businesses face, from the first customer contract to worldwide operations involving crossboarder contracts and compliance considerations, delivering practical advice at every stage of development.

Who we advise

• Software and SaaS companies developing and selling platforms, applications and cloud services
• Data, information and online businesses building products around content, data and user communities
• Customers of technology procuring, implementing and relying on business-critical software
• Software developers and licensors creating and licensing software, tools and technology to businesses worldwide

How we help

SaaS and software contracts

For a software business, the customer contract is the product as far as the law is concerned. We advise on SaaS and subscription agreements, software licences, development and implementation agreements, support and maintenance terms, and reseller, distribution and partner arrangements. We focus on the points that come up in every negotiation: scope and service levels, service credits, acceptance, price changes, renewals and termination, and limitation of liability. We also design terms that let clients sign-up customers quickly without giving away more than they need to.

Data protection, privacy

SaaS providers hold and process their customers’ data, often across several jurisdictions and through a chain of hosting and support providers. We advise on controller and processor roles, data processing agreements, sub-processors, international transfers, security and breach notification. We also keep clients’ terms, privacy notices and cookies policies up to date with the changes made by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 and the ICO’s guidance on cookies and tracking technologies. For providers with EU customers, we advise on how the EU GDPR and the EU Data Act’s switching rules affect their offering.

Intellectual property and technology ownership

The value of a software business lies in its code, data and know-how, and in being able to show that it owns them. We advise on the ownership and protection of software, databases and trade secrets, IP assignments from founders, employees and contractors, open-source compliance, and licensing models that let clients commercialise their technology without giving up the rights on which their competitive advantage depends.

AI in software products

Many software businesses are building AI into their platforms or relying on third-party models to do so. We advise on provider terms, the use of customer data to train or improve AI features, rights in inputs and outputs, and the obligations that follow under the EU AI Act. Our Artificial Intelligence team works alongside our software practice on these issues.

Technology disputes

Technology disputes usually arise from the gap between what was promised and what was delivered. We act in disputes over failed implementations, missed milestones, change control, acceptance, service levels, unpaid fees, IP ownership and wrongful termination. We regularly draft these contracts and are therefore best placed to advise on how limitation clauses, termination rights and remedies are likely to operate when a project runs into difficulty – we always look first for a commercial solution where the technology still matters to the business.

When software meets hardware

Where software controls machines and devices, contracts have to deal with hardware, integration and the operating environment as well as code. Our work with robotics and industrial automation businesses, including robotics-as-a-service models, gives us practical experience of how performance, uptime and responsibility are allocated when software, hardware and services are supplied together.

Selected experience

• Customer contracts for an international software provider. We prepared the customer contract documentation for a software business that supplies its technology on a subscription basis, including its SaaS terms, end user licence agreement and master services agreement, and continue to advise it on its commercial arrangements with customers.
• International software licensing framework. We advise a software developer on supplying and licensing its products internationally. We built its customer, licensing and partner agreements and continue to support its expansion globally.

Why Maybrook Law

We are a boutique London firm that combines the standards of international practice with the continuity of a specialist firm. From the first call to completion, clients work directly with experienced lawyers who understand both their technology and their business. AI matters often cut across our Commercial & Technology, Intellectual Property, Employment & Incentives, Corporate & Finance⁠ and Dispute Resolution, and we bring them together in one team.