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Kompaktwerk v LivePerson: English High Court holds time-limited SaaS is a service, not a sale of goods, limiting Commercial Agents claims and precluding exhaustion

Published on: 16 October 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Commercial expert
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Kompaktwerk GMBH (a company incorporated under German law) v Liveperson Netherlands BV (a company incorporated under Dutch law) [2024] EWHC 2278 (Comm)

What are the practical implications of this case?

Kompaktwerk v LivePerson is the first judicial foray into whether the SaaS model can sit within the ‘sale of goods’ category. Historically, English law has not treated computer software as ‘goods’; however, after the Court of Justice decision in The Software Incubator v Computer Associates (Case C410/19), it remained a live issue how English law would characterise software—and, in particular, how it would address the now‑dominant SaaS model. The court determined that a time‑bound subscription to SaaS is not a ‘sale’ and does not concern ‘goods’, a conclusion with broad reach. Although the ruling concerned the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993, SI 1993/3053 (Commercial Agents Regulations), it confirms that the wider EU and English law principles relating to the sale of goods do not apply to SaaS...

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