Tech transactions sit at the seam of contract law, IP law and digital regulation. From SaaS licensing and outsourced development to smart contracts, NFT projects and AI deployment, every digital business needs contracts that hold up commercially, legally and technically. Dreyfus drafts and negotiates these agreements with full alignment to the AI Act, MiCA, DSA, GDPR and the Cyber Resilience Act.
Reviewed by Nathalie Dreyfus, European Trademark and Patent Attorney. Last updated: June 2026.
IT contracts. Software development agreements, SaaS terms, B2B licences, application supply, integration, maintenance, hosting, outsourcing. We address SLA, escrow, IP allocation, liability caps, and data clauses adapted to the AI Act and the Data Act.
Smart contracts. Self-executing protocols on blockchain that automate predefined contractual clauses. We help draft the underlying legal agreement, define the on-chain and off-chain split, and anticipate disputes and bug-related liability.
NFT contracts. Co-production, minting, royalty distribution, IP allocation on the underlying work, secondary market royalties, marketplace terms. Aligned with MiCA’s NFT carve-out and CJEU evolving case law.
Technology transfer and licensing. Transfer of know-how, patents, software, biotech assets between innovators and exploiters. Often combined with patent licensing, tax structuring and EU competition law assessment.
Other Web 3.0 contracts. Cryptocurrency-related contracts, blockchain governance documents, DAO charters, virtual land acquisition in metaverses, video game and esports contracts.
MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation), fully applicable since December 2024, defines obligations for issuers and service providers of crypto-assets in the EU. NFTs are generally excluded, but case-by-case analysis applies.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, MiCA.
The AI Act imposes obligations on providers and deployers of AI systems. Tech contracts must include AI transparency, FRIA cooperation, training data warranties and conformity assessment cooperation.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, AI Act.
Applicable from September 2025, the Data Act gives users of connected products the right to access generated data and share it with third parties. New B2B contracting standards apply.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, Data Act.
The Digital Services Act, in force since 2024, requires online marketplaces to verify the identity of business sellers and enforce notice-and-action procedures, with cascading contract obligations.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, DSA.
Who owns the deliverable, the source code, the model weights, the derivative works? Set explicit ownership and licensing rules, with attention to AI-generated outputs and open source components.
Allocate roles under GDPR (controller, processor, joint controller), document training data origin, opt-in/opt-out under TDM exception, and cooperation for AI Act transparency.
Liability caps adapted to EU jurisprudence on disproportionate clauses, indemnity for IP infringement, open source compliance, data breach. Carve-outs for gross negligence and wilful misconduct.
Security commitments aligned with NIS2 and CRA, breach notification, escrow of source code, business continuity, exit assistance.
Notice periods, breach termination, change of control, data return and deletion obligations, transition assistance to the next provider.
B2B SaaS terms, licences, EULA, integration, maintenance, source code escrow.
Drafting of underlying legal agreement, on-chain/off-chain mapping, dispute mechanisms.
Co-production, royalties, secondary market, marketplace terms, MiCA assessment.
Patent and know-how transfer, R&D collaboration, joint ventures.
AI provider and deployer obligations, transparency, FRIA, training data, monitoring.
Representation in tech contract disputes before French courts and ICC/LCIA arbitration.
Yes, in most cases. A smart contract that meets contract validity conditions (consent, capacity, lawful object, lawful cause) is binding. However, applicable law still governs interpretation and enforcement. The on-chain execution is the technical implementation of the underlying legal agreement.
MiCA generally excludes NFTs that are truly unique and non-fungible. However, NFT collections with interchangeable characteristics or functioning as financial instruments may fall under MiCA or the EU prospectus regime. A case-by-case legal analysis is essential before launching a collection.
Three configurations: provider keeps all IP and grants a licence (standard SaaS), provider keeps IP but transfers some specific deliverables, or full transfer of bespoke developments. Each requires precise drafting under Articles L.131-3 and of the French Intellectual Property Code, with particular attention to the formal requirements for assignment of each right by scope, purpose, territory and duration.
The AI Act requires cooperation between providers and deployers, transparency on training data, fundamental rights impact assessments (FRIA) where applicable, and conformity assessment. Tech contracts must include cooperation clauses, warranties, indemnities and termination triggers tied to AI Act non-compliance.
Yes, with care. Permissive licences (MIT, BSD, Apache) are compatible. Strong copyleft (GPL, AGPL) requires careful architecture, especially AGPL which extends copyleft to network use. SaaS contracts must include open source compliance representations and IP indemnification.
Yes. International arbitration is widely used for cross-border tech contracts. ICC (Paris) and LCIA (London) are popular venues. The arbitration clause must be carefully drafted to ensure enforceability under French law and the New York Convention.
