Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Business Law - Essay Example it can be specific or general. A general offer is open for more than one person and can be accepted by anyone who is able to accept it validly. In Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company, the defendant made a product called â€Å"smoke ball† which was a cure for influenza and promised to pay ?100 to anyone who used the product according to the instructions set out by the defendant and got sick with influenza. The defendant used the product and got sick with influenza and claimed ?100 from the defendant. It was held that the defendant was liable. An offer lapses in the event of a counter-offer. When an offer is made by an offeror and the offeree presents his own terms of acceptance, the original offer is revoked. If the original offeror accepts the terms of the offeree, a new contract is formed which is different from the contract that would have formed if the original offer was accepted. A valid acceptance is also essential for a legally binding contract. An acceptance is valid if it is made on the same terms as the offer. The parties to a legally binding contract must agree to the same thing in the same sense. Acceptance must be made when offer is open for acceptance. An acceptance would not be effective if the offeror has revoked his offer. Acceptance must be made by the person to whom the offer was intended and conveyed to the person who made the offer. A person to whom the offer is not open for acceptance cannot accept the offer. The effectiveness of acceptance varies according to the different modes of communication. When both the parties are in an instantaneous interpersonal communication, the acceptance becomes effective when it is received by the offeror. The relevant issue here is of acceptance by email. In communication via email, it is of paramount importance whether the offeror has designated an information system for the purpose of receiving communication. If he has, an acceptance is deemed to have been received when the email reaches the info rmation system. Application of the law A counter-offer revokes the original offer. When Burt said that he would pay $5000 for the bike, he made a counter-offer. Sally’s offer of selling the bike for $6000 was revoked. She made a fresh offer by sending the message that she would sell the bike for $5500 to Burt. Burt rejected this offer. Once the offer was rejected, Burt was not able to accept the offer of purchasing the bike for $5500. Sally also was not able to accept the offer of selling the bike to Burt for $5000 because she had rejected his counter-offer. Therefore, there is no contract between Sally and Burt. When Peter asked for additional information from Sally, he was not accepting her offer to purchase the bike. At that time, the offer was still open for acceptance. Peter also made a counter offer when he asked whether the bike could have been sold for $4000. Sally did not reply Peter for some time and it might reasonably be expected that she was not willing to sell t he bike for $4000 at that time but she did not communicate her intentions to Peter. Peter’s counter-offer was open for acceptance during the business hours which is reasonable time for acceptance. Sally accepted the counter-offer of Peter which would result in a legally binding contract. She replied Peter via email which was sent to an information system that can be deemed to have been designated by Peter because it was the only mode through which