News
975 articles
20 November 2015
Penny may Pippi!
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) decided the question of whether the famous literary character Pippi Longstocking, invented by Astrid Lindgren, is protected under competition law against use as a carnival costume. The discount retailer Lidl had sold corresponding goods. The BGH had already rejected a claim of copyright infringement due to the costume's similarity to the character.
Read more18 November 2015
Google Cache as a contractual penalty trap
How far do the debtor's obligations extend after submission of a declaration containing a contractual penalty for cessation? The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Düsseldorf had to decide whether the debtor must also ensure the deletion of the infringing content from the Google Cache.
Read more12 November 2015
EUR 15,000 damages for pornographic images?
Does the public provision of photo montages on the Internet, on which the face of a woman and the partially or fully exposed bodies of naked women in pornographic poses can be seen, constitute a violation of the general personality rights of the recognizable person? In the context of a claim for damages, the Higher Regional Court of Oldenburg (OLG Oldenburg) has now taken up this question.
Read more11 November 2015
Complete disclosure of passenger rights?
Must an airline clearly and completely inform its passengers of their passenger rights? This legal view was held by the umbrella association of consumer centres of the federal states, and it brought claims for injunctive relief against the airline Germania on grounds of competition law.
Read more06 November 2015
Lack of distinctive character of the "Hamsterkarte"?
The German Patent and Trade Mark Office rejected the registration of the designation "Hamsterkarte", inter alia for the goods "customer loyalty cards for bonus and rewards programmes". Was the Trade Mark Office correct?
Read more04 November 2015
"Free glasses" – advertising campaign of an optician
Attractive advertising campaigns attract a large number of customers. Often there is only a narrow line between permissible advertising measure and anticompetitive conduct. The advertising of an optician with "1 glass free!" or "free glasses" has now been the subject of proceedings before the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm.
Read more29 October 2015
Trade mark infringement through decorative stitching?
Can the trade mark rights of a right holder be infringed by tags affixed to jeans on which a stylised pair of trousers is depicted, the seat pockets of which are provided with decorative stitching in the form of a downward-pointing double arc? The trade mark proprietor has protected this special design of the decorative stitching as a trade mark and is now asserting claims for a prohibition against the competitor.
Read more27 October 2015
Bank secrecy in case of trade mark infringement?
If the name of a seller who is selling counterfeit products is unknown, it can sometimes prove difficult for the trade mark proprietor to pursue the infringement. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to address the question of whether a bank must provide information about a customer's name and address in the event of an obvious infringement committed by an account holder, or whether it may refuse to do so.
Read more23 October 2015
Invitation by email to the members' meeting?
May a golf club that requires written invitation to the members' meeting in its articles of association invite its members by email? The 27th Civil Division of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm has now decided on this.
Read more22 October 2015
Infringement of a Montblanc trademark by application on a watch?
For more than a century, Montblanc has used the so-called Montblanc Snowcap, registered as a trademark in Germany, among other places, as its identification mark — a star with 6 rounded points intended to symbolize the snow-capped peak of Mont Blanc. According to Montblanc's view, this trademark has now been infringed by a competitor.
Read more20 October 2015
Objections to Sat.1 – Justified?
Advertising must be clearly separated from other programme content on television. However, how far does the requirement of the Interstate Broadcasting Agreement extend? The Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG) demonstrates a certain strictness in its ruling.
Read more16 October 2015
Protected designation 'Superior' on a German wine label?
The designation 'Superior' is a term protected for certain wines in Portugal and Spain with standardised product specifications. The State Examination Office Rhineland-Palatinate (Landesuntersuchungsamt Rheinland-Pfalz) subsequently prohibited a German winemaker from designating his wine on the label with 'Superior' as this would violate European wine law and be misleading.
Read more14 October 2015
Damages for failure to nominate for Olympic Games
Where an athlete achieves the objectively stipulated performance requirements for nomination to a particular sporting event, he has an enforceable claim to nomination. In the field of athletics, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) is responsible for the final nomination of German athletes for the Olympic Games. A prerequisite for nomination is the fulfilment of sport-specific nomination criteria in temporal proximity to the […]
Read more13 October 2015
Timeliness of availability information in online shops
Does it constitute unfair 'bait advertising' if a product is advertised with a delivery time of a few days although the product is in fact not available? This question was addressed by the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm.
Read more10 October 2015
EUR 2.00 Licence Damages in File-Sharing Litigation?
The amount of licence damages and the value in dispute to be determined in file-sharing litigation has, since the abolition of the forum actoris, been assessed very differently by courts throughout Germany. The Local Court (AG) Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt assumed a very low level of damages in the context of such file-sharing litigation.
Read more09 October 2015
Misleading advertising with 100 years of business tradition?
Is advertising with 100 years of business tradition misleading and thus unfair competition if the advertiser has in the meantime become insolvent? The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt a.M. had to decide on this matter.
Read more05 October 2015
The dispute over red continues…
The dispute between the Sparkassen and Spanish banking group Santander over the colour mark red is entering the next round. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to decide whether Santander may continue to use the red colour tone.
Read more02 October 2015
Kachelmann obtains record damages!
Jörg Kachelmann against the publisher of Bildzeitung for violation of his personality rights in the context of reporting on the 2011 trial in which the weather presenter was accused of raping a former lover. This case was now submitted to the Landgericht Köln for decision.
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