News
975 articles
20 January 2015
Advertising with eBay verification seal unfair?
Is an eBay shop operator permitted to advertise with the slogan "eBay verified member" granted by the auction platform – and what essential particulars must a seller provide when offering contact lenses online? These are the questions with which the Regional Court (LG) Essen had to deal.
Read more19 January 2015
Private video recording illegal?
Is a private video recording, insofar as it extends even only partially to the public space, "purely private" and therefore not subject to assessment under the applicable data protection regulations at all? Does this also affect driver assistance systems? The EuGH has commented on this.
Read more16 January 2015
Arbitration clause in athlete agreement void
In 2009, Claudia Pechstein was imposed a 2-year ban by the world federation ISU for doping, although no positive sample was present. The ban, which was later confirmed by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), was based solely on excessively high and fluctuating reticulocyte values, which in the opinion of the federation and the court could only be explained by doping. The burden of proof to the contrary fell on Pechstein […]
Read more13 January 2015
Cease and Desist Letters – Made Easy?
Since the "Act Against Unfair Business Practices" (Gesetz gegen unseriöse Geschäftspraktiken), a copyright cease and desist letter is ineffective if it lacks a notice indicating the extent to which the cessation of conduct obligation proposed in the cease and desist letter goes beyond the alleged infringement of rights. Thus, if the manufacturer objects to a seller regarding the offering of a counterfeit product, the cease and desist letter is nonetheless effective, even though the cessation of conduct declaration proposed by the manufacturer, without the corresponding notice in the […]
Read more12 January 2015
Opodo warning notices and service charges in breach of competition law?
Time and again, consumers ordering services such as travel over the Internet are pressured by Internet providers during the ordering process with warning notices to order additional services. In addition, customers are charged with additional service fees at the end of the ordering process. The Regional Court (LG) Berlin had to decide a lawsuit brought by a consumer centre, which concerned the anti-competitive nature of such business practices.
Read more09 January 2015
Prescription-only medicines without a prescription?
The dispensing of a prescription-only medicine by a pharmacist without presentation of a prescription is unlawful under competition law. This has been decided by the First Civil Senate of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), which is responsible inter alia for competition law.
Read more08 January 2015
Health-related advertising for Bach Flowers?
In the present dispute, the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm ruled on the legal question of whether mental equilibrium is also covered by the health concept of the Health Claims Regulation and thus is to be distinguished from general well-being, with the result that advertising claiming a positive effect on mental well-being must be supported by reliable scientific studies.
Read more07 January 2015
Does the Netzer always have a network?
"Always a network has the Netzer…"! Whether this advertising slogan of a mobile network operator is understood by the traffic addressed with the advertisement as a guarantee for perfect mobile network coverage was recently decided by the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt a. M. in the context of a competition law dispute between two competitors in interim relief proceedings.
Read more21 December 2014
German Film Fund is being cut!
The promotion of German cinema and the amount of funds allocated for this purpose is repeatedly the subject of heated debates in the Bundestag. In 2014, German film projects received a total of 60 million euros in support through the German Film Fund. These funds have now been substantially reduced.
Read more12 December 2014
Choice of law clause in general terms and conditions valid?
The Higher Regional Court of Oldenburg (OLG Oldenburg) was presented with a legal question by an online retailer concerning whether this retailer may stipulate in its general terms and conditions that German law shall apply to all contracts concluded with it in the context of distance selling.
Read more10 December 2014
Correction following suspicion reporting?
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to consider whether a person affected by permissible suspicion reporting in a news magazine could assert a right to correction based on the principles of general personality rights if the suspicion of an offence on which the report was based were later cleared.
Read more09 December 2014
Liability for damages of the file-hosting service
Can a file-hosting service provider, which essentially provides storage space, be held liable for damages for copyright infringement by users of its service? The Regional Court (LG) Munich has expressed itself on this matter.
Read more05 December 2014
"Golden Balls" = "Ballon d'Or"?
The Court of Justice of the European Union (EuGH) had to decide whether the marks "Golden Balls" and "Ballon d'Or" are confusingly similar. The proprietor of the latter mark took this view, which uses the mark "Ballon d'Or" for a well-known sports prize. It justified its legal opinion by reference to the outstanding reputation of its mark and the conceptual similarity of the marks.
Read more03 December 2014
Misleading free offer online
Internet service providers are not permitted to advertise a free registration if the promised service is ultimately only offered in return for payment. This has been decided by the Regional Court (LG) Cologne.
Read more01 December 2014
Violations of personal rights between the lines
If false statements are made about a person in the press or media, or if their honour is violated, the affected person can defend themselves on the basis of their general right to personal protection. However, particularly critical statements are often not expressed openly, but only covertly, so that the false statement or violation of honour emerges only from the context. Statements 'between […]'
Read more30 November 2014
Daimler loses dispute over illegal recordings
May a public broadcasting television company broadcast unlawfully recorded film material as part of a television documentary, or do corporate personality rights stand in the way of such use? The Regional Court (LG) Stuttgart recently had to decide this legal question.
Read more29 November 2014
Liability of the Domain Registrar for Subdomains
A domain registrar has no relationship with the operators of the third-level domain. Does it nevertheless incur liability as an interferor for content posted on the third-level domain? The Court of Appeal (Kammergericht) Berlin had to decide on this matter.
Read more28 November 2014
E-Cigarette: A Medicinal Product or Medical Device?
The Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG) has decided in several parallel proceedings that nicotine-containing liquids (so-called liquids), which are vaporized and inhaled by means of electronic cigarettes (so-called e-cigarettes), are not medicinal products and accordingly the e-cigarette itself is not a medical device.
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