News
975 articles
25 November 2014
End for the "Criminal from Schwetzingen"?
The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Karlsruhe had to decide whether the well-known weather presenter Jörg Kachelmann was permitted to continue calling his ex-girlfriend Claudia D. the "Criminal from Schwetzingen" or whether this infringes upon the general personality rights of his former life partner and whether he must therefore cease doing so.
Read more24 November 2014
Competition law also applies to Amazon
Clothing may not be offered on the internet without textile labelling, and household products may not be offered without unit price information – this also applies to the online retailer Amazon. Amazon was therefore ordered by the Regional Court (LG) Cologne to cease and desist.
Read more20 November 2014
Damages for premature termination of an eBay auction?
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to address the legal question of whether a purchase contract concluded on an eBay auction by bidding on a minimum offer is valid when there is a gross disparity between the purchase price and the value of the auctioned item.
Read more18 November 2014
FIFA abolishes player agent licence
Under the FIFA statutes applicable hitherto, the exercise of the profession as a player agent or intermediary of a footballer required either the completion of a theoretical player agent examination or admission as a lawyer. This is now to change.
Read more16 November 2014
Biscuits are not meant to be eaten
For the purposes of assessing the distinctive character of a product, only the external appearance is decisive. For this reason, in the view of the EuG, the interior of a biscuit can have no significance for the question of whether a design is capable of protection.
Read more14 November 2014
Transfer of rights in Amazon terms and conditions ruled invalid
Amazon's terms and conditions provide that marketplace sellers grant a comprehensive right of use for each uploaded product image. For Amazon, this process is in a sense the foundation of its business model, because only in this way is centralized data management possible. However, this raises the question of whether such a transfer of rights is possible and valid at all. This question has been addressed by the Regional Court (LG) Cologne [...]
Read more13 November 2014
Advertising with "SMS-Flatrate" in violation of competition law?
Advertising with a 'flatrate' is regularly the subject of complaints to the Wettbewerbszentrale. In the present case, the Regional Court (LG) Kiel had to deal with the question of whether it is permissible to advertise an "SMS-Flat" when the number of free SMS messages is limited quantitatively.
Read more12 November 2014
Modification of employee invention compensation upon termination of employment
If an employee makes an invention during his work for the employer, he may, if the invention is exploited by the employer, claim compensation for it. This may also be granted in the form of a flat-rate salary increase. However, the question then arises what happens to the compensation portion if the employment relationship is terminated. On this matter […]
Read more10 November 2014
Horse salve for human children?
The Federal Patent Court (Bundespatentgericht) had to address the registrability of the mark "Pferdesalbe", which the applicant wished to register in class 3 inter alia for body care and cosmetic preparations. Prior to this, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) had refused registration on the ground that the mark was purely descriptive.
Read more07 November 2014
Fresh Start: Copyright Protection for TV Formats?
Innovative formats, ideas and concepts often possess significant value. For example, successful TV shows such as the British format Who wants to Be a Millionaire (Wer wird Millionär), Big Brother, Pop Idol (American Idol, Deutschland sucht den Superstar), America's Next Topmodel (Germanys Next Topmodel) have been exported to numerous countries. In stark contrast to the great economic importance […]
Read more03 November 2014
Press Code also for social networks?
The German Press Council had to address the question of whether the ethical principles of the Press Code created by the German Press Council should also apply to the publication and dissemination of editorial contributions on social media platforms.
Read more31 October 2014
Withdrawal of negative eBay review
Every eBay user is pleased with positive and annoyed with negative reviews. The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Munich has now ordered an eBay buyer to withdraw his negative review of a seller.
Read more30 October 2014
Filesharing lawsuit from law firm Negele dismissed
The Local Court (AG) Munich had once again to decide how far the secondary burden of presentation of an internet connection holder extends. Furthermore, the Local Court (AG) ruled on the question raised in the context of a counterclaim as to whether it constitutes abuse of rights to assert three different copyright infringements of the same day for the same rights holder in the context of three separate cease-and-desist letters.
Read more29 October 2014
Competitor: yes, but when?
A prerequisite for a competitor's entitlement to seek a cessation of competition law infringements based on the risk of repetition is a concrete competitive relationship between the parties. But at what point in time must this concrete competitive relationship exist? The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt a.M. has taken a position on this matter.
Read more26 October 2014
Textile marking in advertising brochures?
The Regional Court (LG) Düsseldorf had to decide the legal question of whether a fashion company operating in retail must comply with European marking requirements in its advertising with illustrated printed brochures, or whether these rules need only be observed insofar as the advertising brochure also provides a direct ordering option.
Read more25 October 2014
Chocolate biscuit presentation at a trade fair
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to decide whether the mere presentation of a biscuit product allegedly imitated on an international confectionery trade fair would lead to the conclusion that the product would also be offered to domestic consumers in the same packaging.
Read more23 October 2014
Personal liability of GbR partners in case of cease-and-desist letters?
The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt a.M. had to decide to what extent the partners of a GbR are liable for competition law infringements on the basis of injunction, disclosure of information and damages if they themselves were not perpetrators or participants in the infringement.
Read more22 October 2014
Photographic rights for (sports) journalists
During the general meeting of the Association of German Sports Journalists (VDS) on 20.10.2014 in Stuttgart, several questions concerning photographic law were identified, which were repeatedly raised in similar form. I will therefore address these in writing once more following the event. Since the questions arose in the context of a conference of sports journalists, they are in a certain sense specific, but the answers are also applicable to [...]
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