News
975 articles
05 May 2014
Experience voucher without specification of the organizer?
Is a provider of an online offer of vouchers for a balloon flight obligated to inform the buyer about the identity of the organizer? The question of the information obligations of an online shop for such offers has now been decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).
Read more02 May 2014
Is the mark "HOT" distinctive?
In proceedings for revocation of protection of an internationally registered mark (IR mark), the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to decide whether the registered mark "HOT" possesses distinctiveness or whether protection of the mark should be revoked on the grounds that it lacked the capacity to distinguish goods or services according to their origin.
Read more01 May 2014
No compensation for deceased celebrities
Violations of personal rights can, inter alia, result in monetary compensation for the injured party if the resulting (non-pecuniary) damage cannot be compensated in any other way. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to address the question of whether this claim for damages is heritable and answered this question in the negative by judgment of 29.04.2014 (Az. VI ZR 246/12).
Read more30 April 2014
Obstruction by Screen Scraping?
If the operator of an online service has no interest in third parties reading out and using for their own purposes the information and data made available by it, it simply does not provide them in machine-readable form. Accordingly, for anyone who nonetheless wishes to use the publicly accessible data, there remains only the option of reading out the data from […]
Read more29 April 2014
TV advertising blocker Fernsehfee permissible
Television advertising is perceived as disruptive by many viewers. The defendant therefore manufactured and distributed a set-top device intended for television or video recorder, known as "Fernsehfee", which automatically switched to an advertisement-free channel during advertising breaks. The plaintiff, a German private broadcaster, regarded this as anti-competitive conduct by the defendant and filed a lawsuit, which was decided in […]
Read more26 April 2014
GEMA Pro Procedure
GEMA exercises the copyright powers of its members in the field of musical performance rights and mechanical reproduction rights. The income generated from the exploitation of copyright is distributed to the members. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to decide in this landmark decision of 2005 whether the distribution basis could be unilaterally changed by GEMA.
Read more24 April 2014
Baby food and the question: is it healthy for my baby?
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to decide whether the designation "Praebiotik® + Probiotik®" for baby food suggests a health benefit or merely constitutes a simple specification of composition or ingredients.
Read more23 April 2014
Google liable for Autocomplete function
In the previous year, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) decided that the Google Autocomplete function, through its search term completions, could violate the personality rights of the affected party, since the search term completions have a tangible informational content. Consequently, the Higher Regional Court of Cologne (OLG Köln) had to address the question of whether Google, when faced with a specific complaint regarding the Autocomplete function, had sufficiently complied with its obligations to review […]
Read more22 April 2014
Trade mark owner must bake smaller rolls
If a trade mark owner wishes to prevent his trade mark from becoming a generic designation, he must actively combat this. To this end, it may be necessary for the manufacturer of a semi-finished product – in this case bread mixes – to require his customers to use the trade mark in commerce as such. A sophisticated trade mark strategy is of inestimable value in this regard. The Austrian manufacturer of a bread mix […]
Read more17 April 2014
Those who advertise prices are doomed?
In principle, for commercial offers or price advertising, the final price including all price components must be stated. However, this only applies if there is actually an offer or advertising with a price. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) clarified the finer points of this distinction in its judgment of 12.09.2013 (Az. I ZR 123/12).
Read more16 April 2014
Beer can be "vitalising"
The Regional Court (LG) Arnsberg recently had to address the question of whether the advertising term "vitalising" for a beer constitutes a health-related claim that is impermissible under the Health Claims Regulation (HCVO). The question was answered in the negative, not least due to the Klitschko brothers (judgment of 19.12.2013, Az. 8 O 99/13).
Read more15 April 2014
We can do anything – except register a trade mark
The Federal Patent Court (BPatG) decided by judgment of 25.03.2014 (29 W (pat) 34/12) that the word/figurative mark "Sachsen – Ein Land in Bewegung" lacked the requisite distinctive character both as a whole and for all claimed goods and services. The corresponding refusal decision of the DPMA was thereby upheld.
Read more14 April 2014
Professional designation "diplomiert" without university diploma — compatible with competition law?
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to decide whether a dyslexia and dyscalculia trainer may describe herself as "diplomiert" (qualified), even though she had not acquired a corresponding university diploma, or whether this designation would mislead the public.
Read more11 April 2014
Must a raspberry be a raspberry?
Is it sufficient for a herbal tea that is labelled and advertised as "RASPBERRY-VANILLA ADVENTURE with natural flavours" but which in fact contains no raspberry or vanilla components to include merely a reference to the use of imitations in the ingredients list? On misleading representations through pictorial depictions on the packaging of foodstuffs.
Read more11 April 2014
Caution regarding threats of Schufa entry
Customers are repeatedly informed of an impending data transmission to Schufa in order to move them to pay. But under what conditions is the customer entitled to threaten with a Schufa notice? In the case to be decided by the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Celle, the debt collection company threatened a Schufa notice despite existing invoice objections by the customer. This went too far, decided […]
Read more10 April 2014
Private copying levy also for unauthorized copies?
According to today's decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (EuGH), unlawful reproductions – irrespective of the use of a technical protection measure – may not be taken into account when determining the amount of the levy for the making of private copies of a copyright-protected work.
Read more10 April 2014
No Trade Mark Protection for Advertising Slogan "Performance through Passion"
According to a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (EuG) of 25.03.2014 (Az. T 539/11), an advertising slogan lacks the distinctive character required for registration as a trade mark if it is not capable, from any point of view, of providing the consumers confronted with it with an indication of the origin of the goods and services in question, but is merely understood as advertising puffery. When assessing distinctive character, [...]
Read more09 April 2014
Rights of use upon unconditional transfer of software
The unconditional activation or transfer of software created on commission is to be interpreted as the grant of the rights of use agreed upon in the contract. The presumption of copyright protection for complex computer programmes does not apply to software components. This was decided by the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt/Main in a judgment dated 29.10.2013 (Az. 11 U 47/13).
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