News
975 articles
15 July 2013
Cease and desist notice under competition law for missing data protection declaration
The Higher Regional Court (OLG) had to decide whether the absence of an imprint and a data protection declaration on an internet portal which requested its users to deposit personal data constituted a violation of German competition law and whether the information obligation in relation to data collection pursuant to the Telemediengesetz constitutes a so-called market conduct norm, in the event of a breach of which a cease and desist notice under competition law from a competitor [...]
Read more27 June 2013
Letter "M" for sports cars eligible for registration as a mark
The Federal Patent Court has recently decided that the letter "M" for goods of class 12, namely sports cars, is distinctive and not required to be kept free. The corresponding refusal decision of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office was therefore set aside.
Read more25 June 2013
Trade marks "RABE" and "RACE" not confusable despite identical vowel sequence
The Federal Patent Court (BPatG) decided by order of 29.01.2013 that the trade marks "RABE" and "RACE" are not confusable despite an identical vowel sequence and therefore coexistence is possible. In the court's view, rounded letters are only similar if the number, placement and orientation of the roundings correspond to a large extent.
Read more21 June 2013
Is pharmaceutical authorisation required for antibacterial mouthwash?
The Regional Court (LG) Cologne had to decide whether pharmaceutical authorisation is required for the distribution of a mouthwash with antibacterial properties or whether the mouthwash may be sold as a cosmetic product without authorisation.
Read more10 June 2013
Sign 'Massacre' not registrable as a mark
In a proceeding on appeal, the Federal Patent Court had to decide whether the sign 'Massacre' could be registered as a mark or whether registration of the sign had to be refused on grounds of immorality.
Read more28 May 2013
Copyright protection for technical articles in computer journals?
The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Düsseldorf had to decide whether the adoption of two identical text passages from a product description constitutes a copyright infringement which the user must cease.
Read more27 May 2013
Address details in advertising brochures
Advertising brochures and other printed advertising materials must also contain certain mandatory information. For example, the identity and address of the advertiser must be stated. The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Saarbrücken had to decide whether, in the case of a company with branches, the mere listing of a branch address is sufficient.
Read more14 May 2013
Internet shaming (Pranger) for food law violations inadmissible!
The Administrative Court of Appeal (Verwaltungsgerichtshof) Baden-Württemberg has, in the context of a decision on interim legal protection, preliminarily prohibited the publication of food law violations on the Internet, as the amendment to the Food, Commodities and Feed Law (LFGB) could breach EU and constitutional law.
Read more15 April 2013
Trade mark "TOTO" of the state lottery companies deleted!
The Federal Patent Court (Bundespatentgericht) had to decide in the context of a cancellation application whether any obstacles to registration existed for the trade mark "TOTO" and whether it should therefore be deleted.
Read more06 March 2013
Liability of parents for their children in file-sharing?
The Regional Court (LG) Cologne had to decide whether the father of two children aged 16 and 18 years was liable as a disturber to the owner of a copyright work for illegal downloads by a third party.
Read more06 March 2013
Directory listing scams – offer forms ruled misleading by BGH
An increasing number of young self-employed persons and business operators are falling for unscrupulous offers for entries in business directory listings. Because the indication of fees is deliberately hidden in the 'small print', the affected parties only notice when the invoice arrives that the advertising letters or proof copies are actually chargeable offers.
Read more04 March 2013
Infringer's surcharge for copyright infringement in photographs requires legitimate interest of the photographer
It has become almost mandatory to calculate damages in the event of infringement of copyrights in photographs according to the fee rates of the MFM (Mittelstandsgemeinschaft Foto-Marketing) and to apply a surcharge of 100% in the absence of an author attribution. Many courts do this without objection – with exceptions, such as the Regional Court (LG) Stuttgart in its default judgment of 28.02.2013 (17 […]
Read more07 February 2013
Is advertising condoms as 'Made in Germany' anti-competitive?
The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm had to decide in second instance a dispute between two condom manufacturers concerning the misleading nature of the advertising claim 'Made in Germany'.
Read more07 February 2013
Peek & Cloppenburg Hamburg vs. Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf
The First Civil Senate of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), which is responsible for trade mark law, recently ruled in five proceedings on the question of how nationwide advertising by companies with identical company designations must be structured.
Read more06 February 2013
Should one sue PayPal for account suspension?
Some time ago, I reported on a lawsuit that we filed on behalf of a client in Germany (Landgericht Stuttgart) against PayPal. Since then, I receive almost daily calls from PayPal customers – overwhelmingly online merchants of all sizes – who tell me about their suffering with PayPal. It is always about account restrictions, ranging from some […]
Read more30 January 2013
Is Internet travel agency "mcweg.de" confusable with "weg.de"?
The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Cologne had to decide in a trademark dispute between two Internet travel agencies whether the later-priority German word-figurative mark "mcweg.de" infringes the earlier registered German word-figurative mark "weg.de".
Read more18 January 2013
€1,300 for Tatort opening sequence is sufficient
The creator of the opening sequence for the television series 'Tatort' had demanded reasonable further remuneration on account of the ongoing success of the series. In 1969, she had received only a one-time lump sum payment for her work.
Read more14 December 2012
Free use in sound recording sampling?
The First Civil Senate of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) responsible for copyright law had once again to decide on the permissibility of using recorded sounds and tones (sound recording sampling) by way of so-called free use for one's own purposes.
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