News
975 articles
12 April 2011
Special price subject to condition of full payment permissible?
The Regional Court (LG) Darmstadt had to decide whether it is permissible under competition law to offer a special price in the framework of general terms and conditions with the restriction that the goods must be paid in full by the customer upon delivery and invoicing.
Read more11 April 2011
Terms and Conditions clause ineffective despite reiteration of statutory wording?
The Regional Court (LG) Munich had to decide whether the terms and conditions clause 'If force majeure or other circumstances exist whose elimination is impossible, the performance obligation lapses' withstands terms and conditions audit from the perspective of transparency and whether this general terms and conditions is thereby anticompetitive.
Read more07 April 2011
Proceedings in Germany for violation of a Russian's personality rights?
A legal question was submitted to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe as to whether German courts have jurisdiction in disputes relating to the violation of the personality rights of a foreign national by a citizen who is also resident abroad, where the internet publication is made on the internet portal of a German provider.
Read more04 April 2011
Anti-Filesharing article infringing on personality rights?
The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Cologne had to decide whether the article 'The Warning Letter Industry' published in the magazine 'c't – 1/10' contained statements infringing on enterprise personality rights against the Karlsruhe filesharing law firm Nümann + Lang.
Read more30 March 2011
Judges award VG Wort many millions of euros
In the present legal dispute of the collecting society Wort (VG Wort), it is fighting for the exploitation of copyright-protected literary works and their use in higher education institutions. Overall, it concerns economic interests valued at several 100 million euros. The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Munich had to decide on the amount of licence fees that universities must pay.
Read more28 March 2011
Is the numeral '1000' registrable as a Community Trade Mark?
As Community Trade Marks, all signs are registrable which can be represented graphically. A prerequisite for this, however, is that these signs are suitable to distinguish the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises. In principle, individual numerals are therefore also registrable. The Court of Justice of the European Union (EuGH) now had to decide whether the numeral '1000' is registrable or whether this numeral exclusively […]
Read more25 March 2011
Is a cease-and-desist letter for illegal file-sharing exchanges permissible only for current films?
In file-sharing cases, the connection subscriber is regularly sent a cease-and-desist letter. The senders of such letters uncover these copyright infringements by means of a court order, by virtue of which the rights holder obtains information from the respective Internet service provider regarding the assignment of an IP address to a connection subscriber. With regard to music titles, the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Cologne has already decided by order of 05.10.2010 – Az. 6 W 82/10 that the court must not issue any information order after [...] months.
Read more22 March 2011
Arschlecken24 as a trade mark – contrary to morality?
Trade marks can only be registered as a trade mark if they do not encounter any absolute grounds for refusal. One such ground for refusal is that signs which contravene public policy or accepted principles of morality cannot be protected as trade marks. The question of accepted principles of morality is subject to constant social change, so that trade marks which were formerly considered offensive […]
Read more21 March 2011
Advertising with crossed-out prices permitted?
The First Civil Senate of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) responsible for competition law had to decide whether advertising featuring highlighted introductory prices juxtaposed with higher crossed-out prices is misleading and thus contrary to competition law.
Read more18 March 2011
Must Internet service providers store the IP addresses of file sharers?
Copyright infringements on the Internet through illegal file-sharing networks are regularly uncovered by means of IP addresses of the respective infringers. Accordingly, it is important for the evidence gathering of law firms operating in this field to be able to secure evidence appropriately. The law firm Kornmeier & Partner, based in Frankfurt a.M. and Cologne, has now filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) in order to compel an Internet service provider to […]
Read more17 March 2011
File-sharing cease-and-desist letter despite assignment of all usage rights?
Users of illegal file-sharing networks are regularly sent cease-and-desist letters by relatively unknown artists, such as the authors of song lyrics, even though they have mostly sold the rights to the texts to the respective musicians who release the musical work. The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Cologne had to decide whether a copyright owner, despite assigning exclusive usage rights to a third party, could nevertheless […]
Read more14 March 2011
Is "Gute Laune" registrable as a trademark for beverages?
The Federal Patent Court (BPatG) in Munich was presented with the trademark application "Gute Laune". The BPatG had to decide whether this trademark was distinctive and thus registrable.
Read more25 February 2011
Advertising with Stiftung Warentest rating 'good' enough?
The Frankfurt judges of the Hessian Higher Regional Court (OLG) had to decide whether a manufacturer of a razor could advertise in a television spot that the advertised product had been rated 'good' by Stiftung Warentest without placing this rating in relation to the overall test.
Read more23 February 2011
"Nothing rhymes with Uschi"?
This slogan was registered as a trade mark for Mario Barth on 26.01.2011 at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) in the principal class 25 (textiles). Meanwhile, the well-known comedian is issuing cease-and-desist letters to T-shirt manufacturers on grounds of unfair competition because they have printed and distributed "Nothing rhymes with Uschi" on textiles. However, the problem is that this phrase does not appear to originate from [...]
Read more23 February 2011
Withdrawal notice without heading effective?
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to decide whether a withdrawal notice formatted in continuous text that corresponded word for word to a statutory template should be ineffective because the user omitted the subheadings.
Read more14 February 2011
Consent to telephone marketing through double 'opt-in' procedure?
Marketing calls are only permissible insofar as the called prospective customer has previously expressly consented to such a call. Since this is relatively difficult to implement in practice without abandoning telephone marketing entirely, the AOK has now attempted to persuade prospective customers to give their consent through a prize draw offered by it. The judges in Karlsruhe had to decide, [...]
Read more11 February 2011
Diet advertising with "fat-burning hormones" – contrary to competition law?
In the present legal dispute, a food manufacturer advertised its diet product as activating "fat-burning hormones". The Higher Regional Court (OLG) had to decide whether this formulation led consumers to believe that weight loss would occur simply by taking the product.
Read more08 February 2011
Film and photograph recordings in public park subject to charges?
Beautiful gardens, parks and buildings repeatedly serve as backdrops for filmmakers and photographers for their recordings. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to decide to what extent the production and commercialisation of images and films taken in public parks are subject to charges.
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