News
976 articles
27 May 2015
Risk of confusion between "Mc Donalds" and "Mäc Spice"?
Is there a risk of confusion between the mark "Mäc Spice" and the trademark "Mc Donalds"? The fast food chain has now had this trademark law question decided by the Federal Patent Court (Bundespatentgericht), after the German Patent and Trade Mark Office had rejected a risk of confusion between the marks.
Read more21 May 2015
Hakuna Matata – Everything will be fine
Terms are excluded from registration in the trade mark register if they lack any distinctive character. This is the case for a foreign term if the domestic circles of trade can translate it and therefore understand it, and the translation describes characteristics of the goods or services or is simply a statement of a very general kind that cannot be understood as an indication of the origin of a […]
Read more20 May 2015
Nuhr Hate Preacher?
Is the designation of a cabaret artist as a 'hate preacher' a defamatory statement and thus a violation of the general right of personality, or is the use of this designation covered by the right to freedom of expression? The comedian Dieter Nuhr has now had this legal question decided by the Regional Court (LG) Stuttgart.
Read more18 May 2015
Prohibition on resale of e-books?
As a general rule, when one purchases goods, one acquires ownership and is free to dispose of them as one wishes. The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamburg had to deal with the question of whether the acquisition of a digital e-book also results in exhaustion of rights, or whether one merely acquires the right to read the book but is prohibited from reselling it.
Read more17 May 2015
Redeem discount vouchers from competitors here now!
Impeding the freedom of action of competitors is anticompetitive. However, this impeding must be deliberate, which requires an assessment based on the occasion, purpose, content and effect of the advertising measure. Merely typical competitive impeding is not unfair, but must be accepted as a consequence of free competition.
Read more15 May 2015
Advertising with test results is fraught with risks
Advertising with a test result requires compliance with strict formal requirements in order to avoid misleading those being advertised to. The problem usually lies in the fact that the test is outdated or errors are made in presenting the significance of one's own test result. The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Saarbrücken now had to decide on a case in which the unclear subject matter of the test itself was questionable [...]
Read more13 May 2015
No Trade Mark Infringement at International Fair
According to established case law, the exhibition of products infringing intellectual property rights at a fair does not give rise to a presumption that such products are intended to be offered within Germany. The Regional Court (LG) Düsseldorf takes a different view in a recent decision, but ultimately concludes that the assumed risk of first infringement was successfully rebutted.
Read more12 May 2015
Violation of the right of personality through assumptions?
Is the press permitted to publish assumptions about a possible insolvency of a company in the context of a publication, or are the (corporate) personality rights of the company violated by such statements? The Regional Court (LG) Cologne recently had to decide such a case.
Read more11 May 2015
Model designation constitutes trademark use
The use of a sign as part of a model designation for a garment satisfies the requirements of trademark use. This is only different if the sign is used exclusively for ordering purposes and the relevant public therefore regards it as a pure ordering designation.
Read more09 May 2015
Trade mark infringement / misleading conduct through incorrect GTIN
The EAN code, or today the GTIN (barcode), serves the international identification of a product. Via this number, not only data on the product itself can be obtained, but also information about the manufacturer. This can cause problems if a product (inadvertently) bears the identification number of another enterprise, as a proceeding before the Higher Regional Court of Cologne (OLG Köln) demonstrates.
Read more08 May 2015
Transfer of rights to photos in Amazon Terms and Conditions now effective after all?
The General Terms and Conditions for the online sales platform Amazon Marketplace provide that images uploaded by a user may also be used by third parties to advertise identical goods, since Amazon grants itself a corresponding licence in its Terms and Conditions. Whether such a time-unlimited transfer of rights to Amazon is effective was now to be decided by the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Cologne [...]
Read more07 May 2015
I'm off then
"I'm Off Then" was and remains one of the most successful books of recent years. Hape Kerkeling reports in it of his experiences on the Camino de Santiago. The title is a commonly used turn of phrase that is widely used – including by a travel portal on the Internet. The question of whether this is consistent with the title rights of the […]
Read more06 May 2015
Kohl defends his right of personality!
The defendant publisher Random House has failed in the second instance, together with the author, to save the publication of quotations from former Federal Chancellor Dr. Helmut Kohl in the book 'Vermächtnis – die Kohl-Protokolle'. The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Cologne upheld the appeal of the defendant in full.
Read more04 May 2015
Unlawful Price Comparison in Antivirus Software
Anti-competitive customer poaching takes many forms. What they all have in common is that inappropriate pressure is exerted on customers who are already attributable to a competitor in order to compel them to change their purchasing decision. A Regional Court (LG) Hamburg had to rule on antivirus software tainted by such conduct.
Read more02 May 2015
No protection against imitation for bongs
Insofar as the products in question do not enjoy special legal protection, for example because a design or trade dress has been registered, the principle of freedom to imitate applies. From a competition law perspective, this is in turn restricted if product imitation causes confusion as to the origin of the product or constitutes unfair exploitation of reputation. Whether this is the case with certain glass water pipes, so-called "bongs", […]
Read more30 April 2015
MAXI protection for MINI mark
Well-known marks enjoy greater protection than marks that do not reach the threshold of distinctiveness. In particular, they are protected against unlawful dilution of reputation. This protection is also not unlimited, but extends to goods and services that are not similar to those claimed by the mark, if the public perceives on the basis of the designation that they originate from the […]
Read more29 April 2015
EUR 15,000 dispute value for copyright infringement on photographs?
Is a dispute value assessment of EUR 15,000 for a claim for injunction against the unauthorised use of three photographs in the context of a commercial internet presence to be objected to? The Higher Regional Court (OLG) of Munich had to decide this question in the course of a dispute value appeal.
Read more28 April 2015
Does abdominal fat melt like butter in the sun?
Advertising with health-related claims is vulnerable because the legislature has established particularly strict rules here to protect consumers. According to these, advertising a preparation's effects is only permitted if such effects have already been scientifically proven reliably before the publication of the corresponding advertising statements. This applies all the more when advertising a particularly effective weight-loss product […]
Read more