News
976 articles
13 August 2010
Title protection for newspaper section "Stimmt's"?
In the opinion of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamburg, the designation "Stimmt's?" for a section of a weekly newspaper, under which knowledge-related reader questions are answered, is entitled to trademark-related title protection against the designation "Stimmt's?" for the knowledge section of a rather entertainment-oriented internet portal. In particular, the issues in dispute in this matter were the capacity of a section name to possess title protection and the question of whether the word […]
Read more10 August 2010
Distance selling of pharmaceutical veterinary medicinal products via the internet?
The Medicines Act (Arzneimittelgesetz) prohibits distance selling – including via the internet – of pharmaceutical veterinary medicinal products. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to address the question of whether there is an objective justification for regulating distance selling of veterinary medicinal products more strictly than distance selling of human medicines, which is permitted within certain limits regulated by the Medicines Act.
Read more09 August 2010
Bonatz heir loses against Stuttgart 21 railway project
The judgment of the Regional Court (LG) Stuttgart decided the copyright dispute concerning Stuttgart's main railway station at first instance. In the present case, the LG Stuttgart had to make a difficult copyright-related balancing decision between the preservation interest of the grandson of the author of Stuttgart's main railway station Bonatz in the unchanged substance of the Stuttgart railway station building and the interests of Deutsche Bahn AG as owner in the realization of its [...]
Read more06 August 2010
Don't call it Schnitzel?
The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt am Main recently had to deal with a schnitzel. The processed meat product of company T., advertised with the slogan "Don't call it Schnitzel", was the subject of legal proceedings in which the manufacturing company sought to defend itself against a competitor with a cease-and-desist letter and a claim for the signing of a binding declaration of discontinuance on the basis of a registered design […]
Read more03 August 2010
Cease and desist letters issued on a mass scale — abusive?
The claim for submission of a cease and desist declaration subject to a penalty clause, reimbursement of legal fees and compensation for damages incurred are generally justified in the case of legitimate cease and desist letters due to breaches of competition law and/or the use of works protected by copyright. However, the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm had to decide the question of the extent to which actual legal breaches, which were only warned against for the purpose of profit-making, are abusive. The consequence of [...]
Read more02 August 2010
No damages for file sharing via WLAN
Cease and desist letters regarding unauthorised downloads of music, film, audiobooks or other copyright-protected content are sent daily by rights holders and their legal representatives to the holder of the internet connection. However, these infringements were often not committed by the connection holder himself, but by his family members, co-residents or even unknown third parties.
Read more28 July 2010
Full costs of cease-and-desist letter in case of partial success of the party sending the letter?
The legal fees to be paid by the unsuccessful party are generally determined both in and out of court according to the matter in dispute assumed in the cease-and-desist letter as a whole for the various breaches. If multiple claims are asserted in a cease-and-desist letter, but only partly justified, the question arises whether the party sending the letter can nonetheless demand the entire costs of the cease-and-desist letter from the opposing party […]
Read more26 July 2010
Trade mark infringement on eBay in combination offers?
Whilst the Court of Justice of the European Union (EuGH) in its judgment of 23.03.2010 (C 236/08 to C 238/08) in the case of Google Adwords ruled out a detrimental effect on the advertising function of the trade mark designation booked as a keyword due to the spatial-visual separation of the advertisements thereby generated from the actual search results, the Regional Court (LG) Stuttgart reached the opposite conclusion in the case of use on eBay and assumes the initially […]
Read more22 July 2010
Impressum without VAT identification number?
Is the absence of a VAT identification number in the impressum a violation of competition law? This was the question that the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm had to clarify.
Read more21 July 2010
Trade Mark Infringement Through Ostalgia?
Although the symbols of former Eastern Bloc states 'CCCP' and 'DDR' are now protected as trade marks for clothing items, third parties are permitted to apply them to clothing items if consumers regard the applied symbols merely as having a decorative character and do not infer from them the manufacturer of the clothing. In such a case, the use does not constitute trade mark infringement.
Read more20 July 2010
Contract Manufacturing of Pharmaceutical Products and Medical Devices
Presentation by Attorney at Law Christopher Wolf on 19.07.2010 in Stuttgart.
Read more20 July 2010
Contract Manufacturing Agreements for Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices
Presentation by Attorney Christopher Wolf on 12.07.2010 in Bielefeld.
Read more11 June 2010
Book price fixing applies to online retailers too – Amazon
Amazon offered books to the German market below the prices set by publishers pursuant to the Buchpreisbindungsgesetz and thereby provoked a cease-and-desist letter and discontinuation demand from a competitor. The Regional Court (LG) Hamburg now had to decide on the lawfulness of these cease-and-desist letters in the context of main proceedings.
Read more21 May 2010
Stuttgart 21 – Bonatz copyright must give way to railway interests
With the judgment of the Regional Court (LG) Stuttgart of 19.05.2010 (17 O 42/10), the first instance of one of the most significant copyright cases of recent years has come to an end. The plaintiff, Peter Dübbers, grandson of Prof. Paul Bonatz, sued Deutsche Bahn over the planned demolition of parts of Stuttgart Main Station, which was designed by his grandfather and […]
Read more13 May 2010
Limited liability for WLAN misuse for file-sharing
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled by judgment of 12.05.2010 (I ZR 121/08 – Sommer unseres Lebens) that liability for misuse of one's own WLAN by third parties is limited in such a way that whilst a claim for cessation exists, no claim for damages is available. The warning letter costs to be reimbursed are generally limited to € 100.00 pursuant to § 97a UrhG.
Read more13 May 2010
Modified Cease and Desist Declaration in File-Sharing Warning Letter
One of the most common search terms in connection with file-sharing warning letters is "modified cease and desist declaration". This corresponds to a barely manageable multitude of websites that deal with this topic and make proposals, whereby the content is sometimes questionable. The numerous proposals and templates should in no way be adopted without examination.
Read more13 May 2010
Limitation of legal costs in file-sharing warnings to € 100.00
According to the correct view of the Local Court (AG) Frankfurt a.M. (judgment of 01.02.2010 – 30 C 2353/09), the attorney's fees for a justified warning in connection with file-sharing must be reimbursed by the party warned. However, in many cases these are limited to € 100.00. The reason for this is an amendment to copyright law that was necessary due to the mass warnings against peer-to-peer network users.
Read more26 April 2010
Warning notice for file-sharing – what should be done?
Like many internet users, you have probably landed on this page because you have been served with a warning notice. In this notice, you are accused of having publicly offered music, films, or other copyright-protected files via a file-sharing network. The notice typically demands the execution of a pre-formulated cease-and-desist declaration, payment of damages, and reimbursement of legal costs – usually […]
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