Kategorie: Politics Law Society

LG Berlin: Reference must be made to GmbH”s legal form A company”s legal form as a GmbH is a key piece of information for consumers. Withholding information from advertisements about its legal form constitutes an antitrust violation according to a ruling of the LG Berlin. Information that is crucial to consumers” decision to purchase must not be withheld from them. This may include the company”s legal form. We at MTR Rechtsanwälte can report that according to a ruling of the LG Berlin, withholding this information from advertisements may amount to…

Illegal price rigging – Bundeskartellamt imposes fines totaling 154.6 million euros Germany”s Federal Cartel Office, the Bundeskartellamt, has imposed fines totaling around 154.6 million euros on seven pesticide wholesalers for entering into illegal, anticompetitive price-fixing arrangements. According to information provided by the Bundeskartellamt, the pesticide wholesalers coordinated their price lists from 1998 to 2015. We at the commercial law firm MTR Rechtsanwälte https://www.mtrlegal.com/en.html can report that in doing so they stymied fair competition and violated competition law, more specifically antitrust law. On January 13, 2020, the Bundeskartellamt announced that the…

Antitrust & Competition Law: Medical practice that does not admit inpatients is not a Klinik A medical practice that does not provide overnight accommodation for patients is not a Klinik and is not allowed to style itself as such. That was the verdict of the Landgericht (LG) Hamburg in a ruling from November 15, 2019 (Az. 315 O 472/18). The courts in Germany have had to wrestle with the German term “Klinik” (clinic/hospital/medical center) on many occasions. However, the BGH has since clarified in a ruling from October 17, 2018…

BGH – Use of protected seal of approval only allowed in connection with licensing agreement The use of seals of approval that are protected trademarks is not permitted without corresponding licensing agreements. That was the verdict of Germany”s Federal Supreme Court, the Bundesgerichtshof (BGH), on December 12, 2019 (Az.: I ZR 173/16, I ZR 174/16, and I ZR 117/17). Seals of approval can engender confidence among consumers in the quality of products. We at the commercial law firm MTR Rechtsanwälte https://www.mtrlegal.com/en.html note that third parties are not allowed to take…

Profits from trading cryptocurrency subject to tax Profits from the sale of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are subject to tax. That was the verdict of the Finanzgericht Berlin-Brandenburg in a ruling from June 20, 2019 (Az.: 13 V 13100/19). Many investors have invested in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. If cryptocurrency is sold again within a year and a profit is made in the process, we at the commercial law firm MTR Rechtsanwälte https://www.mtrlegal.com/en.html note that this is subject to income tax. Tax liability was confirmed by the Finanzgericht Berlin-Brandenburg in…

Carmakers given antitrust fine – Anticompetitive arrangements relating to steel procurement Germany”s Federal Cartel Office, the Bundeskartellamt, has imposed fines totaling approx. 100 million euros on three car manufacturers for anticompetitive practices in relation to the procurement of long steel. The Bundeskartellamt has asked three car manufacturers to pay up to the tune of around 100 million euros due to anticompetitive arrangements. We at the commercial law firm MTR Rechtsanwälte https://www.mtrlegal.com/en.html can report that these were not your traditional price-fixing agreements, but rather arrangements that eliminated competition for certain price…

ECJ – No trade in secondhand e-books without consent of the author Reselling secondhand e-books without the consent of the author is not allowed. That was the verdict of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in a judgment from December 19, 2019 (Az.: C-263/18). The ruling by the ECJ significantly strengthens the position of copyright holders. Unlike in the case of a printed book, the condition of a digital copy does not deteriorate with use. We at the commercial law firm MTR Rechtsanwälte https://www.mtrlegal.com/en.html can therefore report that, according to…

Antitrust violation – Fines for steel producers Germany”s Bundeskartellamt has fined three steel producers and three people in positions of responsibility to the tune of some 646 million euros for illegal price rigging https://www.mtrlegal.com/en/. Price rigging hampers competition and is contrary to antitrust law, which is why the Bundeskartellamt has imposed fines totaling around 646 million euros on three steel producers and people in positions of responsibility. It announced on December 12, 2019 that the businesses in question had been coordinating price supplements and surcharges for quarto plates between 2002…

GDPR violation – Telecom provider facing severe penalty Inadequate data protection measures can prove costly. Following a recent case involving a real estate business, a telecom provider is the latest business facing a heavy fine. The GDPR came into force in May 2018. While fears of a wave of warning notices were never realized, the authorities are cracking down on violations of the GDPR. We at MTR Rechtsanwälte can report that fines running into millions of euros were recently imposed on two businesses for their lax handling of data protection.…