Competition Law

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On 12 January 2017, the German Federal Court of Justice has handed down its second landmark decision on cheat software within three months. After clarifying the question under which conditions cheat software may constitute copyright infringement in October last year, the Federal Court of Justice has now decided that cheat software can constitute an act of unfair competition, too.

To be able to play online games, e.g. World of Warcraft (WoW) or Diablo III , it is necessary to download a client software and install it on the computer. Achieving progress within the game regularly takes several hours. To save time and to easily achieve the goals of the game some companies develop software, so-called cheat- or buddy-bots, allowing the player to overcome the challenges of the game automatically. Online game developers are not pleased by this fact, which is why they try to prevent the distribution of such cheat bots up front.
Continue Reading German Federal Court of Justice Shows the Red Card to Cheat Software for Online Role-Playing Games

On 15 November 2016, the US Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or the “Commission”) issued an “Enforcement Policy Statement” (“Policy Statement”) to provide guidance about its enforcement policy on marketing claims for over-the-counter (“OTC”) homeopathic remedies. The FTC concluded that marketing claims that OTC homeopathic products have a therapeutic effect (beyond placebo) lack a scientific basis. Consumers were therefore likely to be deceived by labels that do not disclose the lack of “adequately substantiated evidence” that ‎those products have the claimed treatment effects.
Continue Reading US Federal Trade Commission Wants Marketers of Homeopathic Remedies to Disclose Lack of Scientific Evidence

On 26 November 2015, the Regional Court of Düsseldorf (14c O 124/15) ruled that a condom manufacturer’s claim that its condoms correspond to up to three orgasms each was deceptive and could tempt people to use the condoms several times. The company, Einhorn, a Berlin-based company that produces fair trade and vegan-friendly condoms, declared on its packaging that the seven condoms contained therein were good for up to 21 orgasms (1 Tüte á 7 Stück entspricht bis zu 21 Orgasmen). Fair Squared, one of Einhorn’s competitors, was not amused and obtained an injunction from the Regional Court of Düsseldorf barring Einhorn from advertising with that slogan. Einhorn in turn asked the Regional Court to overturn the injunction it had granted on the grounds that the slogan was (supposedly) misleading.
Continue Reading German Condom Manufacturer Runs Into Legal Trouble Over its Multiple Orgasm Packaging