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According to reports published on 11 June 2017, the German Federal Constitutional Court has requested the Federal President of Germany to refrain from signing the law that is necessary to ratify the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC). The president has agreed to comply with this request. The president’s signing is the last step required for a law to come into force after it has already passed both legislative chambers in Germany.
Continue Reading UPC: German Ratification Postponed Due to a Request by the German Federal Constitutional Court

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

Mit Urteil vom 25. Februar 2015 entschied das LG Düsseldorf (12 O374/14), dass der Inhaber eines Anspruchs aus §§ 17, 18 UWG, der den Verletzer mittels einer einstweiligen Verfügung ohne vorherige Abmahnung in Anspruch nimmt, seinen Kostenerstattungsanspruch nicht verliert, wenn die vorherige Abmahnung unterblieben ist, um den Erfolg einer Strafanzeige gegen den Verletzer nicht zu gefährden.
Continue Reading Kostenerstattungsanspruch trotz unterbliebener Abmahnung

On 5 November 2015, the German Federal Court of Justice ruled that a copyright holder’s right to distribute its work to the public (Section 17 para. 1 of the German Copyright Act) includes the right to offer the original, or a copy, of a protected work to the public for sale. Thus, any unauthorized advertisement of the original or a copy of that work constitutes copyright infringement.
Continue Reading Copyright Holder’s Exclusive Right to Distribute Work Includes Right to Advertise the Original or any Copy of that Work