Wed, Oct. 10, 2001

Employee Infringment of Employer Domain Rights

JG - Washington.   After his dismissal in 2001, former Opel AG employee, Jörg Zellmann, filed suit against the company. Olaf Herrmann examines the case and explains that Zellmann had harmed Opel by creating the website "Opelaner.de". Opel claimed infringment of trademark rights and insisted on deleting the site. The Bochum labor court pointed to § 14 of the Trademark Act which guarantees the exclusive right in the domain to the owner of a mark.



Mon, Apr. 16, 2001

Protecting Online Consumer Privacy

JG - Washington.   In his analysis, Tim Wittwer provides an overview of rules to protect consumer privacy in online databases. He illustrates the issue in the context of an injunction by a German district court against a discount service operator. The court enjoined the use of a certain contract terms which violate the German Data Protection Statute. A non-profit consumer rights group had argued that defendant Payback's contract terms for the use of consumer data in its online databases were incompatible with privacy obligations.


Fri, Mar. 16, 2001

Contingency Fees In Germany

JG - Washington.   After a 1994 amendment of rules governing contingency fees and outlawing such fees, certain fee arrangements of this sort may remain legal in some cases. Cornelia Emmert analyzes the pros and cons of contingency fees in international cases for international clients. She provides examples where German law may be abrogated in favor of a more lenient foreign law and determines that valid choices of law are possible in some cases. Occasionally, the choice would conflict with neither German choice of law rules nor § 49b BRAO.


Wed, Jan. 17, 2001

Temporary Unavailability of Internet Banking Services

JG - Washington.   In December 2000, the German Supreme Court decided whether a bank could be liable for the non-availability of internet banking services after a consumer protection group in Berlin had sued Postbank. The bank had attempted to limit its liability by a clause in the general terms of its consumer contracts. In her review, Susanne Wagner investigates the remedies available to consumers for the non-availability of online services.



Mon, Jan. 01, 2001

Notes on German Civil Law and Procedure 2001

Domain Name Like Employer's Corporate Name Triggers Dismissal (Olaf Herrmann, October 20, 2001)

German Privacy Law on Web Site Data (Tim Wittwer, April 16, 2001)

Contingency Fees in Germany (Cornelia Emmert, March 16, 2001)

Lien, Garnishment of Domain Name in German Courts (Clemens Kochinke, February 20, 2001)

Liability for Unavailability of German Online Bank (Susanne Wagner, January 11, 2001)


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