Today's judgments & News - Kazemi & Partner

06

Jun 2018

GDPR: ICCAN loses data-gathering court battle - Read the full decision of the Regional Court of Bonn

As the first German Court, the Regional Court of Bonn (LG Bonn) had to deal with the new data protection law on the day the GDPR entered into force.

01

Apr 2016

About us...

"What cannot exist together had better separate."

That is how Friedrich von Schiller put it in his drama "The Maid of Orleans" back in 1801. This statement still applies more than 200 years later.

With effect from April 1st 2016, Michael Lennartz, my firm partner up until now, will exit our partnership. Together with my wife, Juliane Kazemi, I will continue to run the firm under the name "Kazemi & Partner Rechtsanwälte" in our new offices on Kennedyallee 2, in 53175 Bonn. Our previous contact details remain unchanged.

01

Apr 2016

When am I liable for the content of external and linked websites?

The notice "any and all liability which might arise from the use of, or reliance on the accuracy of, links is excluded" has now come to be regarded – in its various forms – as standard. But website operators are using it to offload the responsibility for hyperlinks to external web presences. Using this notice is no guarantee of getting off the hook, though, as was once again clearly highlighted by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in the course of a recent judgement (BGH, judgement of 18.06.2015, I ZR 74/14).

01

Apr 2016

The framing of external web content is not typically regarded as an act of use subject to approval.

The embedding of a work that is freely accessible to all internet users with the consent of the copyright holder in one’s own web page by way of so-called "framing" generally does not constitute any public reproduction in the sense of Section 15 Para. 2 and 3 of the Copyright Act (UrhG). This reflects the ruling of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) under 09.07.2015 (I ZR 46/12 – Die Realität II).

01

Apr 2016

Düsseldorf Regional Court: Incorporation of a "like" button without active indication thereof anti-competitive

Integrating a so-called Facebook "Like" button – especially given the recent heavy criticism of the former Schleswig-Holstein state data protection commissioner – is not exactly straightforward. Up until that point legal practice in this area had been very liberal and did not consider website operators to have a responsibility with regard to the "secret" communication of the button with Facebook. Now a new ruling by the District Court of Düsseldorf has caused further uncertainty (LG Düsseldorf, Judgement of 9th March 2016, Ref. 12 O 151/15).

01

Apr 2016

European Advocate General for improved customer orientation – public WiFi hotspots and customer hotspots should not be held liable for legal violations committed using their connection

In the opinion of the European Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, store, bar and hotel operators which provide WiFi networks to the public free of charge are not responsible for copyright violations on the part of users. This clear stance on the part of the Advocate General is finally providing clarity on what been, up until now, at best a grey area. For example, German case law in any case always assumed so-called liability for interference on the part of the WiFi operator, which could lead to the operator being issued a warning and being obliged to cease and desist.

01

Apr 2016

ECJ: Coca-Cola bottle not patentable as a three-dimensional trademark

In its judgement of February 24th 2016 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) also confirmed the limited patentability of the trademark registration of the Coca Cola Company for a bottle design (Judgement in case T-411/14, The Coca-Cola Company / HABM).

05

Jan 2016

Negotiations are finished! EU General Data Protection Regulation is coming! Prepare yourself now!

After four years of intense wrangling for a uniform level of data protection in Europe, binding for each Member State, the chief negotiators of the European Parliament, the EU Commission, and the Council of Ministers came to an agreement on 12/15/2015 on the exact wording of the EU General Data Protection Regulation.

05

Jan 2016

Available for preorder: "The General Data Protection Regulation in Legal Consultation Practice"

Kazemi_Datenschutzgrundverordnung

After four years of intense wrangling for a uniform level of data protection in Europe, binding for each Member State, the chief negotiators of the European Parliament, the EU Commission, and the Council of Ministers came to an agreement on on the exact wording of the EU General Data Protection Regulation.

30

Oct 2013

German trademark law: Right to information to identify the infringing party towards a bank

In the case of the infringement of a trademark, the right to information to identify the infringing party causes fewer problems; in particular, such a comprehensive conflict with data protection law or the guaranteed banking confidentiality. A current ruling of the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) deals with the question if the German Trademark Act (MarkenG, § 19) grants a right to information to identify the infringing party towards a bank.