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JD Supra Germany

Publisher:
JD Supra
Publication date:
2019-04-29

Publisher

Law Firm

Latest documents

  • Growth and Hurdle Shares in German Start ups – Structures / Practical Implementation / Empirical Data

    In German start-ups, Growth Shares are particularly intriguing for motivating key employees and late co-founders. This is especially true when the company has already reached a substantive equity value, making further stakes in the company hardly affordable or burdened with hefty taxes. While for "standard" shares, the latest amendments of sec.19a German Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz – "EStG") now allow to defer the wage tax on the non-cash benefit, a better tax treatment can often be achieved with Growth Shares.

  • Growth und Hurdle Shares in deutschen Start-ups – Strukturen / Praktische Umsetzung / Empirische Daten

    Mit unseren auf Technologietransaktionen spezialisierten Teams in allen wichtigen globalen Märkten begleiten wir zahlreiche deutsche Technologieunternehmen auf ihrem Wachstumspfad. Als eine der führenden Tech-Kanzleien weltweit ist es unser Ziel, gerade die Gründerszenen in den USA und Deutschland noch stärker zu vernetzen.

  • Establishing a Business Entity in Germany (Updated)

    Anyone can establish a business in Germany - irrespective of citizenship, nationality, or place of residence. There is no specific investment legislation for foreign entrepreneurs. Any entrepreneur can make his choice from an exclusive group of different types of legal entities to establish a new company in Germany.

  • Works Constitution in Germany – An Overview 2025

    The concept of works council participation has a long tradition in Germany, dating back to the Weimar Republic following World War I. Information and consultation rights for employee representatives were introduced by the Works Councils Act 1920 (Betriebsrätegesetz). After World War II, the German government built on this tradition by passing the Works Constitution Act 1952 (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz 1952 – BetrVG 1952), which also granted extensive information and consultation rights to works councils. The rights of works councils have since been significantly strengthened by the Works Constitution Act 1972 (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz 1972 – BetrVG), which governs cooperation between employers and works councils. Unlike previous legislation, it gives works councils not only information and consultation rights, but also co-determination rights.

  • Regulatory monitoring - January 2025

    1. Bank regulation - 1.1 PRUDENTIAL REGULATION - a) General - (i) Germany - BaFin: Report on risks in focus 2025 (Report über Risiken im Fokus 2025) Status: Final - BaFin has published its annual report on the risks it will focus on throughout the year in English and German. It sets out the main risks that BaFin has identified for the financial stability or integrity of the financial markets in Germany and that it will pay particularly close attention to in 2025. In particular, BaFin sets out that natural disasters which are made more likely by climate change, international tensions and the weak domestic economy could create new risks for the German financial system or exacerbate existing risks. It therefore urges companies in the German financial sector to ensure that their risk management incorporates more comprehensive information on the consequences of climate change in order to diminish the impact of extreme weather or natural disasters in the form of major fires, droughts or floods on banks’ loan portfolios and insurers’ loss amounts in future.

  • German Labour Law – An Overview 2025

    Individual labour law centres on the relationship between a person at work and their employer, as governed by the employment contract between them. Both employee and employer are affected by these rights and duties. A number of different laws ensure certain minimum rights, e.g. the Law on Minimum Wages (Mindestlohngesetz) which obliges employers to pay a statutory minimum wage of EUR 12.82 gross per hour to employees working in Germany as of 1 January 2025. German individual labour law is entirely employee protective law, i.e. its standards can generally not be waived to the detriment of the employee, whereas contractual regulations favouring the employee compared to the statutory minimum are permissible.

  • Redundancy under German Labour Law – An Overview 2025

    This memorandum provides an overview of the general labour law situation and the potential pitfalls with respect to substantial redundancies. It is not a substitute for a thorough legal evaluation of an intended restructuring in a particular case. Special requirements which may arise from applicable collective bargaining agreements or existing works council agreements cannot be taken into account. Regarding the preconditions and legal consequences of the employer's decision to reduce personnel, a distinction must be made between collective labour law (employer-works council relationship – cf. no. 1) and individual labour law (employer-employee relationship – cf. no. 2).

  • The Rising Threat of German Patent Litigation: Are You Ready?

    The threat of German patent litigation is rising. Germany is second only to the United States in the number of patent infringement actions brought by non-practicing entities (NPEs), and with the ready availability of injunctive relief in Germany and the recent advent of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) creating “competition” among European courts for cases, the danger of German patent lawsuits cannot be ignored. Indeed, in many instances, these German actions are one front in a multi-jurisdictional “patent war,” with parallel proceedings in other European countries, the United States, China, and elsewhere. The German proceedings in such a patent war can have an outsized role because of the greater threat of an injunction in Germany, and the litigation procedures that generally afford fewer protections for defendants. If a defendant is not careful in developing a comprehensive defensive strategy in Germany, it could soon face an order excluding its products from the German market that could effectively dictate the outcome of the war before most battles have even been fought. Originally published in Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal - January 2025.

  • Analysis of the CJEU Judgment Which Paves the Way for Competitor Civil Actions Regarding GDPR Violations

    Entscheidung. Man darf sich fragen, warum Kündigungsbeschränkungen gerade im HV-Recht eine vergleichsweise hohe Bedeutung haben, obwohl eigentlich für andere Verträge nichts Abweichendes gelten dürfte. Auch das außerordentliche Kündigungsrecht nach § 314 BGB ist zwingend. Aber das HV-Recht ist im besonderen Maße von Schutzgedanken zu Gunsten des HV geprägt, wie die in Teil II dieses Beitrages (Heft 45) besprochene Entscheidung des EuGH vom 23.3.2023 – C-574/21129 zeigt. Zu berücksichtigen ist, dass Vorschusszahlungen, gerade wenn das Geschäft aufgebaut wird, nur vorteilhaft sind. Selbst § 87a Abs. 1 HGB sieht Vorschüsse – sogar zwingend – vor. Allerdings betreffen sie oft nur kurze Zeiträume und hohe Diskrepanzen zwischen diesem Vorschuss und der tatsächlich verdienten Provision treten nicht auf, weil sich der gesetzliche Vorschussanspruch an der Höhe der zu erwartenden Provision orientiert. Der BGH nennt als „Verdachtsmoment“ ausdrücklich die Längerfristigkeit der Vorschusszahlungen. Rückzahlungsklauseln schließen zudem oft den Fall der fristlosen Kündigung durch den HV aus, jedenfalls sofern sie auf einem schuldhaften Verhalten des Unternehmers beruht. Bei gänzlichem Ausschluss der Rückzahlungspflicht nach einer außerordentlichen Kündigung des HV wäre § 89a HGB nicht berührt. Letztlich wird auch der aufgelaufene Betrag den BGH zum Urteil geleitet haben. Wenn nun Unternehmer daraus die Folge herleiten, den Vertrag eher zu kündigen, wäre das vor dem Hintergrund des Schutzgedankens kontraproduktiv. Originally Published in Betriebs-Berater.

  • OLNS#12 – Advisory Boards in German Start-ups

    In substantially all of the major world markets, we have dedicated technology lawyers who support young German technology companies on their growth trajectory through all stages. As one of the top tech law firms in the world, we are particularly committed to bringing the American and German entrepreneurship ecosystems closer together.

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