Hogan Lovells (LexBlog Germany)

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Karl Pörnbacher, head of the Hogan Lovells International Arbitration team in Germany, delivered the keynote speech at Vienna Arbitration Days 2021, which was held remotely on 12 February and focused on innovation and constants within construction arbitration. Read on to discover the key takeaways from Karl’s speech. Constants of construction arbitrations include, notably, their complexity...

The German government is planning to introduce a national Supply Chain Act. A corresponding draft bill was approved by the cabinet on 3 March and is expected to be passed before the end of this legislative period. That timeline could mean that the act could come into force on 1 January 2023. Which companies would be affected?...

Your guide to the latest Hill developments, news narratives, and media headlines provided by the Hogan Lovells Government Relations and Public Affairs team. In Washington: The Trump administration continues to pressure local officials to open its schools for children to return to class, as the Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos threatened to cut federal funding...

For M&A transactions in Germany and beyond, Foreign Investment Control screenings have become an indispensable standard element to assess when structuring deals and planning for regulatory review. Similarly to merger control, acquirers and sellers need to consider the impact of the increasing number of jurisdictions that might want to review their proposed transaction. In the...

On 15 May 2020, the German Federal Council approved a new regulation by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The regulation provides for a ban of sweetened baby and infant tea and new information obligations for such products. Ban on sugar According to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture it is necessary to...

Please join us on Thursday, March 19 for a one-hour webinar discussion during which Partners from Hogan Lovells' Employment and Privacy and Cybersecurity practices will be making some global observations on employment issues our clients are facing and highlighting the specific impact coronavirus is having for employers, including with respect to data privacy.

For M&A transactions in Germany and beyond, Foreign Investment Control screenings have become an indispensable standard element to assess when structuring deals and planning for regulatory review. Similarly to merger control, acquirers and sellers need to consider the impact of the increasing number of jurisdictions that might want to review their proposed transaction. In the...

Introduction In November 2019, the parliament passed a new law which will provide reimbursement for digital healthcare provision for the around 70 million publicly insured patients in Germany (Digital Health Service Act/Digitale-Versorgung-Gesetz – DVG). As reported in our Newsflash on 15 November 2019, reimbursement coverage will be granted for digital health solutions that are medical...

In the last few months, there have been interesting developments concerning the use of cookies. Upon investigating 175 websites, the Dutch DPA concluded that half of those websites did not comply with cookie requirements. The Bavarian DPA initiated a similar investigation and the Spanish DPA has issued two fines for not complying with cookie requirements. In addition to these investigations and...

The third amendment to the German State Treaty on Gaming (GlüStV) will come into force on 1 January 2020. Private operators of online sports betting platforms will now be given the opportunity to apply for a licence for the operating of online sports betting in Germany.

Germany has notoriously broad voidability laws. As a rule of thumb, any payment by a third party has high voidability risks if the third party has no obligation to make the payment under the contract. Such payments qualify as incongruent (3 months hardening period, very few further requirements) and often qualify as gratuitous (4 years...

Outline On 7 November 2019, the German parliament passed a new law enhancing digital healthcare provision for patients (Digital Health Service Act/Digitale-Versorgung-Gesetz – DVG). The focus of the new law is to entitle patients in statutory health insurance to reimbursement of digital health solutions by including respective provisions in the Social Security Code V (Sozialgesetzbuch...

Germany is about to implement an ambitious new “digital antitrust law” (“GWB-Digitalisierungsgesetz”) to effectively regulate online markets. The draft Ministerial bill on the 10th amendment of the German Act Against Restraints of Competition (“GWB”), published at the beginning of October, aims at continuing Germany’s role as a pioneer in antitrust regulation of digital markets. Regulation...

Join us in June as we discuss the GDPR as it relates to colleges and universities; the CCPA, cybersecurity and data breaches, and industry-specific issues; as well as cyberthreats to the Internet of Things.

In the case “Tork”, for which the judgement was released earlier this year, the Federal Supreme Court (FSC) had to decide to what extent “aiding and abetting trademark infringement” is constituted if paper towels are advertised as being suitable for a particular dispenser. Background The plaintiff sells hygiene products worldwide, including a trademark-protected paper towel...

In its case “beauty for less”, for which the judgement was released earlier this year, the Federal Supreme Court (FSC) ruled that a trademark owner cannot oppose resale advertising with the argument that the advertising is unusual in the industry sector. Background The plaintiff is a licensee of several European Union trademarks claiming protection for...

Higher Regional Court Frankfurt am Main “Exzenterzähne II” (“Eccentric Teeth II”) The Higher Regional Court Frankfurt am Main ruled that the unique selling point (USP) or “individual character” of a product that serves as an indication of origin may lose that function if the manufacturer of the original product has previously allowed a competitor to...

“Der Grüne Punkt” is a concept that presumably everyone in Germany is familiar with; recently, the financing symbol for participation in the dual collection and recovery systems was the subject matter of proceedings before the General Court (GC). The General Court’s main task was to examine the question of whether proven use of the trademark...

Hogan Lovells’ U.S. + German Patent Update reports on recent patent news and cases from Germany and the United States. The most recent update is available in English here. This update covers the following developments across the U.S. and Germany: United States PTAB Has Discretion to Join Parties and New Issues in “Limited Circumstances” –...

Hogan Lovells’ U.S. + German Patent Update reports on recent patent news and cases from Germany and the United States. The most recent update is available in English here. This update covers the following developments across the U.S. and Germany: United States PTAB Has Discretion to Join Parties and New Issues in “Limited Circumstances” –...

Hogan Lovells global IPMT practice has been awarded the accolade of ‘Global IP Firm of the Year’ at the Managing Intellectual Property North America awards – becoming the first firm to win the award in consecutive years and the only firm to win it three times. The award recognizes the strength of our global practice...

Hogan Lovells global IPMT practice has been awarded the accolade of ‘Global IP Firm of the Year’ at the Managing Intellectual Property North America awards – becoming the first firm to win the award in consecutive years and the only firm to win it three times. The award recognizes the strength of our global practice...

Vegan and vegetarian food is becoming more and more popular. However, as a lot of vegans and vegetarians are not willing to give up the taste of meat, the demand for meat substitutes increases.

Vegan and vegetarian food is becoming more and more popular. However, as a lot of vegans and vegetarians are not willing to give up the taste of meat the demand for meat substitutes increases. Whether “vegan salami” or “vegetarian meatballs”, the fundamental question regarding the designation of those substitutes remains unclear so far: Is the current practice...

Although the opening ceremony of the next Olympic Games in Tokyo is still more than a year away, recent decisions of the German courts are already preparing the stage for commercial and advertising activities evolving around them. The courts are defining to which extent non-official advertising partners may use the Olympic designations “Olympiade”, (“Olympics”) “Olympia”...

Claims like “the original” or “the real”, suggesting a certain stance of a product are classics of advertising speech. In a recently published decision in case 13 U 77/18, the Higher Regional Court of Celle (“the Court”) required a factual basis for such a claim – in this case “Das Original” (“the original”) – in...

Many companies have been struggling with GDPR implementation over the past two years, putting much effort into new roles, privacy concepts, and workflows. Now that the dust of the immediate GDPR compliance rush is settling, the first details of fines imposed under the GDPR and the number of cases pending with Data Protection Authorities (DPAs)...

Many companies have been struggling with GDPR implementation over the past two years, putting much effort into new roles, privacy concepts, and workflows. Now that the dust of the immediate GDPR compliance rush is settling, the first details of fines imposed under the GDPR and the number of cases pending with Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) in Europe are being made public. In Germany, DPAs are

At the end of 2018, the Stuttgart Court of Appeals [Oberlandesgericht] clarified that, pursuant to Regulation (EU) No. 1007/2011 on textile fibre names and related labelling and marking of the fibre composition of textile products (hereinafter: the Textile Regulation), in Germany the components of a textile product must be indicated in German. The use of English terms...