The Legal 500

Law & Practice (2013) 8: 136-145

In intellectual property matters, the preliminary injunction proceeding can be a very effective means for obtaining quick solutions for conflicts in Germany. However, whether or not to apply for a preliminary injunction before the civil courts has to be evaluated carefully, because some of the requirements are rather strict and can lead to a full loss of the case, including costs for the court and opponents‘ counsel, whereas other requirements are not as strict as in regular court proceedings and provide for a rather effective means to pursue and quickly resolve intellectual property matters, especially compared to other European countries.  

Getting the Deal Through has published its fully revised and updated tenth edition of Dispute Resolution, a volume in the series of annual reports, which provide international analysis in key areas of law and policy for corporate counsel, cross-border legal practitioners and business people. Following the format adopted throughout the series, the same key questions are answered by leading practitioners in each of the 47 jurisdictions featured.

GTDT's German Chapter was authored by GSK attorney Dr. Karl von Hase. In his article he gives an overview of civil and commercial litigation in Germany, arbitration agreements and alternative dispute resolution (ADR).

Getting the Deal Through has published the fully revised and updated fifth edition of Banking Regulation, a volume in the series of annual reports, which provide international analysis in key areas of law and policy for corporate counsel, cross-border legal practitioners and business people.

GSK Stockmann + Kollegen has contributed for the fourth time the article on the German jurisdiction. This year GTDT’s German Chapter was authored by Dr. Oliver Glück, Robert Kramer, Daniela Eschenlohr, Sebastian Wintzer and Timo Patrick Bernau.

Potential risks for companies and ways to minimize them

Supplementary Protection Certificates with regard to second marketing authorization of medical compounds (decision of July 19, 2012 – Case C-130/11 –Neurim Pharmaceuticals vs. Comptroller General of Patents)

On June 13, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) published the names of those who have applied for a new top level domain the ending of which may be geographic, such as "munich", industry identification such as "insurance" and even all trademark names and company descriptions such as "canon" and "adidas".

ECJ, decision of February 16th, 2012, ref. C-360/10 – SABAM

For the second time within a short period of time, the non-governmental organisations right to challenge administrative decisions under German law is going to be subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In January 2012, the German Supreme Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht) referred a case to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling concerning the NGO’s right of action.

The fundamental advice for international business transactions is obvious and easy to understand: different countries have different laws, business habits and cultures. These differences may range from minor nuances, such as lengthy French business lunches or unusual Spanish office hours, to significant legal roadblocks, such as strict European employment laws.

Letters of comfort under company law

Shareholders' responsibility to finance a company Binding versus non-binding letters of comfort Binding letter of comfort versus profit and loss transfer agreement Termination of binding letter of comfort Comment