IP | IT | Law

Access control via facial scanning, age classification in e-commerce, voice recognition in customer service, or emotion analysis in video calls – there are many applications for biometric systems in business practice. Artificial intelligence (AI) makes many of these systems better, faster, and more effective. But the use of AI with biometric data not only raises concerns among data protectionists – against the backdrop of the AI Regulation (AI-VO), many companies are asking themselves: Which biometric applications are prohibited under the AI-VO, which are considered high-risk, and when do "only" transparency obligations apply?

Today is an important day for the internet infrastructure: The internet administration ICANN published the long-awaited final Applicant Guidebook on 16 December 2025. This officially sets out the framework conditions for the upcoming round of applications for dedicated top-level domains. This opens up a window of opportunity for companies and institutions that only presents itself every ten to fifteen years: From April to August 2026, they can apply to ICANN for their own top-level domain (TLD) - and thus rely on their own brand (e.g. .firma) instead of endings such as .com or .de in future. While the last application round in 2014 often focussed on marketing aspects, the 2026 round is about more: it is about IT security and digital independence.

Specifically, the question was whether a consumer association authorised to bring an action can also take personal action against a GmbH managing director as part of a class action for consumer claims. The judgement creates new legal certainty for managing directors and clearly delineates the status of an entrepreneur within the meaning of the VDuG.

The "Green Deal" - personally proclaimed by Mrs von der Leyen in 2019 - promised great things: climate neutrality by 2050, emissions trading and billions in financial aid. The "Empowering Consumers" Directive (EmpCo, 2024/825) is another milestone in the fight against climate change. At least that's how the Commission wants it to be understood. In addition to a ban on misleading green claims, the directive regulates comprehensive new information obligations for retailers. These are to be transposed into national law by March 2026 and apply from the end of September 2026. Specifically, the aim is to inform consumers about statutory warranty rights and voluntary manufacturer guarantees.

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has ruled that the name of the well-known James Bond film character "Miss Moneypenny" does not enjoy work title protection (judgement of 4 December 2025 - I ZR 219/24). This means that third parties may use the name "Moneypenny" for their own services without infringing rights under the work title protection.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has cancelled several AfD word and figurative marks - including the party logo and the abbreviation "AfD". The reason for this is the lack of serious use of the trade marks over a period of five years. This means that the party will lose trade mark protection at EU level for all registered goods and services if the decision becomes legally binding. The proceedings show: Anyone who does not demonstrably use trade marks in the course of trade risks their complete revocation.

A vegan liqueur that "tastes like egg liqueur" may be advertised as an "egg-free liqueur" - as long as the consumer is made aware that it is not an "egg liqueur" as defined by the EU spirits categories. This was decided by the Regional Court of Kiel in a judgement dated 28 October 2025 (case no. 15 O 28/24).

Digitalisation and, in particular, the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) pose new challenges for copyright law. On 11 November 2025, the 42nd Civil Chamber of the Regional Court of Munich I, which specialises in copyright law, issued a landmark ruling in the case "GEMA v. OpenAI". It thus strengthens the position of authors vis-à-vis AI providers and obliges OpenAI to cease and desist and potentially pay damages for the use of copyrighted song lyrics in the training and operation of its language models. The judgement is not legally binding, but has a signal effect for the entire industry