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

The Distance Learning Protection Act (FernUSG) dates back to 1977 - and was originally intended to regulate distance learning courses where communication was conducted in analogue form by post. Today, the law is still highly relevant for providers of digital training or coaching. In two recent decisions (BGH of 12 June 2025 - III ZR 109/24 and BGH of 2 October 2025 - III ZR 173/24), the Federal Court of Justice confirmed a broad interpretation of the scope of application of the FernUSG. The FerUSG already applies if providers use keywords such as "graduate" or "course" in the course description. Furthermore, entrepreneur contracts are also covered in principle.

In its judgement of 23 October 2020, the Federal Labour Court ruled that a female employee can also use the salary of a male top earner as a comparison in an equal pay claim and that the median salary is not decisive. The Federal Labour Court has thus noticeably strengthened legal protection in equal pay claims.

The dispute over the labelling of alcohol-free or vegan alternative products is in full swing. According to Art. 9 Para. 1 a) in conjunction with Art. 17 FIR (EU) No. 1169/2011, foods may only be freely labelled if there is no legally prescribed designation for the specific food. This is already the case for spirits or jams, for example. In future, corresponding restrictions could also apply to meat substitutes.

Berlin Regional Court clarifies that the imitation of a celebrity voice generated by artificial intelligence can also infringe personal rights. In the case of German voice actor Manfred Lehmann, the use of his AI-generated voice on YouTube was deemed unlawful and the defendant was ordered to cease and desist and the plaintiff was awarded a licence fee in accordance with the principles of unjust enrichment law.

At this year's IBA (International Bar Association) conference in Milan, I gave a presentation on "Conflicts of Jurisdiction in Cross-Border Disputes: Recent Developments". The focus was on the question of how effectively victims of digital personality rights violations in Germany can assert their claims against international platforms - and where the current legal and practical limits lie.