The federal states are on the way to regulating the monitoring of compliance with the BFSG by a standardised market surveillance authority. The current status and consequences are documented here.

In a judgement dated 14 March 2025 - 7 HK O 50/23, which was obtained by HÄRTING Rechtsanwälte, the Regional Court of Trier ruled that a cease-and-desist declaration obtained by the IDO Interessenverband für das Rechts- und Finanzconsulting deutscher Online-Unternehmen e.V. (IDO) could be effectively terminated due to abuse of rights. Exceptionally, this cancellation also had retroactive effect on a contractual penalty that had already been claimed but not yet paid. The court found that the IDO may not demand contractual penalties because it lacks the authority to issue warnings as long as it is not entered in the list of trade associations of the Federal Office of Justice.

When does a customer review become advertising that must be attributed to the provider of a product? German courts have been dealing with this question for quite some time. The Bochum Regional Court (judgement of 21 November 2024 - 14 O 65/24) now had to decide in the case of a coffee roasting company, thereby supplementing the prevailing case law.

With its decision today, the Federal Court of Justice has confirmed Apple's cross-market significance for competition. The group, which is the most valuable company in the world with a market value of over 3 trillion US dollars, is now subject to increased supervision by the Federal Cartel Office.

The rental costs for the additionally booked router must be listed in the contract summary for Internet and landline tariff contracts. This was decided by the Higher Regional Court of Cologne in its judgement of 10.01.2025 - 6 U 68/24.

A growing number of companies are using AI chatbots to provide customers with quick and uncomplicated support with product questions. This raises the question of how such a system can be operated in compliance with data protection regulations and what requirements arise from the AI Regulation (KI-VO). A typical application scenario is an AI-enhanced FAQ chatbot, for example, which is obtained from appropriately specialised software providers to answer frequently asked questions on a website automatically and, improved by AI, in an increasingly targeted manner.

One less annoying bureaucratic detail: The EU Commission has decided to discontinue the online dispute resolution platform (ODR platform) for consumer disputes on 31 December 2024.

In the second instance, the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg has confirmed that the offer of an ad blocker does not infringe the copyrights of website operators. The subject of the lawsuit was the "AdBlock Plus" offer by the manufacturer Eyeo, in which Axel Springer SE saw an infringement of its copyrights on several websites.

The European Union (EU) has recently adopted regulations in the digital field and is actively working on new ones. From the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) to the AI Act, freshly passed by the Parliament, important changes in the EU area are on the horizon.

As a result of the Annual Tax Act 2022 (JStG), the Value Added Tax Act has changed as of 01.01.2023, in particular with regard to solar modules for photovoltaic systems including their essential components and storage systems. The so-called zero tax rate was introduced.

In its judgement, the Higher Regional Court of Schleswig ruled that the operator of an online shop must ensure that a clickable link to the so-called ODR platform, the internet platform for online dispute resolution, is set up and that its functionality is monitored. The court considered a one-month monitoring cycle to be sufficient. If the functionality is not checked at least once a month, there is a culpable violation of the cease-and-desist declaration.

Last December, a report brought the gaming world further into the mainstream: The developer of the popular battle royale "Fortnite", Epic Games, and the US Federal Trade Commission reached a record-breaking settlement of USD 520 million (approx. EUR 473 million) in a legal dispute.