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.

On 18 October 2024, the Federal Council approved the "Fourth Act to Reduce Bureaucracy for Citizens, Business and the Administration". The aim: less effort for business, more time for the core business. A central element of the law is the shortening of the retention period for accounting documents under commercial and tax law from ten to eight years. What initially sounds like a noticeable relief, however, also has a data protection component that companies should not underestimate.

About the new EU guidelines for environmental advertising claims (green claims) and the associated legal requirements. The focus is on the EmpCo Directive, which introduces stricter rules for advertisers.

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.

Copyright in the metaverse concerns both the protection of content from platform operators and user-generated content. Copyright protection extends to software and programming interfaces, while animated user interfaces are often not protected. Both avatars and NFTs can enjoy copyright protection. Acts of exploitation such as reproduction and communication to the public play an important role in the metaverse.

Online booking platforms will be kept on a tight leash with the new Art. 8a UWG. As of December 1st 2022 parity clauses concerning the price, availability or conditions will be prohibited in contracts between online booking platforms and accomodation providers .

A summary of the BGH decision of 10.11.2022 on the question in which cases online retailers should disclose existing manufacturer warranties to consumers.

Almost exactly one month before the next "Black Friday" sale, there is news again in the trademark dispute about the word mark "Black Friday". A quick refresher: the trademark "Black Friday" had been registered with the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) since 2013. The term itself originates from the USA and now also refers on this side of the Atlantic to the annual sales event in online/offline retail on the Friday after Thanksgiving. This day now marks the start of the Christmas shopping season.

Every Year the International Bar Association hosts an Annual Conference; this year 2022 in Miami, FL. HÄRTING was represented by Marlene Schreiber, Niko Härting and Martin Schirmbacher.

Since 1.7.2021, new regulations on VAT apply in EU-wide mail order business. In the following, we would like to provide an overview of the effects this has on your tax liability and, furthermore, what this means for the indication of prices.