Usancen Blog
EU Competition Law: 14 Portuguese Banks Exchanged Information
Competition LawFor more than 10 years, 14 Portuguese credit institutions have been exchanging information with each other. This could constitute a restriction of competition by object, according to a Portuguese national court. The case has been referred to the Euro...
GER: Must Sports Betting Operators Refund Lost Stakes?
Civil LawIllegal sports betting: The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, hereinafter BGH) considered whether the presumption of invalidity of betting contracts due to lack of a licence could infringe the freedom to provide services under EU la...
OGH: Major Ruling on Rental Agreement Clauses (Part 5)
Civil LawThe first part of a rather extensive and practice-relevant clause ruling by the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) was published in the USANCEN Newsletter on 19 July 2002. This week, USANCEN focuses on the fifth part of th...
EU: Insufficient Public Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Purchase Agreements
European LawThe European Commission only partially disclosed its COVID-19 vaccine purchase agreements concluded with certain vaccine manufacturers. In particular, the provisions on compensation in these contracts as well as the declarations on the absence of con...
Basel Committee Tightens Cryptoasset Standards
Civil LawThe Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has finalised targeted amendments to its standard on banks’ exposures to cryptoassets. The Committee, along with targeted amendments to its cryptoassets standard published in December 2022, has recently publ...
GER: Legal Costs Should Not Only Fall on the Losing Side
Civil LawA reform of the German Condominium Act will now cause that legal costs imposed on the losing condominium owners’ association in a declaratory action shall be considered to be administrative costs and are to be apportioned according to the general for...
OGH: Major Ruling on Rental Agreement Clauses (Part 4)
Civil LawThe first part of a very extensive and practice-relevant clause decision of the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) was published in the USANCEN Newsletter of 19 July 2024. This week, USANCEN devotes its attention to the fo...
OGH: Does Section 74 NO Apply by Analogy to Judicial Wills?
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has examined whether a testator can demand the delivery of a will that has been approved by a court. In 2006, the plaintiff had deposited a testament in writing with the court of firs...
OGH on Exclusion of Warranty for Used Cars
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has clarified whether consumers who sell a second-hand car are also responsible for the roadworthiness and operational safety of the car. In 2019, the plaintiff bought a car over ten ...
OGH: Major Ruling on Rental Agreement Clauses (Part 3)
Civil LawIn recent issues of the USANCEN Newsletter we have been publishing excerpts of an extensive decision by the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) fraught with practical implications. This week, we are featuring the third part...
GER: Application for Reinstatement – No Success for Inconsistent Argumentation
Procedural LawThe German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, hereinafter BGH) was asked to decide on the admissibility of an application to reopen a case. If a plaintiff instructs their lawyer to file an application for reinstatement on the grounds that t...
GC: ByteDance (TikTok) Fails for good
European LawDigital Markets Act (DMA): ByteDance remains a gatekeeper. The action for annulment brought by the operator of social network TikTok has finally failed before the General Court of the European Union. The DMA is an EU regulation that has the aim of en...
CJEU: McDonald’s Loses Chicken BIG MAC Trade Mark
European LawThe Court finds that McDonald's has not demonstrated genuine use for certain goods and services for an uninterrupted period of five years BIG MAC as an EU trade mark was registered in 1996 and belongs to McDonald’s. In 2017, Supermac’s, an Irish fast...
GER: Can Time-Barred Claims for Damages Be Offset against the Deposit?
Civil LawThe German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, hereinafter BGH) had to decide whether a landlord’s time-barred claims for damages could be offset against the tenant’s claim for repayment of the deposit. In principle, a claim for damage to re...
GER: Bundestag Poised to Introduce Commercial Courts
Procedural LawThe German Bundestag (federal parliament) has passed a bill that will allow German federal states to set up commercial courts. These courts will be able to hear first-instance commercial cases with a value of EUR 1 million or more, provided that the ...
ECJ on Collective Redundancies When Company Owners Retire
European LawThe owner of a company went into retirement, leading to collective redundancies. Under Directive 98/59/EC, business owners have an obligation to notify the competent public authorities as well as workers’ representatives of planned collective redunda...
OGH: Property Managers Not Liable for Lost Rental Income
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has ruled that property managers are not liable to apartment owners for loss of rental income if the latter are unable to rent out the apartment as a result of water damage to the apa...
OGH: Major Ruling on Rental Agreement Clauses (Part 2)
Civil LawIn the last issue of the USANCEN Newsletter we published the first part of an extensive decision of the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) fraught with practical implications. This week, we are featuring the second part of...
OGH: All Flavour, No Fruit in Misleading Juice Ad
Competition LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has made it clear that using flavouring in soft drinks is misleading if consumers would expect real fruit juice judging from the packaging. The defendants manufacture and market a sof...
OGH: Major Ruling on Rental Agreement Clauses (Part 1)
Civil LawThe Austrian Chamber of Labour has taken a commercial landlord to court on the grounds claiming that no fewer than 44 (!) clauses in their rental agreements were unlawful. Many of these clauses were now declared invalid by the Austrian Supreme Court ...
ECJ: Can ‘Floor Clauses’ Be Challenged by Collective Action?
European LawMinimum interest clauses (‘floor clauses`) can be fully reviewed by means of a class action, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has stated in a preliminary ruling requested by a Spanish court. A Spanish consumer protection organisation has filed a c...
GER: Online Retailing – Smartphones with Free Gifts
Civil LawIn online retailing, a purchase contract for the main product is deemed to have been concluded when the seller sends a free gift together with the main product order by the customer. This has been decided by the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am ...
GER: Bundesgerichtshof on Cancellation of Insurance Contracts
Civil LawConsumers do not have the right to cancel insurance contracts concluded away from business premises. According to the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, hereinafter BGH), there is no obligation for Germany under EU law to provide for...
GER: Online ‘Order Buttons’ Must Show all Charges
Civil LawThe German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, hereinafter BGH) has ruled on online order-buttons: In online sales, consumers must be able to see on the screen where the order button is located which services they have to pay for. A woman ha...
OGH: Multistage Action Permissible in Void Gaming Contracts
Procedural LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has made it clear that providers of illegal online gaming services can be obliged to provide certain information. Whether or not the request for information is justified depends, amon...
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