Court Decisions

Legal Information

Compared with the total number of registered .de domains, the number of disputes is extremely low - probably little more than one domain in a thousand is affected by some sort of disagreement. However, just like the real world, the Internet is not a place which is free from any conflicts, nor is it an area outside the reach of law. Whenever there are disputes relating to domain names, these are settled by applying the same laws and rules as are used for name disputes elsewhere.
 
It is not DENIC's job to become involved in such disputes. DENIC does not check the contents and/or legality of domains; responsibility for any infringement of rights resides entirely with the holder of the domain concerned. This view of the legal situation was also confirmed by Germany's Federal Supreme Court in May 2001 in its judgement in the 'ambiente.de' case. Only when the dispute over a domain has been brought to a definitive conclusion, especially if there is a final court decision on the substance of the case against the domain holder, will DENIC intervene - if this is still necessary.

DENIC has, however, created a measure that can be of assistance to any claimant who feels that his or her rights have been infringed by a domain: this is the so-called DISPUTE entry. In addition, our whois search can be used to find out who the holder of the domain is and thus who is to be contacted in case of an infringement of rights or in case of technical problems caused by the domain.

Legal Information Relating to ENUM

As opposed to .de domains, ENUM domains cannot give rise to conflicts about names, since registration is linked to the corresponding telephone number. In the ENUM context, questions are thus more likely to arise in relation to whether the holder of the ENUM domain and the legitimate holder of the telephone number are indeed identical. To find out whether the holder of an ENUM domain is actually the legitimate holder of the corresponding telephone number, DENIC's so-called ENUM COMPLAINT procedure may be used.

Court Judgements Dealing with DENIC's Role

All judgements are made available unabridged and in the original German language as facsimiles in PDF format. In addition, the following overview contains references to the corresponding sources in specialized legal journals. If there is any source that we have omitted, we would be grateful if you told us about it.

ambiente.de
Comnetworld
dresdnerhypovereinsbank.de
foris.de
greencard-select.de
huk-coburg24.de
kurt-biedenkopf.de
*lufthansa*.de
primavita.de
r-e-y.de
regierung-mittelfranken.de
"rz.de"
viagrabestellung.de
"vw.de"
"x.de"
"01051.de"
"11880.de"

ambiente.de

• Judgement of Bundesgerichtshof (German Supreme Court) of 17 May 2001
  Published in: BGHZ 148, 13; BGHReport 2001, 836 (Comm. by Härting, BGHReport 2001, 840); CR 2001, 850 (Comm. by Freytag); EWiR § 14 MarkenG 1/01, 1157 (Comm. by Ingerl only); GRUR 2001, 1038; K&R 2001, 588 (Comm. by Ubber); MMR 2001, 671 (Comm. by Welzel, MMR 2001, 744); NJW 2001, 3265; WM 2001, 1965; WRP 2001, 1305.
• Judgement of Oberlandesgericht (Court of Appeals) Frankfurt am Main of 14 September 1999
  Published in: CR 1999, 707 (Comm. by Abel, CR 1999, 788); K&R 2000, 144; MMR 2000, 36 (Comm. by Welzel); NJW 2001, 376; WRP 2000, 214.
• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Frankfurt am Main of 14 October 1998
  Published in: MMR 1999, 233; NJW 1999, 586; WRP 1999, 366.

Comnetworld

• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Frankfurt am Main of 24 October 2001 (final)
• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Frankfurt am Main of 23 August 2001

dresdnerhypovereinsbank.de

• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Frankfurt am Main of 24 May 2000
  Published in: CR 2001, 51; WM 2000, 1750 (Comm. by Hoeren, WuB V F. §14 MarkenG 2.00).

This judgement now has no practical significance, since the plaintiff, who had originally applied to the court for an interim injunction, withdrew that application in consideration of the appeal hearing.

foris.de

• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Magdeburg of 18 June 1999
  Published in: K&R 1999, 426; MMR 1999, 607.

This judgement now has no practical significance, since the substance of the legal dispute has been settled by the court of appeals.

greencard-select.de

• Judgement of Amtsgericht (Municipal Court) Frankfurt am Main of 26 January 2009 (final)
  Published in: MMR 2009, 709 (Comm. by Welzel).

huk-coburg24.de

• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Frankfurt am Main of 15 January 2009 (final)
  Published in: K&R 2009, 425; MMR 2009, 272.

kurt-biedenkopf.de

• Judgement of Bundesgerichtshof (German Supreme Court) of 19 February 2004
  Published in: CR 2004, 531; MMR 2004, 467; NJW 2004, 1793.
• Judgement of Oberlandesgericht (Court of Appeals) Dresden of 28 November 2000
  Published in: CR 2001, 408 (Comm. by Röhrborn); GRUR-RR 2001, 130; MMR 2001, 459 (Comm. by Welzel); WRP 2001, 706 (Comm. by Kort, WRP 2001, 1260).
• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Dresden of 25 August 2000

*lufthansa*.de

• Jugdement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Frankfurt am Main of 15. April 2009 (final)
  Published in MMR 2009, 704.

primavita.de

• Judgement  of Landgericht (Regional Court) Hamburg of 26 March 2009 (final)
  Published in MMR 2009, 708.

r-e-y.de

• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Wiesbaden of 13 June 2001 (final)
  Published in: MMR 2001, 769 (Comm. by Welzel); NJW 2001, 3715.

regierung-mittelfranken.de

• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Frankfurt am Main of 16 November 2009 (appeal pending)

"rz.de"

• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Frankfurt am Main of 7 January 2009 (final)
  Published in: K&R 2009, 278 (Comm. by Störing/Funke); MMR 2009, 274 (Comm. by Welzel).

viagrabestellung.de

• Judgement of Oberlandesgericht (Court of Appeals) Frankfurt am Main of 13 February 2003 (final)
  Published in: CR 2003, 607; MMR 2003, 333.
• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Frankfurt am Main of 21 March 2001
  Published in: CR 2001, 785.

"vw.de"

• Judgement of Bundesgerichtshof (German Supreme Court) of 29 September 2009
• Judgement of Oberlandesgericht (Court of Appeals) Frankfurt am Main of 29 April 2008
  Published in: K&R 2008, 449 (Comm. by Dingeldey).
• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Frankfurt am Main of 7 April 2004

"x.de"

• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Frankfurt am Main of 20 May 2009 (final)
  Published in MMR 2009, 708.

"01051.de"

• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Frankfurt am Main of 22 March 2000 (final)
  Published in: K&R 2000, 328; MMR 2000, 627 (Comm. by Welzel); ZUM 2000, 259.
  

"11880.de"

• Judgement of Oberlandesgericht (Court of Appeals) Frankfurt am Main of 13 February 2007 (final)
  Published in: MMR 2008, 614.
• Judgement of Landgericht (Regional Court) Frankfurt am Main of 17 May 2006