ReleaseWire Connect

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London – www.grprainer.com/en conclude: The Superior Labour Court (LAG) of Hamm had to decide in a case (File number 16 Sa 763/12) where an employee was summarily dismissed and alternatively with proper notice, and the employer released him from his obligation to work should the summary dismissal turn out to be ineffective. The employer wanted to deduct the employee’s still existing entitlement to vacation pay and overtime pay. When the employer denied the employee’s request for vacation pay, based on the release from his obligation to work, the employee took the case to the Labour Court.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London – www.grprainer.com/en conclude: In a judgment of March 21, 2013 (File number VII ZR 224/12), the Federal Supreme Court (BGH) ruled that a standard provision used against a part-time sales representative, according to which the termination of a contract after a term of three years should be permissible only with twelve months notice effective the end of a calendar year to avoid inappropriate discrimination. In particular, such a provision is not to withstand judicial control of substance in accordance with section 307, subsection 1, Civil Code (BGB). It would inappropriately discriminate against the sales representative contrary to the principles of good faith.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London – www.grprainer.com/en conclude: In its judgment of March 13, 2013 (File number VI-U (Kart) 13.12), the Superior Court (OLG) of Düsseldorf has ruled that the question whether the franchisee has the right to use a computer inventory control system depends in particular on the provisions of the franchise agreement and any amendments thereto.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: If a policyholder prematurely brings the life insurance contract to an end, the provisions affected therein thus become ineffective. In particular, the provisions regarding the calculation of the redemption value and the allocation of acquisition costs from the life insurance policy are of great importance and gaps to be closed. According to the BGH, these gaps ought to be closed by means of supplementary interpretation of the contract. This would mean that the policyholder, who concluded the contract in question by the end of 2007, receives the benefits promised in the contract on the part of the insurer.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: If it is necessary following an incidence of succession to correct the land register, it is not absolutely necessary for a certificate of inheritance to be presented. If devolution upon death results from a public testamentary deed and this is presented to the land registry office then in this case the correction can still take place, according to a ruling (Az.: 15 W 248/13) of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) of Hamm. Thus, the office must first interpret the deed and can only then demand a certificate of inheritance if the circumstances remain unclear thereafter.

If two competing businesses reach a demarcation agreement on the marketing of their products, this is in principle valid for an indefinite period of time.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: The Higher Regional Court (OLG) of Hamm ruled on July 18, 2013 (Az.: 15 W 88/13) that the arrangement of a provisional succession of the older son with a reversionary inheritance of the petitioner cannot be inferred from a testator’s handwritten will that is open to interpretation if the testatrix has determined a substitute heir in the will. The testatrix could not have been familiar with the legal concepts of provisional succession and reversionary inheritance. In determining a provisional succession and reversionary inheritance, it is to be expected that she would have designated one of the restrictions on disposal pursuant to provisional succession with respect to her estate. However, no such an arrangement was included in the will.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: In its judgment of February 27, 2013 (Az.: 6 U 11/11), the Higher Regional Court (OLG) of Karlsruhe ruled that a performance outcome worthy of protection ought to arise if the uniform grooves design of cases in various sets represents the characteristic feature of the cases and the design has had a monopoly on the market for decades in this specific form. If the grooves design is copied virtually identically, the country-of-origin label attached to the imitated product should not automatically negate the possibility of misrepresentation of origin. In order to avoid misrepresentation of origin, it is particularly decisive whether the grooves design on the cases can be perceived from a greater distance.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London – www.grprainer.com/en conclude: Windreich GmbH had posted two bond issues. As the company announced, the first bond (WKN: A1CRMO) has an emission volume of up to 50 million € and a term up to March 1, 2015. The interest coupon is at 6.5% per annum. According to Windreich, the emission volume of the second bond (WKN: A2H3V3) was up to 75 million €. That bond has a term up to July 14, 2016. The interest coupon is also at 6.5% per annum.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London- www.grprainer.com/en conclude: If a foreign country charges inheritance tax on the acquisition of capital assets which the German testator has invested in that country, this cannot be deducted from German inheritance tax or considered as a liability of the estate unless a double taxation agreement has been signed between the foreign country and Germany.