Case law

  • Case Details
    • National ID: link
    • Member State: Germany
    • Common Name:link
    • Decision type: Court decision in appeal
    • Decision date: 19/04/2013
    • Court: Higher Regional Court of Cologne
    • Subject:
    • Plaintiff: Unknown
    • Defendant: www.amazon.de
    • Keywords: misleading advertising, professional diligence, unfair commercial practices
  • Directive Articles
    Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Article 5, 2. Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Article 5, 2., (a) Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Article 5, 2., (b)
  • Headnote
    (1) By using an inaccurate description and geographical designation in describing its product as “Himalayan salt,” a supplier of salt fails to exercise their required professional diligence and thereby commits an unfair commercial practice under German law.
  • Facts
    The applicant objects to an online offer on the website of the defendant included under the heading "Food & Beverages" to buy a product designated "Himalayan salt" at a price of EUR 4.80 for 900 g of offered rock salt. The text contained the product description "Crystalline salt from the Himalayan region is about 250 million years old, the salt is traditionally mined and selected by hand.’ The geographical designation of “Himalaya” is disputed by the parties and likely to be misunderstood by the average consumer as describing a different location than that from which the salt actually came.
  • Legal issue
    The court held that by using an inaccurate description and geographical designation in describing its product as “Himalayan salt,” the supplier of the salt has failed to exercise their required professional diligence and thereby committed an unfair commercial practice under German law.
  • Decision

    (1) By using an inaccurate description and geographical designation in describing its product, does a supplier fail to exercise required their professional diligence and thereby commits an unfair commercial practice under German law?

    URL: http://openjur.de/u/648215.html

    Full text: Full text

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  • Result
    The appeal was rejected.