Government wants to stop misuse of warnings

The Federal Government has stated that it sees a need for action to prevent abusive warnings in the future – also with regard to the new data protection law.

This article is part of the special feature " No fear of cease-and-desist letters!"

In its response to a parliamentary question from the Green Party (Alliance 90/The Greens), the Federal Government explains how it intends to better prevent the abuse of the right to issue cease-and-desist letters.

The 2013 Act Against Dubious Business Practices has clearly led to a downward trend in cease and desist letters in the area of ​​copyright law, it states. However, there are increasing signs that, despite this noticeable decline, a significant number of cease and desist letters continue to be issued abusively.

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While reliable official data is not available, the federal government is receiving a wealth of information that indicates a need for action. The federal government welcomes the coalition party's call to submit a draft bill by September 1, 2018, that will provide appropriate and effective measures to curb the misuse of warning letters.

It is currently examining how this mandate can be implemented. The coalition agreement already contains an agreement to combat the misuse of warning letters ("We want to prevent the misuse of the proven right to issue warning letters, e.g., by restricting the floating jurisdiction, and thus protect small and medium-sized enterprises as well as consumers.") The Greens had requested facts and figures on the misuse of warning letters in order to create transparency and identify concrete starting points for legislative action.

Many voices from politics and business, as well as from the skilled trades , had called for a reform of the current law on cease-and-desist letters.