The German Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) recently decided that a top level .de domain name registration does not automatically give any priority rights over a third party's junior company name, commercial designation or trademark.rnSection 5(l) of the German Trade Mark Act (MarkenG) provides that company symbols shall be protected as commercial designations, with Section 5(2) MarkenG defining company symbols as signs used in the course of trade as names. Section 15(2) MarkenG prohibits third parties from using a commercial designation or a similar sign in the course of trade in a manner capable of causing confusion with the protected designation. Section 12 German Civil Code (BGB) stipulates that 'if the interest of the person entitled to the name is injured by the unauthorised use of the same name by another person, the person entitled may require the other to remove the infringement'. If further infringements are to be feared, the person entitled may seek a prohibitory injunction.
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