The Higher Regional Court Munich Strengthened the Rights of Trademark Owners against Ebay

As the first Higher Regional Court in Germany, the Court in Munich decided that a trademark owner is entitled to interdict a distributer to sell trademark protected goods via Ebay. According to the Court, the restriction of competition resulting from this is justified on the basis of the European Community block exemption for vertical distribution agreements. This block exemption, however, is only applicable for trademark owners with a market share of less than 30%. The free competition prevails if the market share is higher.