Case number and/or case name
OLG Köln, 14.3.2014 – I-6 U 172/13
Details of the court
Germany, Second Instance
Articles referred to by the court
Date of the judgement
13 March 2014
CJEU's case law cited by the court
Summary
The parties are companies that both run websites for hotel booking services. The defendant showed prices which did not include a particular tourism levy/culture tax. The plaintiff claimed for an injunction stating that this practice was anti-competitive.
The first instance court applied German law. The defendant appealed against this judgment stating that Dutch law applied to the case, § 3 (2) German Telemedia Act (TMG), according to which a claim for injunction was not justified.
The Higher Regional Court confirmed the first instance court’s judgment and stated that Art 6 (1) Rome II applied to the case. Therefore, German law was decisive. It held that the website’s content was directed towards German consumers. Therefore, the German market and the interests of German consumers were affected.
The court found that the culture tax belonged to the summary price of the booking procedure and therefore was to be displayed on the website.