Bundesgerichtshof; 2019-11-07; I ZR 222/17
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:DE:BGH:2019:071119UIZR222.17.0
Date: 2019-11-07
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters;Lugano Convention
Origin: Germany

82019DE1107(52)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
A plaintiff operating holiday clubs called ‘Robinson Club’ in several countries filed an action against the operator of the German-language rating and travel booking portal www.holidaycheck.de and its English version www.holidaycheck.com domiciled in Switzerland (hereinafter ‘the defendant’).
The plaintiff was the owner of the word trademarks ‘ROBINSON CLUB HOTELS’, ‘ROBINSON CLUB’, ‘ROBINSON HOTELS’ and ‘ROBINSON’ registered in Germany.  At the beginning of 2015, the defendant promoted a booking offer of a Dutch travel company regarding a ‘Club Hotel Robinson’ located in Belarus. The plaintiff saw this as a violation of its trademarks.
The Landgericht Berlin (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) decided in favour of the action and, under a threat of penalty, ordered the defendant to stop promoting the Belarussian hotel under the name ‘Club Hotel Robinson’ in Belarus online. In addition, it ordered the defendant to provide information and pay compensation.
The defendant lodged an appeal with the Kammergericht Berlin (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’) against the decision. The Court of Appeal dismissed the initial action stating that German courts were lacking international jurisdiction with regard to the violation of trademarks on English internet sites. As for the rest, the action was found unjustified.
The revision filed by the plaintiff with the Bundesgerichtshof (hereinafter ‘the Supreme Court’) regarding the violation of trademarks on the German-language version of the portal was successful.
Based on the fact that the defendant entered in appearance, the German courts held the international jurisdiction under Article 24(1 and 2) of the new Lugano Convention (1).
The use of the German language and the top-level domain ‘.de’ was sufficient proof for the orientation towards the German market and Germany was the place where the loss occurred.
The English version, on the other hand, was not directed to the domestic German market.
Based on the plaintiff’s revision, the Supreme Court annulled the decision of the Court of Appeal regarding  www.holidaycheck.de and referred the case back to the Court of Appeal for a new hearing and decision.
(1) Convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.