Oberster Gerichtshof, Urteil vom 13/07/2007 6 Nc 12/07b
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:AT:OGH0002:2007:0060NC00012.07B.0713.000
Date: 2007-07-13
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Austria

82007AT0713(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The applicant, a company having its seat in Austria, concluded a licence agreement with the respondent, a company having its seat in the Netherlands regarding the use of a software package. It commenced an action for warranty against the latter alleging that the delivered software was defective. In the licence agreement the parties had stipulated that in case of a dispute, the Austrian courts shall have jurisdiction. The agreement did not refer to a specific court. Thus, the applicant applied to the OGH (AT) for the determination of local jurisdiction, a so-called ordination.
The OGH (AT) allows the application. It holds that the jurisdiction agreement is valid. It is admissible in respect of Article 23 Brussels I Regulation, that the parties only stipulate a jurisdiction clause with regards to the international jurisdiction of a specific Member State without determining in the clause which specific court of that State shall have jurisdiction over the case. Such a jurisdiction agreement precludes the special jurisdiction of Article 5 Brussels I Regulation. The court finds that in this case the competent court has to be determined according to the national law of the Member State chosen. According to Austrian law, the determination has to be made by the OGH according to the rules for an ordination. The OGH holds that the Handelsgericht of Vienna (AT) has jurisdiction, as the dispute is closely connected to the applicant's company, which has its seat in Vienna.