Expensive
Formal errors in
Cease and desist letter.
Expensive
Formal errors in
Cease and desist letter.
from
The formal requirements for competition law cease and desist letters have been increased with the latest reforms in competition law. A decision by the Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main shows what happens if these requirements are not met.
What is it all about?
Two operators of regional online news portals argued before the Frankfurt Regional Court about the costs of a competition law cease and desist letter. The central question: Is it enough to simply refer to “competitors” in the cease and desist letter – or is more detail needed?
The case
Two online news portals from the same region were involved in a competition law dispute. The operator of one portal issued a cease and desist letter to the operator of the other portal due to an inaccurate advertising claim about website views. In the cease and desist letter, it merely justified its right to issue the warning by stating that both portals offer “online news”, “are aimed at the same region” and “compete for the attention of readers”.
The competitor receiving the warning issued a declaration to cease and desist, but refused to reimburse the warning costs. The information provided by the cease and desist letter regarding the entitlement to claim in the cease and desist letter was insufficient. Instead, he demanded reimbursement of his own legal fees.
Legal background
Since December 2, 2020, statutory formal requirements have applied to cease and desist letters under competition law. This also includes the cease and desist letter having to contain clear and understandable information about the entitlement to make a claim. If the party issuing the cease and desist letter is a competitor, since 01.12.2021 it must state that it sells or requests goods or servicesto a not insignificant extent and not only occasionally.
Failure to comply with the formal requirements for a cease and desist letter means that the claim for reimbursement of the cease and desist letter’s costs lapses and the person receiving the cease and desist letter can demand reimbursement of their own legal fees.
LG Frankfurt a. Main on the requirements
The Frankfurt Regional Court ruled Judgment of 02.07.2025 – Ref. 2-06 O 116/25 The court clearly states that the cease and desist letter issuer is not entitled to reimbursement of costs and that the cease and desist letter recipient is entitled to reimbursement of defense costs.
In principle, the court stated that the requirements for the necessary information in the cease and desist letter should not be too high.
However, if the cease and desist letter is limited to stating that the parties are competitors because they both have a similar offer and address the same customer base, this is not sufficient.
In other words: Anyone issuing a cease and desist letter must provide more than just empty phrases. Information such as how long the portal has been on the market, the approximate reach or the turnover achieved would have been sufficient for the court.
Observe formal requirements
Although the formal requirements for the content of competition law cease and desist letters have been in force since the end of 2020, they are still often disregarded. We regularly encounter cease and desist letters that do not meet the legal requirements. It is regularly sufficient to state how long you have been in business and what your annual turnover is, e.g. by stating “an annual six-figure turnover”.
Conclusion
Surprisingly, formal errors are more common in competition law cease and desist letters. In our experience, the most common error is the lack of or insufficient information on eligibility. However, these could easily be avoided.
For cease and desist letters, this can mean that even if the cease and desist letter is otherwise justified, the ceasing party will not receive any reimbursement of costs and will also have to bear the legal fees of the ceased party.
It is therefore always worth examining a competition law cease and desist letter carefully.
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