{"id":26805,"date":"2025-04-22T22:36:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T20:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/?p=26805"},"modified":"2026-04-05T10:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T08:05:14","slug":"liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Liability for unlawful customer reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull v4-pattern-hero v4-pattern-hero--post is-style-background-blend is-style-arrow has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull is-light v4-pattern-hero__cover\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);min-height:75vh;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e5a40e\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-26797 size-large not-transparent\" alt=\"Wettbewerbswidrige Kundenbewertungen, Haftung, UWG, Wettbewerbsrecht, Rechtsanwalt\" src=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-1024x576.jpg\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e5a40e; object-position:50% 100%\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" data-object-position=\"50% 100%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" \/><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-base-background-color has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:5em\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1d4b5d69 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-19e250f3 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\r\n<h1 id=\"multirow-headline-block_63ea98aaa62e36447957041fd5194c67\" class=\"wp-block-visual4-multirow-headline\">\r\n    <div class=\"wp-block-visual4-multirow-headline\">\n\n<p class=\"has-gigantic-font-size\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:1;text-transform:uppercase\">Liability<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:15%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-size:clamp(1.301rem, 1.301rem + ((1vw - 0.2rem) * 1.332), 2.1rem);font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:1;text-transform:uppercase\">for unlawful<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-contrast-color has-text-color has-link-color has-gigantic-font-size wp-elements-2c0eb7a723ba776c8effb4bc23b6859d\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:1;text-transform:uppercase\"><span class=\"v4-marker-highlight-background\">reviews<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n<\/div> \r\n<\/h1>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-small-font-size is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-76c96157 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:italic;font-weight:300;text-transform:uppercase\"><div style=\"font-style:italic;font-weight:300;text-transform:uppercase;\" class=\"wp-block-post-date has-small-font-size\"><time datetime=\"2025-04-22T22:36:00+02:00\">22. April 2025<\/time><\/div>\n\n\n<p>from<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"font-style:italic;font-weight:600;\" class=\"wp-block-post-author-name\">Daniel Loncar<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-c93ec0be wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>Courts rule on customer reviews on company websites.<\/strong>  The Regional Courts of Bochum and Frankfurt am Main have ruled in two independent proceedings that companies must accept responsibility for statements made in published customer reviews and are therefore liable under competition law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-sind-unternehmen-fur-aussagen-innerhalb-von-kundenbewertungen-verantwortlich\">Are companies responsible for statements within <br \/>customer reviews?<\/h2>\n\n<p>Yes, say the Regional Court of Bochum in its judgment of 21.11.2024 &#8211; file <a href=\"https:\/\/nrwe.justiz.nrw.de\/lgs\/bochum\/lg_bochum\/j2024\/14_O_65_24_Urteil_20241121.html\">number 14 O 65\/24<\/a> and the Regional Court of Frankfurt a.M. <br \/>in its judgment of 20.12.2024 &#8211; file number 3-08 O 38\/22 in two decisions issued in quick succession in November and December 2024.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-kunden-beschreiben-produkt-als-bekommlich\">Customers describe product as digestible<\/h2>\n\n<p>The Bochum Regional Court examined the question of whether the publication of <a href=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/thema\/bewertungen-und-bewertungsportale\/\">customer reviews<\/a> containing anti-competitive statements is anti-competitive if the company has previously issued a cease-and-desist declaration with a penalty clause in relation to these statements. Specifically, the company had previously advertised various types of coffee with the claims &#8220;digestible&#8221; and &#8220;easy on the stomach&#8221;. After receiving a cease and desist letter for this, it declared that it would refrain from making such claims in future. Customer reviews were reproduced on the company&#8217;s website in the form of a review band at the bottom of the offer page for individual items. In various reviews, individual customers had described the products as &#8220;wholesome&#8221;. A trade association demanded that the company remove these reviews in view of the cease-and-desist declaration. The company refused. Wrongly, according to the Bochum Regional Court.       <\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group v4-pattern-general-quote-box has-kpw-yellow-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70)\">\n<p>Since the defendant has created an opportunity to present these ratings and uses them for advertising purposes, these infringements are also attributable to it<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-auf-verwendung-von-bewertungstools-dritter-kommt-es-nicht-an\">The use of third-party assessment tools is not relevant<\/h2>\n\n<p>The company had argued that the customer reviews on the website were not initiated by its own employees. As the reviews were posted via a third-party review tool, the company had no influence on the content of the entries and was not in a position to remove or change reviews. According to the company, the customers who use the review tool are solely responsible for the content of the posts. Their statements are protected by the freedom of expression.   <\/p>\n\n<p>The Bochum Regional Court did not find this convincing. It stated that the company adopted the customers&#8217; statements as its own for advertising purposes, meaning that they were attributable to it. It cited several reasons for this. Firstly, the reviews come from verified customers, meaning that the reviews are of particular importance for future customers. Secondly, the reviews have a deliberately advertising character due to the specific design of the website, which displays the reviews specifically when individual products are called up. In this way, the company not only gains information, but also wants to <a href=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/industries\/advertising\/\">advertise <\/a>its products by making the reviews public and thus also provide decision-making support for other customers.     <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-unternehmen-hat-auf-dritte-einzuwirken-oder-sich-aussagen-zurechnen-zu-lassen\">Company must influence third parties or allow statements to be attributed to it<\/h2>\n\n<p>The court countered the company&#8217;s objections by stating that the company cannot avoid its responsibility for the advertising it places by using a tool that runs via another provider. Rather, the company must exert influence on the service provider that manages this tool so that it removes ratings that are problematic with regard to cease and desist obligations. If it fails to do so, it must accept responsibility for the statements.  <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-auch-lg-frankfurt-a-m-rechnet-kundenbewertungen-zu\">LG Frankfurt a.M. also attributes customer reviews to<\/h2>\n\n<p>The Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main came to a similar conclusion (judgment of 20.12.2024, ref. 3-08 O 38\/22) with regard to the question to be decided as to whether misleading statements in customer reviews are attributable to the company. Specifically, a cosmetics provider had offered a hair tincture with mandarin extract. The company advertised that the product would reduce gray hair. It did not provide any evidence for this claim. However, customer reviews supported this. The reviews contained statements such as:     <\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\" style=\"margin-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);margin-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80)\">\n<p><em>My hair got a beautiful shade &#8230; no more roots from coloring<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\" style=\"margin-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);margin-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80)\">\n<p><em>I use (&#8230;) almost every morning. The effect is visible after a few weeks. I will no longer dye my hair  <\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>A consumer protection association considered this to be misleading advertising and took legal action against the company. As it turned out, this was the law. <\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group v4-pattern-general-quote-box has-kpw-yellow-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70)\">\n<p>Statements in customer reviews are attributable to the defendant if it has made the statements its own [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>The Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main came to the conclusion that the claim that the product reduced gray hair was not substantiated and was therefore misleading. This was also true in light of the fact that a generous standard was applied in this regard, according to which the statement must at least be supported by sufficient and verifiable evidence without the need for scientific proof as is required for health claims.   <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-unternehmen-macht-sich-aussagegehalt-zu-eigen\">Company adopts statement content as its own<\/h2>\n\n<p>The court did not recognize sufficient or verifiable evidence. As a result, it also considered the published customer reviews to be misleading advertising, as the company had adopted the content of the customer reviews as its own through the design of the website. The court differentiated between reviews on online trading platforms and reviews on the company&#8217;s own website. The court came to the conclusion that the company deliberately wanted to strengthen trust in the product by highlighting the reviews on its own website. Therefore, the company must also assume full responsibility for the content of the statements in these customer reviews.    <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-fazit\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns v4-pattern-text-copy-half-col is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Companies cannot evade their responsibility for statements made by customers in published customer reviews by making a blanket reference to the fact that these are third-party statements. Insofar as companies display customer reviews at product level, they must regularly accept responsibility for the content of the statements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The far-reaching significance of this is obvious. Companies must constantly monitor the reviews they publish and check them for anti-competitive content if they do not want to run the risk of receiving costly cease and desist letters. It is therefore necessary to weigh up whether the advantages of displaying reviews outweigh the potential disadvantages. In particular, providers in areas where strict advertising regulations apply &#8211; such as pharmaceutical advertising, health advertising or food advertising &#8211; are well advised to take legal precautions at an early stage and ensure that their marketing strategy is legally compliant.   <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80)\">\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide v4-pattern-cta-box has-secondary-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a7c0d175 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide are-vertically-aligned-top v4-pattern-cta-box__columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-ec2e7a44 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top v4-pattern-cta-box__columns-column is-layout-flow wp-container-core-column-is-layout-bce6ca70 wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-bottom:0;flex-basis:60%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-right is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-5c12a1d1 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\r\n<div id=\"multirow-headline-block_50325871628caacc165ff9d61881fb35\" class=\"wp-block-visual4-multirow-headline alignwide\">\r\n    <div class=\"wp-block-visual4-multirow-headline\">\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-huge-font-size\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:1;text-transform:uppercase\">We are happy to<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-x-large-font-size\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:8%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:0.9;text-transform:uppercase\">advise you about<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-size:clamp(1.79rem, 1.79rem + ((1vw - 0.2rem) * 2.183), 3.1rem);font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:0.9;text-transform:uppercase\">Competition law!<\/p>\n\n<\/div> \r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-5c3c14bb wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-visual4-contact-modal__button\">\r\n            \r\n        <div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\r\n            \r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-button v4-contact-modal-button is-style-fill\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600\" data-form-id=\"8\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-contrast-color has-base-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\">Contact form<\/a><\/div>\r\n\r\n        <\/div>\r\n        \r\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-style-mobile-only is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-fc4fd283 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-arrow is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-base-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"tel:4971141019030\" style=\"padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);font-style:normal;font-weight:600\">Call now!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top v4-pattern-cta-box__columns-column v4-pattern-cta-box__columns-column--image is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:40%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full v4-pattern-cta-box__columns-column__image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"932\" height=\"775\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" src=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Daniel-Loncar-Rechtsanwalt.png\" alt=\"Daniel Loncar Attorney, competition law, trademark law, patent law, design law, know-how protection, copyright law, e-commerce\" class=\"wp-image-23371\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Daniel-Loncar-Rechtsanwalt.png 932w, https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Daniel-Loncar-Rechtsanwalt-300x249.png 300w, https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Daniel-Loncar-Rechtsanwalt-768x639.png 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Companies must take responsibility for any unlawful statements contained in published customer reviews as their own statements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4904],"tags":[5105,5129,5052,5054],"thema":[4924],"rechtsgebiet":[4987,5013],"produkt":[4981,5007,4912],"class_list":["post-26805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-advertising","tag-e-commerce-en","tag-misleading","tag-misleading-advertising","thema-warning","rechtsgebiet-competition-law","rechtsgebiet-e-commerce-en","produkt-defense-against-warning-letter-under-competition-law","produkt-e-commerce-consulting","produkt-online-advertising-consulting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Liability for anti-competitive customer reviews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Companies must accept responsibility for statements in published customer reviews and are responsible for them under competition law\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Liability for unlawful customer reviews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Companies must accept responsibility for statements in published customer reviews and are responsible for them under competition law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"KPW Rechtsanw\u00e4lte und Fachanw\u00e4lte\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-22T20:36:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-05T08:05:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Daniel Loncar\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniel Loncar\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daniel Loncar\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/90ef4fe0063f912c0b45ae322be4f502\"},\"headline\":\"Liability for unlawful customer reviews\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-22T20:36:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-05T08:05:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/\"},\"wordCount\":1055,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-1024x576.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Advertising\",\"E-Commerce\",\"Misleading\",\"misleading advertising\"],\"articleSection\":[\"General\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/\",\"name\":\"Liability for anti-competitive customer reviews\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-1024x576.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-22T20:36:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-05T08:05:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"Companies must accept responsibility for statements in published customer reviews and are responsible for them under competition law\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-1024x576.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-1024x576.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Liability for unlawful customer reviews\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/\",\"name\":\"KPW PartmbB \u2013 Rechtsanw\u00e4lte und Fachanw\u00e4lte\",\"description\":\"Rechtsanw\u00e4lte f\u00fcr IP- und IT-Recht\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"kpw.law\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"KPW PartmbB\",\"alternateName\":\"KPW\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/kpw.law_.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/kpw.law_.png\",\"width\":669,\"height\":669,\"caption\":\"KPW PartmbB\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/kpw\"],\"description\":\"KPW ist eine auf IP und IT-Recht spezialisierte Kanzlei mit Rechts- und Fachanw\u00e4lten in Stuttgart. KPW ber\u00e4t Unternehmen in den Bereichen Wettbewerbsrecht, Markenrecht, Designrecht, Urheberrecht, IT-Recht, Patentrecht, Datenschutzrecht, E-Commerce und Know-How-Schutz.\",\"email\":\"info@kpw.law\",\"telephone\":\"+4971141019030\",\"legalName\":\"KPW PartmbB\",\"foundingDate\":\"2010-04-01\",\"vatID\":\"DE270757792\",\"duns\":\"341580247\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"1\",\"maxValue\":\"10\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/90ef4fe0063f912c0b45ae322be4f502\",\"name\":\"Daniel Loncar\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53ede45b067e4c0e0f9492ac9b189c039725bde33ee81be96ba37c0cef0fd94f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53ede45b067e4c0e0f9492ac9b189c039725bde33ee81be96ba37c0cef0fd94f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Daniel Loncar\"},\"description\":\"Rechtsanwalt, t\u00e4tig in den Bereichen Markenrecht, Wettbewerbsrecht, Urheberrecht, Designrecht, Know-How-Schutz, Patentrecht, IT-Recht, E-Commerce, Datenschutz\",\"gender\":\"m\u00e4nnlich\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"Markenrecht\",\"Wettbewerbsrecht\",\"Designrecht\",\"Urheberrecht\",\"Datenschutzrecht\",\"Patentrecht\"],\"knowsLanguage\":[\"Deutsch\",\"Englisch\",\"Kroatisch\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Rechtsanwalt\",\"worksFor\":\"KPW PartmbB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Liability for anti-competitive customer reviews","description":"Companies must accept responsibility for statements in published customer reviews and are responsible for them under competition law","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Liability for unlawful customer reviews","og_description":"Companies must accept responsibility for statements in published customer reviews and are responsible for them under competition law","og_url":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/","og_site_name":"KPW Rechtsanw\u00e4lte und Fachanw\u00e4lte","article_published_time":"2025-04-22T20:36:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-05T08:05:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1440,"url":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Daniel Loncar","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daniel Loncar","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/"},"author":{"name":"Daniel Loncar","@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/90ef4fe0063f912c0b45ae322be4f502"},"headline":"Liability for unlawful customer reviews","datePublished":"2025-04-22T20:36:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T08:05:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/"},"wordCount":1055,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-1024x576.jpg","keywords":["Advertising","E-Commerce","Misleading","misleading advertising"],"articleSection":["General"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/","url":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/","name":"Liability for anti-competitive customer reviews","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-1024x576.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-22T20:36:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T08:05:14+00:00","description":"Companies must accept responsibility for statements in published customer reviews and are responsible for them under competition law","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-1024x576.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unternehmen-haften-fuer-wettbewerbswidrige-Kundenbewertungen-1024x576.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/liability-for-unlawful-customer-reviews\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Liability for unlawful customer reviews"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/","name":"KPW PartmbB \u2013 Rechtsanw\u00e4lte und Fachanw\u00e4lte","description":"Rechtsanw\u00e4lte f\u00fcr IP- und IT-Recht","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#organization"},"alternateName":"kpw.law","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#organization","name":"KPW PartmbB","alternateName":"KPW","url":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/kpw.law_.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/kpw.law_.png","width":669,"height":669,"caption":"KPW PartmbB"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/kpw"],"description":"KPW ist eine auf IP und IT-Recht spezialisierte Kanzlei mit Rechts- und Fachanw\u00e4lten in Stuttgart. KPW ber\u00e4t Unternehmen in den Bereichen Wettbewerbsrecht, Markenrecht, Designrecht, Urheberrecht, IT-Recht, Patentrecht, Datenschutzrecht, E-Commerce und Know-How-Schutz.","email":"info@kpw.law","telephone":"+4971141019030","legalName":"KPW PartmbB","foundingDate":"2010-04-01","vatID":"DE270757792","duns":"341580247","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"1","maxValue":"10"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/90ef4fe0063f912c0b45ae322be4f502","name":"Daniel Loncar","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53ede45b067e4c0e0f9492ac9b189c039725bde33ee81be96ba37c0cef0fd94f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53ede45b067e4c0e0f9492ac9b189c039725bde33ee81be96ba37c0cef0fd94f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Daniel Loncar"},"description":"Rechtsanwalt, t\u00e4tig in den Bereichen Markenrecht, Wettbewerbsrecht, Urheberrecht, Designrecht, Know-How-Schutz, Patentrecht, IT-Recht, E-Commerce, Datenschutz","gender":"m\u00e4nnlich","knowsAbout":["Markenrecht","Wettbewerbsrecht","Designrecht","Urheberrecht","Datenschutzrecht","Patentrecht"],"knowsLanguage":["Deutsch","Englisch","Kroatisch"],"jobTitle":"Rechtsanwalt","worksFor":"KPW PartmbB"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26805"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30465,"href":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26805\/revisions\/30465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26805"},{"taxonomy":"thema","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thema?post=26805"},{"taxonomy":"rechtsgebiet","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rechtsgebiet?post=26805"},{"taxonomy":"produkt","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/produkt?post=26805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}