In its judgement of June 27, 2024, the Federal Court of Justice ruled for the first time on product-related advertising with the claim "klimaneutral" ("climate neutral") and held that strict requirements must also be applied to the accuracy, unambiguity and clarity of the advertising statement in the field of advertising with environmental protection terms and signs.
The "klimaneutral" decision of the German Federal Court of Justice and its impact on advertising with climate neutrality
1. Facts
The subject of the decision is an advertisement for sweets published by the Defendant in the print edition of the Lebensmittel Zeitung on February 19, 2021, which was headlined with the statement "K* schmeckt auch unserem Klima" ("K* has a good taste for our climate too"). Directly below this, in slightly smaller font, was the sentence ...
2. The decisions of the lower courts
Both the Regional Court of Kleve (8 O 44/21) and the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf (20 U 152/22) considered the advertising in question to be permissible under unfair competition law. However, the reasons were different ....
3. The decision of the German Federal Court of Justice
Following the Plaintiff's appeal on points of law, the judgment of the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf dated July 6, 2023, was reversed and the judgment of the Regional Court of Kleve dated June 22, 2022, was amended. The German Federal Court of Justice prohibits the Defendant from advertising with the statement ...
Assessment, open questions and outlook
The German Federal Court's decision now provides a little more clarity on the circumstances under which advertising products as "klimaneutral" is not admissible. This does not, however, allow any direct conclusions to be drawn as to the circumstances under which "climate neutral" advertising would be admissible ...
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.