Encrochat: Constitutional complaint failed
1. August 2025
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April 19, 2022 /
While it is not yet clear whether this year’s Oktoberfest will be celebrated on the Theresienwiese in Munich or whether it will be canceled for the third time in a row, the first offers for table reservations in the popular festival tents are already available on the Internet. This was also the case for a Berlin event agency that sold table reservations for the “Augustiner”, “Bräurosl” and “Hofbräu” festival tents on the Internet.
The 4th Chamber for Commercial Matters of the Regional Court of Munich I (LG) ruled in favor of the plaintiffs after a total of three preliminary injunctions had already been issued in the case (judgment of 4.4.2022, Ref. 4 HK O 1503/22, 4 HK O 1965/22 and 4 HK O 55/22).
Even though the planning for this year’s Oktoberfest is already underway according to “Wiesn boss” Clemens Baumgärtner (CSU), there is still no final agreement to hold the world’s largest folk festival. Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) is unsure whether it is possible to celebrate in Europe under such conditions in view of the Ukraine conflict and the city partnership with Kiev,
With these uncertainties in mind, the operators of the three festival tents filed a lawsuit against the sale of the table reservations by the Berlin event agency. They in turn insisted on the “binding option purchase”, which informed potential buyers on the website that these were not yet final reservations for the marquees.
But the court takes a different view. The term “binding” already suggests a definite possibility for the buyer to purchase table reservations for the Oktoberfest. This is also suggested by the “express delivery” shipping option available on the website.
The event agency’s offer was therefore misleading and therefore violated the law against unfair competition, as it “could not provide customers with a legally valid entitlement to a reservation, at least at the time of ordering”, according to the court. The sale of table reservations is only permitted if the agency has the necessary admission documents and can also provide these to the buyers.
The judgment is not yet final.