German trademark law: Banks must disclose account holder in cases of counterfeit and pirated goods
The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) has ruled that in cases of counterfeit and pirated goods, banks may be obliged under the law to disclose the identity, name and address of the account holder involved in the sale. The decision was handed down on 21 October 2015, following an earlier preliminary ruling by the European Court of Justice (BGH, Urteil vom 21. Oktober 2015, Aktenzeichen I ZR 51/12 – Davidoff Hot Water II, see the BGH press release).