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Designer Usmann Butt has worked with leading engineers in the damascus steel industry to refine the forging process in a way that would allow to make highly layered hand-forged damascus steel knives affordable to a broader spectrum of people.

GRP Rainer Lawyers Tax Advisors, Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen, Nuremberg and London grprainer.com/en explain: It seems like the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) gave a judgment on the question which length is appropriate for a commitment of partners by a memorandum of partnership of a GbR which is binding for the partners (Ref. no.: II ZR 176/12).

GRP Rainer Lawyers Tax Advisors, Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen, Nuremberg and London www.grprainer.com/en explain: Investments abroad also appear to be continuing to increase in the banking sector. At the same time, the investor who is least familiar with the sector is grateful for any expert advice. The publications of so-called rating agencies that assess the credit rating of banks are therefore frequently relied upon.

GRP Rainer Lawyers Tax Advisors, Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Hanover, Bremen, Nuremberg, Essen and London www.grprainer.com/en explain: If a brokerage agreement concluded between a broker and an interested party is invalid, the broker may nonetheless be entitled to claim commission. This would firstly be conditional upon the broker acting as a salesman for the interested party, who must also be able to discern this. Additionally, the broker’s services have to be justified by the existing relationship between the parties concerned, i.e. the broker may not act without a legal basis from the perspective of the interested parties.

GRP Rainer Lawyers Tax Advisors, Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Hanover, Bremen, Nuremberg, Essen and London www.grprainer.com/en explain: The path to attaching debtor’s claims only represents one of the creditor’s possibilities for enforcing his rights. The law of compulsory enforcement provides creditors with yet more ways to facilitate the enforcement of their claims. The legal basis for compulsory enforcement is found in the Code of Civil Procedure (Zivilprozessordnung (ZPO)), in which its requirements are regulated. These must be satisfied so that the creditor can attach debtor’s claims.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors, Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen, Nuremberg and London www.grprainer.com/en explain: In its judgment of 25 May 2011 (Az. IV ZR 117/09), the Federal Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the legal action submitted by a retail firm against one of the market-leading companies in the field of transporting money and valuables. The complainant sought through its legal action the insurance benefits from a purchased transportation insurance policy. The action had already been rejected by the competent appellate court and now the complainant’s appeal has also not been met with success.

GRP Rainer lawyers and tax advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen Nuremberg and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: In its decision of 14 April 2010 (Az. 6 U 46/09), the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court rejected the protection of screen masks. The Higher Regional Court had to rule on the design of two screen masks. The complainant is arguably the market leader for the distribution of travel agency software. It brought an action against a competitor in this sector which allegedly distributes virtually identical screen masks for travel bookings. In the view of the complainant, the screen mask is likely to be an imitation. On this basis, the complainant then lodged claims under copyright before the Court against the competitor.

GRP Rainer lawyers and tax advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen Nuremberg and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: Should it be the case that the original will disappears, the volition of the testator may be proven otherwise. According to the judicial decision it will henceforth be possible to verify the order of succession effectively by providing a copy of the will, provided that the will undoubtedly originates from the testator. It is moreover to be detected whether the testator wanted the original will to disappear, because that would equal a revocation.

GRP Rainer lawyers and tax advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen Nuremberg and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: The Higher Labour Court of Rheinland-Pfalz determined in its decision from April 30th 2012 (AZ: 5 Sa 687/11) that personnel talks between employer and employee are subject to a special mutual trust. However, this trust is strongly disturbed if the employee makes audio recordings with a mobile phone during the personnel talk.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Hanover, Bremen, Nuremberg and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: The Federal Supreme Court in its statement made reference to the Stock Corporation Act (AktG). According to it, a premature reappointment of a corporation board member for five years is permitted in case of an amicable resignation without special reasons. For this purpose, the Supervisory Board should no longer be bound by the provisions of the Stock Corporation Act. Furthermore, it is necessary to decide at least every five years on the renewal of the board member appointment.

GRP Rainer lawyers and tax advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen and Nuremberg grprainer.com/en conclude: To enforce your claims to debtors, it is necessary to make sure that the necessary conditions for the enforcement are available. The conditions of enforcement are regulated by the Civil Procedure Code (ZPO). When these requirements are fulfilled, the creditor may request the competent execution court to seize assets of the debtor. The executing court jurisdiction depends basically on the domicile of the debtor.

A protective clause concerning compulsory parts must be interpreted as sufficient so that a corresponding earnest request of the compulsory portion against the heirs automatically triggers the protected right.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Hanover, Bremen, Nuremberg and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: According to the court, a premature reappointment of a board member of a corporation for five years is permitted in case of an amicable resignation without special reasons. For this purpose, the supervisory board should not be bound by the provisions of the Stock Corporation Act (AktG). Furthermore, it is necessary to decide at least every five years on the renewal of the appointment of board member.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Hanover, Bremen, Nuremberg and London grprainer.com/en conclude: In their judgment from 07/18/2012 (case No. 1 BvL 16/11) the judges assumed that the discrimination of registered partners against spouses that existed in connection with the real estate purchase tax violates the constitution. Only spouses benefited from the change in the land purchase tax rates as applied to realty transfers before 2010 while registered partners were not covered by these benefits. In addition, for old cases starting from 2001 that are affected by this tax, there was a supplementary privilege rule.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen, Hanover, Nuremberg, Essen and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: This is the case even if it has been made according to the wish and instructions of the deceased and signed by him or her. The decision of the Higher Regional Court in Hamm states that the will should only be considered valid by its form if it has been written by hand without any outside influence.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen, Hanover, Nuremberg, Essen and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: The State Court of Tubingen (case No. 7 O 525/10) has rejected by its new ruling the suit of an associate professor who demanded the court to have his personal data removed from an online encyclopaedia. The court justified its decision by the fact that although the publication of an article in the online encyclopaedia would indeed interfere with the professor’s privacy, it must nevertheless be subordinated to the fundamental right to freedom of the media upon its consideration among other basic rights.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen, Hanover, Nuremberg, Essen and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: The reference in the contract to the voluntary character and the withdrawal of special payments to the employee must be expressed unambiguously in the general working conditions. Otherwise, the employer’s rights for changes of these payments will not be available. These will require a precise definition of the shares of the additional payments that are bound by the voluntary condition, as well as the shares under the revocation.

In general a will in the original characterizes a valid proof of inheritance of a property. However, in individual cases it should be also possible to use a photocopy of the testament as a proof. This was decided lately by the Naumburg Higher Regional Court at the 3/29/2012 (Case No.: 2 Wx 60/11).

Shingles is also called Herpes Zoster and is typically known being similar to chicken pox due to the fact that the same virus is responsible for shingles too. The dorsal root nerve ganglia works as a prey for this virus so that reactivation of varicella is caused. Painful skin rash with fluid filled blisters appear after which the discomfort could last for months. The signs of shingles; are primarily divided into 3 groups: The Rash Phase (Prodromal Phase), the Eruptive Stage and the Post Neuralgia stage.

GRP Rainer lawyers and tax advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: The reference in the labour contract to the voluntary nature of special payments to the employee, as well as to the right to deprive the employee of them, must be expressed unambiguously in the general working conditions. Otherwise, the employer’s possible right for changes of these payments will not be available. It is necessary to define precisely which parts of the additional payments are voluntary and which of them are revocable.

GRP Rainer Lawyers Tax Advisors, Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and London http://grprainer.com/en explain: The German Federal court of justice (Bundesgerichtshof - judgment from 05.07.12 - II ZR 116/11) ruled on the preconditions of the company's continued responsibility based on § 25 of the German commercial code (HGB). Ltd's sharing the same name as a personal corporation might be answerable for poor investment recommendations.

As a rule, a will in the original represents a valid proof of inheritance of a property. In individual cases, however, according to the Naumburg Higher Regional Court’s recent decision of 29.03.2012 (Case No.: 2 Wx 60/11), even a photocopy of the will may be deemed sufficient to prove the heir’s rights.

GRP Rainer Lawyers Tax Advisors, Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and London http://www.grprainer.com/en inform: On the 01.01.2010 the inheritance - and limitations law reform became effective. This could lead to the outcome that a large part of the inheritance claims expire by 31.12.2012. Because of this reform, the 30 year period of limitations according to the German Civil Code (BGB) is no longer applicable. Since 01.01.2010 a large portion of inheritance claims fall into the three year limitation period in line with the §195 of the Civil Code. In the case of bequests, the new shortened limitations period is particularly adhered.

If for example, the main priority of a community trademark over a national trade mark is in question, the day of registration is applicable. The precise time of the brand registration should not be assessed.

GRP Rainer lawyers and tax advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: Interpretation of compensation clauses for a shareholder withdrawing from a limited liability company should assume that the shareholders having doubts about the compensation clauses in the memorandum of association pursue such a compensation for the shareholders withdrawing from the company that will treat them equally and settle the matters for a long term.

The judgment of BAG (the Federal Labour Court of Germany) outlines the principle that there is no obligation for a former employee to return his salary agreed upon with a new employer to the previous one for the reason of the breach of non-competition.

GRP Rainer Lawyers Tax Advisors, Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, London http://www.grprainer.com/en elaborate: In certain cases it may occur that multiple written warnings are issued. A reiterated caution, may according to the Greater The courtroom of Oldenburg, be essential and justified. The costs regarding validated levels of competition law warnings are eligible with regard to compensation, even if the accountable party has received a warning by a 3rd party and the creditor didn't have any prior knowledge of it.