Rechtsbruch als unlauteres Marktverhalten

The question as to whether a competitive practice is unfair if it violates a regulation is one of the most disputed issues in competition law. The legal example of an »advantage due to breach of the law«, which was created for section 1 of the original Unfair Competition Act, has now been included in section 4 no. 11 of the new Unfair Competition Act. Axel von Walter analyzes the legal developments which took place under the original version of the Unfair Competition Act in order to differentiate between this and the new codified elements of a breach of the law in section 4 no. 11. He demonstrates that the elements of a breach of the law are strongly market-oriented and discusses in detail the definitional elements of section 4 no. 11 as well as the relationship to the general clause of the law on fair competition. In conclusion, the author comments on numerous regulations from the perspective of section 4 no. 11 and gives examples for dealing with elements of a breach of the law in practice.