Rules against unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices apply to health insurance fund established as a public law body

The European Court of Justice has stated that that a public law body charged with a task of public interest, such as the management of a statutory health insurance fund, falls within the persons covered by the rules against unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices.

A German health insurance fund established as a public law body considered neither the provisions of the UWG nor those of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive were applicable to the a German health insurance, as this rules apply only to the 'commercial practices' of a 'trader'. As a public law body does not seek to make a profit, the rules would not met.

The Bundesgerichtshof submits that the marketing communications circulated by BKK constitute a misleading practice within the meaning of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive which should be prohibited as an infringement of the UWG. The European Court conceded the BGH (JUDGMENT OF THE COURT, in Case C‑59/12, BKK Mobil Oil Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts vs. Zentrale zur Bekämpfung unlauteren Wettbewerbs eV).

Dr. Robert Kazemi