In the event of non-compliance, a fine of up to € 250,000 or up to six months’ imprisonment may be imposed. The decision was made by way of a ruling and without written reasons and is not yet legally binding.
What is the “Autocomplete function”?
The autocomplete function works like this: While entering search terms into the “Google” search engine, users are automatically shown various search suggestions in the form of word combinations in a window that opens. According to Google, the search suggestions displayed as part of this additional search function are determined using an algorithm that takes into account the number of search queries entered by other users and the content of indexed websites, among other things.
Google deleted, but only incompletely
Google had made some modifications to the autocomplete function in response to corresponding requests, but only insufficiently. For example, the above-mentioned suggestions were still displayed if the letter “b” was entered in the search bar next to the first search word.
The Regional Court of Cologne agreed with our client that this conduct also unlawfully interfered with the entrepreneur’s right of personality and must therefore be refrained from.
Lawyer Arno Lampmann from the law firm LHR:
“The decision of the Regional Court of Cologne is one of the first decisions in summary proceedings to put a stop to the seemingly overpowering search engine. It consistently implements the supreme court requirements of the BGH decision “autocomplete” (BGH, Urteil v. 14.05.2013, Az. VI ZR 269/12), which the Higher Regional Court of Cologne has already followed (OLG Köln, v. 8.4.2014, Az. 15 U 199/11).”
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