UNAIR NEWS – Universitas Airlangga Faculty of Law (FH) continues conducting internationalization programs through guest lectures with international legal experts. In a guest lecture on Thursday, September 22, 2022, Prof Stefan Koos delivered materials on Business Competition Law.
The professor of the University of the Bundeswehr, Germany, gave a lecture on Business Competition Law in Europe. The applicable law is a legal product made by the European Union, effectively applied among the member states of the European Union.
“The EU law is superior to the laws of member states. There is no Business Competition Law in Germany. Instead, we apply the Business Competition Law issued by the European Union,” Koos stated.
He further explained how to understand the Business Competition Law. It is highly associated with other legal understandings, including criminal law.
“This is the basis of learning laws—including Business Competition Law—as the law being a comprehensive system. “In order to understand Business Competition Law, it is also necessary to understand Consumer Protection Law, Intellectual Property Law, and other legal fields,” he said.
There are two regulations on business competition, which become the main reference in Germany, the Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb (UWG) and Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen (GWB). He also named several examples of cases, for instance, the case of the Jet toilet paper advert in Germany.
“Jet is a brand of toilet paper in Germany. They made the mistake of insulting their competitor. In the ad, Jet mentioned that those who bought toilet paper other than the Jet had small brains (stupid, ed). It clearly violates the German Business Competition Law (UWG-GWB),” the professor said.
In addition, Koos gave examples of ideal business competition. A German-based internet service provider, 1&1, advertised its product by presenting test results of its products compared with other brand products.
“With these test results, 1&1 emphasizes that their products are of high quality. However, they offer lower prices by providing comparative data from other brands,” he concluded.
Author: Fredrick Binsar Gamaliel M
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
