German Courts Decide Whether an Infringement of the GDPR also Qualifies as Unfair-Competitive Behavior

Under the Data Protection Directive (now superseded by the General Data Protection Regulation, “GDPR”), it was disputed whether a violation of the German Data Protection Law transposing the Directive could serve as a basis for anti-competition claims under the German Act Against Unfair Competition (“Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb”, “UWG”).  Since the entry into force of the GDPR, three German courts have been asked to decide whether an infringement of the GDPR can similarly serve as a basis for such claims.  While the first two decisions were issued by courts of first instance, the third and most recent decision was decided by the High Court of Hamburg.