Right to information

(1) Whoever uses a utility model contrary to sections 11 to 14 may be required by the injured party to give prompt information on the origin and distribution channel of the products used.
(2) In cases of manifest infringement, or in cases in which the injured party has brought an action against the infringer, the claim exists, without prejudice to paragraph 1, also against a person who, on a commercial scale,
1. had infringing products in their possession,
2. made use of infringing services,
3. provided services used for infringing activities, or
4. was, according to the particulars given by a person named in no. 1, 2 or 3, involved in the manufacture, production or distribution of such products or in the provision of such services, unless that person would be entitled, under sections 383 to 385 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to refuse to testify in proceedings against the infringer. Where the claim under the first sentence is asserted in court, the court may, on request, stay the legal dispute pending against the infringer until the legal dispute concerning the claim to information has been disposed of. The person obliged to give information may claim from the injured party reimbursement of the expenses necessary for giving the information.
(3) The person obliged to give information must provide particulars of
1. the names and addresses of the manufacturers, suppliers and other previous possessors of the products, or of the users of the services, as well as of the commercial customers and points of sale for which they were intended, and
2. the quantity of products manufactured, delivered, received or ordered, as well as the prices paid for the products or services concerned.
(4) The claims under paragraphs 1 and 2 are excluded where asserting them would be disproportionate in the individual case.
(5) Where the person obliged to give information does so intentionally or with gross negligence incorrectly or incompletely, that person is obliged to compensate the injured party for the resulting damage.
(6) Whoever has given true information without being obliged to do so under paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 is liable to third parties only where that person knew that there was no obligation to give the information.
(7) In cases of manifest infringement, the obligation to give information may be ordered by way of interim injunction under sections 935 to 945 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(8) The findings may be used in criminal proceedings or in proceedings under the Act on Regulatory Offences, in respect of an act committed before the information was given, against the person obliged to give it or against a relative named in section 52(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, only with the consent of the person obliged.
(9) Where the information can only be given using traffic data (section 3 no. 70 of the Telecommunications Act), a prior judicial order on the permissibility of the use of the traffic data, to be applied for by the injured party, is required for the information to be given. Exclusive jurisdiction to issue this order lies with the regional court in whose district the person obliged to give information has domicile, seat or an establishment, regardless of the amount in dispute. The decision is taken by the civil chamber. The provisions of the Act on Proceedings in Family Matters and in Matters of Non-Contentious Jurisdiction apply accordingly to the proceedings. The costs of the judicial order are borne by the injured party. An appeal lies against the decision of the regional court. The appeal must be lodged within a period of two weeks. The provisions on the protection of personal data remain otherwise unaffected.
(10) The fundamental right of the privacy of correspondence, posts and telecommunications (Article 10 of the Basic Law) is restricted by paragraph 2 in conjunction with paragraph 9.