(1) Before instituting court proceedings, the party authorised to assert a claim to cease and desist is, as a rule, to issue the debtor with a written warning notice and to give the debtor the opportunity to settle the dispute by entering into an obligation to cease and desist subject to an appropriate contractual penalty.
(2) The written warning notice must clearly and comprehensively state the following:
1. the name or business name of the entity issuing the written warning notice and, in the case of it having a representative, the name or business name of its representative,
2. the conditions of entitlement under section 8 (3),
3. whether and in what amount a claim for reimbursement is being asserted and how it has been calculated,
4. the infringement, stating the factual circumstances,
5. in the cases referred to in subsection (4), that a claim to reimbursement of expenses is ruled out.
(3) If the written warning notice is justified and meets the requirements set out in subsection (2), the entity issuing the written warning notice may demand reimbursement of any necessary expenses from the entity issued with the written warning notice.
(4) The claim to reimbursement of any necessary expenses in accordance with subsection (3) is ruled out in the case of claimants pursuant to section 8 (3) no. 1 in the case of
1. infringements of statutory information and labelling obligations in electronic commerce or digital services within the meaning of section 1 (4) no. 1 of the Digital Services Act, or
2. other infringements of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1; L 314, 22.11.2016, p. 72; L 127, 23.5.2018, p. 2) and of the Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz) by enterprises and commercially active associations, insofar as they generally employ fewer than 250 members of staff.
(5) Where the written warning notice is not justified or does not meet the requirements set out in subsection (2) or where a claim to reimbursement of expenses is asserted contrary to subsection (4), the entity issued with the written warning notice is entitled to claim compensation for any expenses necessary for its legal defence against the entity issuing the written warning notice. The entitlement under sentence 1 is limited to the amount of the claim to reimbursement of expenses which the entity issuing the written warning notice is asserting. In the case of an unjustified written warning notice, the entitlement referred to in sentence 1 does not exist if it was impossible for the entity issuing the written warning notice to recognise the lack of justification for the written warning notice at the time of its issue. Further claims to compensation remain unaffected.