(1) The injured party is, as a rule, to notify the infringer before instituting proceedings in court to desist from infringement and to give the infringer the opportunity to settle the dispute by entering into an obligation to desist from infringement accompanied by an equitable contractual penalty.
(2) The notification must clearly and comprehensibly
1. state the name or company of the injured party if it is not the injured party but a representative who gives notification,
2. provide a precise description of the infringement,
3. break down claims to payment asserted into claims for damages and claims for compensation, and
4. if the notification contains a request to enter into an obligation to desist from infringement, to state to whether the proposed obligation to desist from infringement goes substantially beyond the infringement notified.
A notification which does not meet the conditions of sentence 1 is not effective.
(3) Where the notification is justified and meets the conditions of subsection (2) sentence 1 nos. 1 to 4, reimbursement of expenses necessarily incurred may be demanded. Where legal services have been used, the reimbursement of expenses necessarily incurred is limited, as regards statutory fees, to fees based on a value of the object of the claim to desist and the claim for removal of 1,000 euros if the person notified
1. is a natural person who does not use the works protected under this Act or other subject matter protected under this Act for his or her commercial or self-employed business activity and
2. is not already obliged to desist from infringement on the basis of a claim of the notifying party by contract, a legally binding decision or a temporary injunction.
The value referred to in sentence 2 is also decisive where a claim to desist and a claim for removal are asserted in parallel. Sentence 2 does not apply where the value referred to is unreasonable based on the specific circumstances of the individual case.
(4) Where the notification is unjustified or ineffective, the person notified may demand reimbursement of the necessary expenses incurred in respect of defending their rights, unless the person giving notification was not able to recognise at the point in time when notification was made that the notification was unjustified. Rights to reimbursement over and above this remain unaffected.