SNP successfully defends Prof Dr Ferdinand Dudenhöffer in licence plate dispute

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The commercial law firm SNP successfully represented Ferdi Research GmbH and its managing director Prof Dr Ferdinand Dudenhöffer in preliminary injunction proceedings against D+S Automotive GmbH before the Regional Court of Cologne.

‘Autopapst’ Prof Dr Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, one of the most quoted experts in the automotive industry, is the founder of the CAR Center Automotive Research institute. Originally established at the former Gelsenkirchen University of Applied Sciences, he moved the CAR there after moving to the University of Duisburg and, after leaving in 2020, to D+S Automotive GmbH, of which he is a minority shareholder. In particular, the CAR organises symposia on automobility and publishes industry-specific studies. Prof Dr Dudenhöffer’s consultancy contract with D+S Automotive GmbH was terminated at the end of 2023 and he has now transferred the CAR to his consultancy company, Ferdi Research GmbH. D+S Automotive GmbH objected to this and wanted to prohibit both Prof Dr Dudenhöffer personally and his new company from any further use of the name ‘CAR Center Automotive Research’. SNP was able to obtain a complete rejection of the application for a temporary injunction. The decision is not yet legally binding.

Advisor Prof Dr Ferdinand Dudenhöffer          
SNP, Freiburg: Richard Rummel (Corporate law), Gero Wilke (industrial property rights)

Press contact
Richard Rummel, LL.M.
Attorney
Partner
Phone: +49 761 214405-20
Email: richard.rummel@snp.law

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