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IT law (information technology law) is a cross-section of various areas of law. In the IT sector, COXlegal handles all issues relating to the legal handling of hardware and software as well as those relating to the Internet.

One focus of our IT law advice is in particular the drafting and negotiation of contracts. This also includes support in setting up online stores or other e-commerce platforms. COXlegal also offers support in crisis situations, i.e. in particular in the context of out-of-court and court disputes.

Typical activities in the IT sector include, for example, the creation and testing of

• General terms and conditions and standard contracts, also for the area of e-commerce
• Software license agreements (e.g. temporary / permanent licensing, application service providing (ASP), software as a service (SaaS), cloud computing, etc.).
• IT project contracts
• Maintenance and service contracts
• Leasing, renting and purchasing hardware
• Internet system contracts
• Source code escrow agreements (software escrow)

as well as out-of-court and in-court representation in disputes, for example due to warnings in the area of file sharing, and the performance of web audits, i.e. the checking of websites for compliance with legal requirements.

Data protection

The starting point for data protection is the protection of personal data. This relates not only to the idea of misuse, but also to the overall right of every person to decide for themselves who collects, stores or processes what information about them and on what occasion. On the other hand, there are legitimate commercial interests in the use of personal data, for example in the fulfillment of contractual obligations to the customer. It is often in the interests of all parties involved to ensure that the handling of personal data complies with data protection regulations (as far as possible). In other cases, companies may have an interest in using personal data as extensively as possible. The challenge here is to provide legally compliant advice and design, for example in the context of strictly regulated commissioned data processing.

In this context, COXlegal advises, among other things, on the design of internet-based solutions that make the use of personal data indispensable. However, the consultation also covers other data protection issues.

Typical activities in the area of data protection are

• Design of data protection declarations, especially in the online area
• Drafting contracts with relevance to data protection law, including agreements on commissioned data processing
• Checking websites for special data protection features (web audits)
• Advice on employee data protection issues
• Disputes with supervisory authorities

The term “competition law” refers more narrowly to the law on fair trading. In Germany, unfair competition law is based on the Unfair Competition Act (UWG). The regulations there are intended to ensure free, but nevertheless fair economic behavior of every company in competition. This is intended to protect competitors but also increasingly consumers from unlawful business practices. The UWG provides competitors, legally capable associations for the promotion of commercial or independent professional interests and other qualified organizations with the legal means to defend themselves against unlawful conduct by companies.

Typical types of conduct that occur in connection with competition law disputes are misleading business practices (for example in the form of advertising statements), aggressive sales methods, breaches of market conduct rules (for example consumer protection standards), unauthorized advertising by telephone or e-mail and the disparagement of competitors or their products.

As it is generally unreasonable for a company to have to accept anti-competitive behavior over a longer period of time and court proceedings regularly take months, if not years, claims in competition law are almost always initially enforced by way of interim legal protection (by means of a temporary injunction). This is usually preceded out of court by a so-called warning letter, which is intended to give the competitor the opportunity to avoid legal proceedings by, among other things, submitting a cease-and-desist declaration with a penalty clause. The deadlines set are often considerably shorter than is the case in other areas of law. The person concerned in interim legal protection proceedings usually only learns of the initiated court proceedings once a decision has already been made against them. Accordingly, very considerable amounts of legal costs can quickly add up if a warning is not responded to promptly and correctly.

COXlegal has extensive experience in the field of competition law. Regardless of whether you want to enforce your rights against a competitor or whether you have been attacked with a warning letter, we will be happy to help you reliably.

Whether we like it or not, our lives are interwoven with contracts. Verbally, in writing, electronically, notarized. They are related to the individual case, to a bulk transaction or something in between. Contracts do not guarantee that the contracting parties will get along. However, a good contract serves as a guideline for the (contractual) relationship between the contracting parties.

We draft, revise and negotiate contracts with the aim of safeguarding our client’s interests. Translating these interests into legal language is just as much our task as examining and presenting alternative proposals if the interests of our client and those of the contractual partner do not appear to be compatible.

We try to avoid the creation of adhesion contracts. We like to loosen foreign gags.

We draft contracts, particularly in our main areas of expertise, but also beyond these in the form of e.g. contracts for work, purchase and service contracts as well as “free-style” contracts, which cannot be assigned to a usual area of law or a usual type of contract, but which are useful or necessary to pursue the client’s interests.

Typical contracts in the area of IT and data protection law include:

• Software development contracts (individual software, standard software)
• Software license agreements (ASP, SaaS)
• IT project contracts
• Maintenance and service contracts
• Leasing, renting and purchasing hardware
• Internet system contracts
• Source code escrow agreements (software escrow)
• other general terms and conditions, e.g. in the area of e-commerce
• Joint control agreements
• Order processing contracts

Typical contracts in the area of grant law are, for example:

• Contracts for the granting of benefits
• Contracts for the “onward transfer” of grants by grant recipients
• Consortium agreements, i.e. agreements between grant recipients who have jointly applied for a grant

Typical contracts in the area of non-profit law are, for example:

• Articles of association and association statutes
• Sponsoring and donation agreements
• Cooperation agreements between non-profit organizations

Typical contracts in the area of employment law are, for example:

• General employment contracts (fixed-term, open-ended)
• Managing director employment contracts
• Employment contracts in connection with grant projects
• Contracts for freelancers (fee-based contracts)

The term non-profit law regularly refers to the provisions of the German Fiscal Code (AO) on tax-privileged purposes (Sections 51 – 68 AO). This concerns the special tax treatment of corporations (e.g. associations, GmbHs, AGs) based on the purposes they pursue. These can be charitable, benevolent or ecclesiastical purposes. However, the term “non-profit” is regularly used as a collective term.

COXlegal advises (potential) non-profit corporations in all phases, i.e. from the foundation through the activity phase to liquidation. COXlegal advises in particular during the foundation phase (e.g. with regard to questions concerning the articles of association) as well as during the activity phase of the corporation (e.g. differentiation of taxable business operations from special-purpose operations, conversion of registered associations into a non-profit GmbH or AG, donations and sponsoring, etc.). COXlegal cooperates closely with C.O.X. Steuerberatungsgesellschaft und Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, which has been established in the non-profit sector for over 20 years. Steuerberatungsgesellschaft und Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, which has been established in the non-profit sector for 20 years.

Typical activities in the area of non-profit law are

• Advice on establishing or securing the non-profit status of corporations
• Drafting articles of association, in particular with regard to non-profit issues
• Advice on donations and sponsoring, preparation of sponsoring agreements
• Representation vis-à-vis the tax authorities
• Representation before the tax courts

The receipt of government grants is linked to the adoption of a sometimes strict regulatory corset. This raises a number of questions both in the run-up to and during the implementation and follow-up of the funding. The aim of our advice is in particular to identify the legal basis and structuring options for funding and to avoid any reclaims by the funding provider, whether due to ineligible expenditure or errors in the awarding of contracts.

We are regularly active in the following areas:

• Drafting of grant notifications and grant agreements
• Preparation and review of so-called forwarding agreements, which can be used to pass on funding to secondary recipients
• Defense against reclaims by funding bodies, e.g. in objection and legal proceedings

In the field of employment law, we at COXlegal advise and represent our clients both out of court and in disputes before the courts. In addition to the classic employment law cases relating to protection against dismissal, the drafting of employment and termination agreements as well as the scope and compensation of vacation entitlements and overtime compensation, issues relating to the digitalization and networking of the workplace are increasingly coming to the fore.

The change in employment relationships in connection with the term Work 4.0 requires versatile solutions for different requirements, which must take into account the interests of all parties involved, and thus always forms a cross-section with other areas of law.

COXlegal therefore not only advises clients in isolation on traditional employment law issues relating to individual and collective employment law, but always has an interdisciplinary cross-section in mind.

Typical activities in the field of labor law are

• Preparation of warning letters
• Drafting and review of employment, severance and termination agreements
• Employee data protection
• Employee invention law and copyright
• Advice on issues relating to the protection of special groups of people (severe disability and involvement of the integration office, maternity protection, etc.)
• Fixed-term employment law
• Protection against dismissal and judicial enforcement
• Social law cases in the employment relationship
• Accompaniment of status determination procedures
• Examination of vacation entitlements and vacation compensation
• Remuneration disputes
• Certificate disputes