Purchasing law

Purchasing rights regard a sub-area of private law / civil law. Purchasing law deals with the rights and obligations of the seller and the purchaser at the moment of conclusion of a purchase contract for a specific object of purchase. The purchase law is regulated in §§ 433 ff BGB and has been handled in numerous decisions of the Federal Court of Justice.

Contract of Sale

In contrast to other types of contract (lending contract, leasing contract, donation agreement, contract sui generis, etc.), a contract of sales constitutes very often a concluded contract regarding the daily life.

Subject of a contract of purchase

The subject of a purchase contract is often an object (movable or immovable). The distinction of the object into movable or immovable is also necessary, because the respective obligations can be different. Among other things, as a subject of a purchase agreement are actually rights. Thus patent rights, trademark rights or payment claims can be sold.

Lack of purchased item and lack of warranty

In case of a contract of sale, buyer and seller have rights and obligations that the buyer is obliged to pay the purchase price and to hand over the purchase object to the seller. A frequent matter of dispute in the purchasing right constitutes deficiencies of any kind in the purchased item.

Customer good purchase and consumer protection

The European Customer Product Purchase Directive protects consumers as purchasers. However, this protection is only applicable to consumers and not to entrepreneurs.

Sale of Goods

Traders have particular regulation to observe in regard to purchasing rights. An “entrepreneur” is not always a “businessman” though. The purchase of goods for example, regulates an immediate obligation to inspect and an immediate-complaint obligation of the purchaser of a purchase item.

On the following topics there is an extensive jurisprudence to be taken into consideration in purchasing law:

• Payment of the selling price
• Setoff
• Right of detention
• Defect (material defect or defect of title)
• Rectification
• Withdrawal
• Loss
• Damages
• Warranty
• Liability
• Consumer good purchase
• Reservation of property rights
• Notification of complaint