DoubleDTown

  our local Penny no longer carries PB.  it literally filled the shelf space with more Nutella.  Nutella next to Nutella.  No PB.   on the plus side, it does still carry maple syrup.  it's not from Vermont though, only Canada stuff.

our local Penny has been out of PB for weeks, but the Netto ("orange Netto", not "Hunde Netto") nearby still has it.  I don't know if Netto has a different supplier or if Netto customers don't eat as much PB.

  No, that's not what I'm saying. (and I'm saying it based on U.S. experience)  What I'm saying is courts and law enforcement aren't much interested in enforcing trademark protection laws.  But, trademark owners are interested.  You probably have a civil claim against the seller that he sold you something different than what he offered you.  The trademark owner has a claim against the seller too, because he sold goods that violate the trademark owner's trademark rights.    But, if the trademark owner takes action it doesn't help you.   And for you to take action is likely not worth the expense.    The harsh reality that trademark counterfeiters often get away with it doesn't make becoming a counterfeiter a good business risk.

  police and judges will say "I have drug smuggling and "real" crimes to deal with where people actually get hurt."  That's not to say that one can't bring civil cases for trademark violations, one can, one just doesn't get a lot of sympathy from courts who think some businesses and fancy lawyers are wasting time that could be spent on "real" crimes.   

  indeed, it is a crime.  I can't speak from experience in Germany, but I can tell you in the U.S. that it is really hard to get law enforcement, or even a judge, interested in trademark counterfeiting or infringement no matter how blatant it is -- unless maybe pharmaceuticals are involved.  But, if you sell goods that you know are counterfeit then YOU are a counterfeiter.  Having bought them innocently from someone else doesn't absolve you, it just means you got burned. Sorry.   The party most likely to be interested, but also probably not likely to help you out financially, is the company that owns the subject trademark.  To find the German lawyer that handles that mark, try looking up the mark at the German trademark office, the DPMA.  Link to online search here:  https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/einsteiger?lang=en  

My Burgerbüro gave me a copy, not a redacted copy.

  dstanner is correct.   copyright protects expression  = movies, books, songs, recordings, plays   patent protects original ideas = new machines and methods   trademark protects indicator of origin = symbols, logos, brand names, colors, sounds, smells   trademarks can be forever, they can continue to be renewed as long as one continues to use them   copyright and patent protection is for a limited term   all are forms of a government-granted monopoly

  atomic power generation.  You seemed concerned that "without a cheap and abundant and scalable source of energy there is no human civilization".  I'm thinking that if all other sources fail, atomic power could be used to produce electricity.  Electricity can be used to provide power for trucks and other things with motors.

  atomic

  Ge-f-ing-nau.  Hospitals don't even have a/c as standard, other than in operating rooms.  I read an article a year or two ago in the Artzteblatt about an experiment in Berlin with air conditioning.  Surprise, patients' recovery time improved.  But apparently, this wasn't normal a/c like mere American hospitals have -- that might blow germs around.  This was special cooling pipes in the wall - sort of a vertical version of Fussbodenheizung. 

  as a smart ar$e...    'common descriptive' is another way of saying 'generic'    a generic can't be protected.  though you could protect your distinctive logo or stylized display of the generic term.    if it is merely descriptive, and not generic, then you could potentially acquire secondary meaning through extensive use or advertising and earn distinctiveness that enables protection.  but it's not an optimal starting point.  A descriptive mark is inherently weak, and any scope of protection is going to be narrow.    marketing teams love marks that tell potential consumers what a product is.  there is something to be said for that.  but the most protectable mark is one that is arbitrary or coined.  like AMAZON for online books sales (arbitrary) or EXXON for petroleum products (coined / made up). 

  1. good you've got the uwbtest domain name already (or at least one of them...) how about the social media usernames that would correspond?  If not, move on.   2. Nobody likes paying for it, and many people think "I'm a small business, it won't matter", but consider a trademark clearance search before starting to invest time and money in building awareness for your business name.  (a) can you use the name without someone successfully objecting to your use? and  (b) can you expect to protect the name?    And yes, this would have to be done jurisdiction by jurisdiction, that's just how it is.  (the EU is one jurisdiction)

  the law is accessible to anyone willing to take the time to learn excellent German and study the law, or pay someone who has for their expertise.  Just like the beneifts of safe electrical wiring and plumbing are accessible to anyone willing to invest the time and energy in learning how they work, what the best modern materials are, and collect all the necessary tools - or pay someone who has to handle the electrical and plumbing matters.

  You can't be sure the purchase will hold up long term unless all the pieces of the puzzle are correct.  If it turns out there is a problem with the Vollmacht, who knows what will happen with the transaction.  That's why having the correct Vollmacht is relevant to ensuring the ownership is as you intend.   Just an A4 template?   No, it is a magical piece of A4 paper with mystical words on it that let you do something you can't otherwise do -- close the sale without your wife being present.  Find a magician that knows the trick, or get your wife to show up for the closing, or try doing the magic trick yourself and time may tell if you got it right.  

  Sounds like you want the Notar to provide you with a form of Vollmacht?    Did he refuse, or was it that he wanted to charge you for it?    I suppose you could get a form from the Internet, or from a Rechtsanwalt (for money), but "[Notars] examine the intentions of the parties, draft the contracts and instruments necessary to carry out the intended transaction and ensure that the contractual provisions are in full compliance with the law."  (See https://www.bnotk.de/en/what_for.php ) -- So I would expect that for money he could prepare a suitable form of Vollmacht for you.