European Union: Requested preliminary ruling in civil lawsuit involving private parties' legal action under GDPR

On 12 January 2023, the German Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) submitted a request for a repliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on whether infringements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can ground a private person's competition lawsuit against a competitor alleging unfair commercial practices. The request originates with two cases in which plaintiff pharmacists sought to ground lawsuits under the Act against Unfair Competition against the defendant pharmacists on their alleged breaches of the GDPR while selling medical products online via Amazon. Specifically, the FCJ requests clarification from the CJEU on whether the provisions in Chapter VIII preclude the actions by the plaintiff pharmacists.