Deutsche Post to appeal against E-Postbrief advertising verdict

Deutsche Post said today it will appeal against a court verdict which would ban part of itsadvertising slogan for its electronic mail product E-Postbrief and also signed up German football

A Bonn court ruled that the German mail operator can no longer claim that the E-Postbrief is “assecure and legally binding as a letter”, the German consumer protection association announcedyesterday.  The judge said the advertising slogan implied legally binding documents could besent via the electronic mail service but this was not always true as some documents require ahandwritten signature.

Deutsche Post has been heavily promoting the E-Postbrief in Germany over the last year withlarge-scale advertising in media and at prominent public locations such as football stadiums.

A company spokesman told CEP-Research that Deutsche Post had always said there were a fewoccasions which required written communications but the overwhelming majority of legal businesscould be done using the E-Postbrief, including various kinds of contracts.

“With the E-Postbrief the user can prove that his declaration of intent has arrived at therecipient and the statement can be clearly attributed to the sender,” the spokesman stated.

Deutsche Post believed that its current advertising was not misleading and would thus appealagainst the verdict, which is not yet legally enforceable, he stressed.

Separately, one of Germany’s top football teams, Bayer Leverkusen, has been signed up byDeutsche Post as a cooperation partner for the E-Postbrief. The club, which was runner-up in theBundesliga last season, will use the electronic mail service for communications with fans,including its 26,000 club members, and business partners.

Bayer Leverkusen is looking into using the E-Postbrief for binding ticket reservations as wellas sales of fan products, and will also cooperate with Deutsche Post for letter and parcelservices. Ralph Wiegand, member of the Deutsche Post mail management board, said the company wouldbecome a new Bayer Leverkusen sponsor.