Düsseldorf Regional Court: LinkedIn networking does not circumvent the Act against Unfair Competition

In its judgment of November 22, 2025, Az. 23 C 120/25 (link only available in German), the Düsseldorf Regional Court clarified that an (indirect) connection on LinkedIn cannot justify the unsolicited sending of promotional emails.

In the case, an IT service provider had sent two promotional emails to the business email address of another company. No prior consent had been given. The sender argued that he had been connected, at least indirectly, with the company’s managing director via the LinkedIn network and could therefore have assumed that consent had been given to make contact.
The court did not accept this argument. It made it clear that unsolicited promotional emails infringe upon the right to protect business operations and processes from disruption, and are therefore generally impermissible in the absence of valid consent.

The decisive factor is the protection of business processes from unwanted interference. Even the act of reviewing and filtering out individual promotional emails ties up resources and constitutes a significant disruption. It was undisputed that the recipient had not given their express consent. The court further emphazised that neither presumed nor implied consent was sufficient. Nor did an exception for advertising to existing customers under the Act against Unfair Competition (UWG) apply in this case, as the email address would have had to have been collected in connection with the sale of goods or services.

Consequently, even an (indirect) connection on LinkedIn does not alter the classification as an unreasonable intrusion, particularly as the advertising was not sent via the social network itself, but via a different communication channel.

When using email marketing, organisations should carefully check whether valid consent or a statutory exception applies. Contact via platforms such as LinkedIn or other professional networks is not sufficient for this purpose.

Even though this ruling is not a high court decision, it is advisable to review existing processes and communication strategies and assess whether there are risks of warnings and legal disputes. We would be happy to assist you in structuring your marketing activities in a legally compliant manner.

April 14, 2026