In the latest issue of the “Der NRW-Mittelstand” magazine Mario Ohoven, chairman of the Federal Association of SMEs (BVMW), deplores the fact that the traditional forecasts on economic development are merely based on the existing economic structures and do not take into account structural changes. One such structural change currently taking place is the fact that plants in the East of Europe not only offer labour-intensive products any more, but also engineering, distributional and marketing solutions. +++

The Federal Supreme Court (BGH) has annulled the trade mark protection claimed by the FIFA for the wordings “Fußball WM 2006″ and “WM 2006″. “Thanks to the BGHs verdict not only all producers of visual displays or notebooks, but also any building centre or pizza baker are entitled to promote their businesses by means of the football world cup without having to fear dissuasions and injunctions”, reports among others the new magazine for ITK marketing”target:IT” which is available in paper form and as PDF for download. According to the magazine, the sponsor protection promised by the FIFA has failed. The BGH judges ruled that the linguistic marking of the sports event cannot be regarded as a trade mark since it lacks the necessary characterizing and distinguishing features (also see “Zur Fußball-WM drohen Abmahnungen und Lizenzkosten” as well as “WM-Übertragungen in Unternehmen sind umstritten“).

As was reportet by the Handelsblatt magazine, according to the estimates of the Federal Association of German financial holdings (BVK) there will still be numerous IPOs by small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) in 2006. The »IPO 2006 survey« by the association revealed that the portfolio of German financial holdings comprises many numerous listable companies. Reason for this is said to be an improvement of the general framework by the setting up of the »Entry Standard« market segment on the Frankfurt stock exchange last year. Half of the companies eligible to being listed are financed by means of private equity (⇒ Wikipedia). +++

Good news is reported by the »Economic trade report for the spring 2006«, which was presented on Wednesday by Hanns-Eberhard Schleyer, secretary-general of the Federal Association of German Trade (ZDH). The economy was gaining momentum and expectations as regards future business are as positive as they were for the last time five years ago. Seen on a seasonal basis, however, economic indicators such as turnover, activity and backlogged orders continue to decline. At least the decline registered at the beginning of this year is not as sharp as in previous years. But, according to the association´s experts, increasing costs and continuous record-level energy prices weigh heavily on companies´ balance sheets. +++

The above can be considered to be the oversubtle conclusion drawn by the management and technology consultancy Accenture which was presented today in Kronberg. The survey was based on 302 telephone interviews carried out by Accenture in December and January with one half of these interviews done with business unit managers and the other half with persons in charge of information technology (IT). +++

In an online article on the subject of the negotiating of loans with banks some tips wich are literally worth money are given by Mr. Ernst August Bach, lawyer and book writer (we had already referred to his book). Even though bank clients are not entitled to being granted a loan by their bank, which is a fact being stressed more than once by the author in his article, already the way the request for the loan is made determines the kind of legal status the client will have later on in case of problems with the granted loan. The decisive point, according to Bach, is the necessity to ensure by means of the wording of the credit agreement that it is to establish a consultative agreement which obliges the bank to provide unbiased and comprehensive counselling. Otherwise, what the client will get is sales talk which enables the bank to promote nothing but their own products. +++

An article by the FrankfurterAllgemeineZeitung (FAZ) demonstrates an interesting connection: The German industry is profiting from high oil prices due to a backflow of petrodollars from the oil-producing countries buying high-quality technology and equipment in Germany. +++

According to the news service Pressetext.de the number of downloads from so-called podcasts (⇒ Wikipedia) has plainly multiplied by ten over a period of one year in Germany. Whereas in June 2005 there were still about 220.000 downloads being registered, this number increased to over three million recorded each month by March 2006. Podcasts can be compared to broadcasts on a special subject matter which can be downloaded and listened to by means of a MP3 player on a personal computer or any portable device. +++

For the first time in four years there is a noticeable increase by 0.9 percent in turnover on the German book market which is mainly dominated by small and medium-sized entities (SME). Book merchants, publishers and whole salers recorded a turnover of 9.2 billion Euros last year. Also in 2006 signs point to another increase. »Back in 2004 there were already signs of an upswing«, says Claudia Paul, press spokeswoman of the Börsenvereins des Deutschen Buchhandels in an interview with the news agency Pressetext.de. »Last autumn there was quite a book boom. In addition there are currently many broadcasting stations presenting books«. +++

Wirtschaftsjunioren Deutschland (WJD), the Junioren des Handwerks, the Interversicherungen and the im­pulse business magazine will award the »training ace award« to model companies providing training as well as to exemplary training initiatives. The prize is endowed with a total of 15.000 Euros. The award is intended to draw the general public´s attention to the variety and quality of training provided by German small and medium-sized entities (SME) and to further motivate entrepreneurs to strengthen the German economy by providing high-quality professional training. More than 1.000 companies have already taken part in the competition since it started in 1997. +++