German Court Seeks Guidance from European Court of Justice in Facebook Case

A court in Germany hearing an appeal by Facebook against data curbs imposed by the country’s antitrust watchdog said it would seek guidance from the European Court of Justice on the case. The move effectively defers a verdict in the two-year-old court battle and casts a spotlight on whether Germany’s Federal Cartel Office may have exceeded its authority in seeking to apply competition law to the issue of data protection.