„Battle of the forms“ under the CISG

The "battle of the forms" refers to a classical problem of contract conclusion where both parties rely on their own standard terms to have become part of the contract. Besides the multitude of scholarly works on the topic (that is illustrated by the size of the bibliography found on the bottom of this page), also courts had the opportunity to address the problem:

Decisions applying the "last shot rule"

Cashmere clothing case
Oberlandesgericht München (Court of Appeal Munich)
Germany, 11 March 1998 – 7 U 4427/97, CISG-online 310

Conveyor belts case I
Oberlandesgericht Linz (Court of Appeal Linz)
Austria, 23 March 2005 – 6 R 200/04f, CISG-online 1376

Norfolk Southern Railway Co. v. Power Source Supply, Inc.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
USA, 25 July 2008 – 07-140-JJf, CISG-online 1776

Decisions citing the "last shot rule" with approval, but without actually applying it

Low-floor bus case
Oberlandesgericht Köln (Court of Appeal Cologne)
Germany, 24 May 2006 – 16 W 25/06, CISG-online 1232

Takap B.V. v. Europlay S.r.l.
Tribunale di Rovereto (District Court Rovereto)
Italy, 21 November 2007 – 914/06, CISG-online 1590

Roser Technologies, Inc. v. Carl Schreiber GmbH
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
USA, 10 September 2013 – 11cv302 ERIE, CISG-online 2490

VLM Food Trading Int'l, Inc. v. Illinois Trading Comp. et al.
U.S. Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)
USA, 21 January 2016 – 14-2776, CISG-online 2811

Decisions applying the "knock-out rule"

Italian knitwear case I
Amtsgericht Kehl (Local Court Kehl)
Germany, 06 October 1995 – 3 C 925/93, CISG-online 162

Les Verreries de Saint Gobain S.A. v. Martinswerk GmbH
Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court)
France, 16 July 1998 – 96-11.984, CISG-online 344

Milk powder case
Bundesgerichtshof (German Supreme Court)
Germany, 09 January 2002 – VIII ZR 304/00, CISG-online 651

The Court based its decision on the knock-out-rule while rejecting the last-shot-rule

Rubber sealing members case
Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf (Court of Appeal Düsseldorf)
Germany, 25 July 2003 – I-17 U 22/03, CISG-online 919

Printed works for CD covers case
Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt am Main (Court of Appeal Frankfurt am Main)
Germany, 26 June 2006 – 26 Sch 28/05, CISG-online 1385

Hanwha Corp. v. Cedar Petrochemicals, Inc.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
USA, 18 January 2011 – 09 Civ. 10559 (AKH), CISG-online 2178

Wavin Overseas B.V. v. Picenum Plast S.p.A.
Rechtbank Overijssel (District Court Overijssel)
Netherlands, 03 December 2014 – C-07-198594 - HZ ZA 12-139, CISG-online 2568

Italian grape juice case
Oberlandesgericht Hamm (Court of Appeal Hamm)
Germany, 25 March 2019 – 2 U 132/18, CISG-online 5215

Held that under the CISG, the "knock out rule" applies, and the "last shot rule" does not (para. 31 of the decision)

Merwestaal Moerdijk B.V. v. StaRo Stahlrohrhandelsgesellschaft mbH
Gerechthof 's-Hertogenbosch (Court of Appeal 's-Hertogenbosch)
Netherlands, 11 June 2019 – 200.239.305_01, CISG-online 5274

Held that under the CISG, the "knock out rule" applies, without even mentioning the "last shot rule"

Decisions citing the "knock-out rule" with approval, but without actually applying it

Left open whether "last shot rule" or "knock-out rule" should be followed under the Sales Convention

Insolvent wholesaler case
Oberster Gerichtshof (Austrian Supreme Court)
Austria, 13 September 2001 – 6 Ob 73/01f, CISG-online 644

Bibliography

P.C. Blodgett, 'The U.N. Convention on the Sale of Goods and the "Battle of the Forms"', 18 Colorado Lawyer (Colo. Law.) (1989), 421–427 [– in English]

Fabio Bortolotti, 'Formazione del contratto - battle of forms', Contratto e impresa/Europa (2012), 891–912 [– in Italian]

Louis F. Del Duca, 'Implementation of Contract Formation Statute of Frauds, Parol Evidence, and Battle of Forms - CISG Provisions in Civil and Common Law Countries', 25 Journal of Law & Commerce (J.L. & Com.) (2005), 133–146 [– in English]

Louis F. Del Duca, 'Implementation of Contract Formation Statute of Frauds, Parol Evidence, and Battle of Forms - CISG Provisions in Civil and Common Law Countries', 38 Uniform Commercial Code Law Journal (UCC L.J.) (2005), 55 [– in English]

Ugo Draetta, 'La „battle of forms“ nella prassi del commercio internazionale', Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale (Riv. dir. int. priv. e proc.) (1986), 319–326 [– in Italian]

Andrea Fejös, 'Battle of the Forms under the CISG', 11 Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration (VJ) (2007), 113–129 [– in English]

Edoardo Ferrante, '"Battle of forms" and the 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG): A note on the BGH (German Supreme Court) decision of 9 January 2002', Uniform Law Review/Revue de droit uniforme (Unif. L. Rev.) (2003), 975–981 [– in English]

Edoardo Ferrante, 'La battle of forms nella Convenzione di Vienna: una recente decisione del Tribunale federale tedesco', Contratto e impresa/Europa (2003), 485–511 [– in Italian]

Valerio Forti, 'La bataille des conditions générales contradictoires: étude comparative', 60(3) Revue internationale de droit comparé (R.I.D.C.) (2008), 729–760 [– in French]

Henry D. Gabriel, 'The Battle of the Forms. A Comparison of the UN Convention for the International Sale of Goods and the UCC: The Common Law and the UCC', 94 Business Lawyer (Bus. Law.) (1994), 1053–1064 [– in English]

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André Janssen, 'Kollidierende Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen im internationalen Kaufrecht (CISG)', Wirtschaftsrechtliche Blätter: Zeitschrift für österreichisches und europäisches Wirtschaftsrecht (wbl) (2002), 453–457 [– in German]

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Burghard Piltz, 'Battle of forms und UN-Kaufrecht: Die Problematik kollidierender AGB im unternehmerischen Rechtsverkehr', Zeitschrift für Internationales Wirtschaftsrecht (IWRZ) (2017), 195–200 [– in German]

Giulia Sambugaro, 'Incorporation of Standard Contract Terms and the "Battle of Forms" under the Vienna Sales Convention (CISG)', Revue de Droit des Affaires Internationales/International Business Law Journal (RDAI/IBLJ) (2009), 69–79 [– in English]

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