Addressee of notice of non-conformity

Art. 39 CISG states that the buyer has to give notice of non-conformity "to the seller" (Art. 39(1) CISG) respectively has "to give the seller notice" (Art. 39(2) CISG).

Case law under the Convention has occasionally interpreted this requirement:

Notice given by buyer to an agent of the seller (who has authority to receive such notices) is sufficient for purposes of Art. 39 CISG:

Notice given by buyer to an employee of the seller (who has no authority to receive such notices) is insufficient for purposes of Art. 39 CISG:

Notice given by buyer to the manufacturer of the goods (a third party different from the seller) is insufficient for purposes of Art. 39 CISG:

Csango Ltd. v. Di Molfetta
Corte di Appello di Bari (Court of Appeal Bari)
Italy, 14 May 2009 – 494/2009, CISG-online 4952

Held that a notice given by the buyer to the manufacturer of part of the goods bought is insufficient for purposes of Art. 39(1) CISG because the manufacturer was not a party to the sales contract, even if the manufacturer was (allegdly) strongly involved in the performance of the contract

Notice given by buyer to buyer's own customer (a third party different from the seller) is insufficient for purposes of Art. 39 CISG:

Notice given by buyer to an intermediary who had facilitated the contract formation (but who has no authority from the seller to receive such notices) is insufficient for purposes of Art. 39 CISG: