Fine Print too Fine

Usually nobody cares how you design your corporate stationary, but is this really true? Is it a problem to have the small print so tiny that it is no longer legible? LG Cologne passed its judgment on exactly this question on January 21, 2009 (re 18 O 351/08).

An investment company wrote not only its contract but also its standard terms and conditions (STC) in size 8. A consumer did not want to pay his dues so that the investment company sued this person in court only to be caught on the wrong foot.

LG Cologne's judgment is relevant for business in general, e.g. for insurance terms. Due to the tiny print the contract itself and the STC were considered illegible and therefore null and void. STC will only then become part of a contract when they are reasonably legible (§305 II no. 2 BGB) Consumers already consider it difficult to understand such complex contracts and STC, this problem gets exponentially more difficult when the letters' size can only be read with a magnifying glass. It is sufficient to use the commonly used size 12 and larger.