In the case of BMW v. Carrera, the German Supreme Court was confronted with the question of whether toy reproductions by the defendant of a sports car manufactured by the plaintiff infringed any of the plaintiff's rights. It was held that no such rights were infringed.

On the question of registered design rights, it was held, contrary to one of the lower courts, that rights in a registration of the car could in principle extend to toy models of it, but in the present case differences in the appearance of the wheels took the toys outside the scope of protection.

On the question of unfair competition, the court followed earlier case law to hold that, in the absence of any trademark infringement, the manufacture and sale of toy reproductions of a car did not mean that an exploitation of the car manufacturer's reputation had occurred nor that confusion of origin was likely to occur nor, in view of the defendant's own reputation in the toy market, that an association with the car manufacturer was to be assumed nor that the car manufacturer's commercial activities were likely to be impeded. Hence there was no infringement of BMW's rights under the unfair competition law.