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27-654: BenQ Mobile GmbH & Co. OHG was the mobile communications subsidiary of Taiwanese BenQ Corporation , selling products under the BenQ-Siemens brand. The group, based in Munich , Germany , was formed out of BenQ's acquisition of the then struggling Siemens Mobile group in 2005. The newly formed company won the most iF product design awards in 2006 and also won many design awards in Germany's Red Dot competition. BenQ Mobile failed later that year. Siemens Mobile

54-524: A 26-million-euro lawsuit against its former parent BenQ in August 2007 on top of 80 million euros already claimed. The lawsuit was partly for BenQ bonus payments promised to BenQ Mobile employees in Germany that were paid by the BenQ Mobile subsidiary. In July 2008, Prager threatened a multi-million euro lawsuit against Siemens after claiming irregularities were found in the acquisition and that BenQ Mobile

81-462: A 35 million euros fund for the employees. Siemens stopped payment still owed to BenQ related to the original acquisition on 5 October and considered taking legal action against BenQ about the future use of the brand and patents, although no claim would be made. Siemens was heavily criticised by some German politicians and labour unions for mismanagement that led to the bankruptcy under subsequent BenQ ownership. A BenQ executive said that stopping funds for

108-777: A Taiwanese chairman, Jerry Wang. Joos had already been president of Siemens Mobile since 2004. Part of the reason why BenQ was chosen by Siemens was the Taiwanese company's interest to keep German locations open - the headquarters in Munich and the manufacturing plants in Kamp-Lintfort and in Bocholt . Other research and development and manufacturing plants were located in Aalborg , Beijing , Suzhou , Ulm (also in Germany), Manaus , Mexicali , Taipei and Wrocław . Before

135-582: A managing director will not invalidate a contract with a third party, but the GmbH may hold the managing director in question liable for damages. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein have different national requirements as follows: The concept of a company with limited liability existed in the United Kingdom before it did in German-speaking countries. In 1892, the laws governing

162-548: Is a type of legal entity in German-speaking countries. It is equivalent to a société à responsabilité limitée (Sàrl) in the French-speaking part of Switzerland and to a Società a Garanzia Limitata (Sagl) in the Italian-speaking part. It is an entity broadly equivalent to the private limited company in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries, and the limited liability company (LLC) in

189-713: The Real Madrid CF football club following the signing of a four-year deal. The BenQ-Siemens name appeared on the shirts of Real Madrid in the 2006-2007 season, but the company's collapse meant that the sponsorship only lasted one season. GmbH Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung ( German: [ɡəˈzɛlʃaft mɪt bəˌʃʁɛŋktɐ ˈhaftʊŋ] ), literally 'company with limited liability' (abbreviated as GmbH [ɡeːʔɛmbeːˈhaː] in Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein , and as Ges.m.b.H. in Austria ),

216-572: The Unternehmensregister . In 2008, a derived form called Unternehmergesellschaft (haftungsbeschränkt) (English: "entrepreneurial company (limited liability)"), or in short UG (haftungsbeschränkt) , was introduced. It requires a minimum founding capital of €1 and was introduced to assist company founders in setting up a new company. Also, the UG must enlarge its capital by at least 25% of its annual net profit (with some adjustments), until

243-703: The BenQ-Siemens brand during 2007 (the license still ran for another four years). These include the A53 ( Taiwan only), E52, C31, C32 and SF71 – briefly continuing the lifespan of the BenQ-Siemens brand. In August 2007, BenQ announced that it would resume production of mobile devices using its own "BenQ" brand, coming with the announcements of the BenQ E72, M7 and T51 models that would initially launch in Taiwan. BenQ started making Android devices from 2013. BenQ sponsored

270-589: The GmbH were adopted in Germany, and in Austria in 1906. During the 19th century, a legal entity with liability limited to the contributed capital was regarded as something dangerous. Hence, German law has many restrictions unknown to common law systems. Because there is no central company registry in Germany but rather several hundred connected to regional courts, administration of the law can vary somewhat between German states . Since 2007, there has been an internet-based central company register for Germany, called

297-615: The Mobile subsidiary and forcing it into insolvency protection was a "really tough decision" and not as easy as "just walking away" as was reported by some media outlets. 2,000 employees were laid off in late October 2006. A scandal investigation was launched into Siemens's and BenQ's roles in the bankruptcy of BenQ Mobile amid allegations that financial offences were committed. As of March 2007, 13 executives, including Eric Yu, were detained in Taiwan accused of selling their shares in BenQ before

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324-651: The SP65, and S88, a multimedia device with a 2-megapixel camera. In February 2006, the EF51 model was launched featuring music buttons on the front with a flip-down design that reveals a keypad. BenQ Mobile introduced the BenQ-Siemens P51 in March, a Windows Mobile 5.0 device and the only smartphone the company would release. The company ended up making huge losses, with parent BenQ losing $ 1 billion (€840 million) from

351-508: The United States. The name of the GmbH form emphasizes that the owners ( Gesellschafter , also known as members) of the entity are not personally liable for the company's debts. GmbHs are considered legal persons under German, Swiss and Austrian law. Other variations include mbH (used when the term Gesellschaft is part of the company name itself), and gGmbH ( gemeinnützige GmbH) for non-profit companies. The GmbH has become

378-563: The acquisition BenQ was already making mobile phones – including two Symbian UIQ smartphone models and one Windows Mobile smartphone model. On 17 January 2006, the first handsets under the new BenQ-Siemens brand were launched: the EF81, a slim clamshell phone similar to the Motorola RAZR ; the S68, a premium light and compact candybar phone targeting business users, being the successor of

405-490: The acquisition to September 2006, and its share price dropping by 45 percent. BenQ Mobile only had a global 2.4% market share as of Q3 2006, demonstrating its failure to turn the business around in its first year. In September, it was announced that its factories in Mexico and Taiwan would halt production. BenQ Mobile filed for bankruptcy in a Munich court on 29 September 2006, a day after its parent BenQ decided to stop funding

432-505: The announcement knowing about the bankruptcy filing. Shares in BenQ fell 7% to its lowest level in ten years. BenQ CEO K.Y. Lee was also detained a month later. At the same time Siemens was facing wide allegations in Germany of internal corruption and bribery not necessarily related to BenQ Mobile. After no suitable investors or buyers were found for the business, BenQ Mobile's insolvency administrator, Martin Prager, said on 2 January 2007 that

459-427: The articles of association. Many of those documents have to be filed with the company registry, where they are checked by special judges or other judicial officers. This can be a tiresome and time-consuming process, as in most cases the transactions are legally valid only when filed with the registry. The founding process is expensive. Normally the foundation of a new GmbH costs about €1000 to €3000. The GmbH law outlines

486-419: The company is run only by the managing directors ( Geschäftsführer ) who have the unrestricted proxy for the company. The members acting collectively may restrict the powers of the managing directors by giving them binding orders. In most cases, the articles of the association list the business activities for which the directors obtain prior consent from the members. Under German law, a violation of these duties by

513-572: The company would have to shut down. On 30 January the BenQ Mobile factory in Kamp-Lintfort closed. Representatives of the labour union IG Metall bid farewell to the last 165 workers with flowers. The demise of BenQ Mobile caused 3,000 employees to lose their jobs. The company's assets were auctioned off in Hamburg and at eBay in March 2007 and in June. The losses of 2005 and 2006, wiped out all profits BenQ had made since 1999. Martin Prager launched

540-535: The end of the fiscal year in which they were accrued, but are allowed to build capital reserves totaling 10 percent of annual donations or 33 percent of dividends received. Kamp-Lintfort Kamp-Lintfort is twinned with: Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as oceanic (Cfb). It lies within the Rhine-Ruhr area which is characterized by having the warmest winters in Germany . This Wesel district location article

567-489: The founding stages", with the meaning of "registration pending"); and finally the fully registered GmbH. Only the registration of the company in the Commercial Register ( Handelsregister ) provides the GmbH with its full legal status. The founding act and the articles of association have to be notarized , as do a number of business transactions, such as transfer of shares, issuing of stock, and amendments to

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594-470: The general minimum of €25,000 is reached (at which point the company may change its name to the more prestigious GmbH ). In this case, the word haftungsbeschränkt must not be abbreviated. A gemeinnützige Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (gGmbH) is a special form of a limited liability company with a charitable purpose. Traditional foundations and gGmbHs in Germany do not have minimum annual giving requirements. They are required to spend any profits by

621-426: The minimum content of the articles of association, but it is quite common to have a wide range of additional rules in the articles. Under German law, the GmbH must have a minimum founding capital of €25,000 (§ 5 I GmbHG), of which €12,500 has to be raised before registering in the commercial register (§ 7 II GmbHG). A supervisory board ( Aufsichtsrat ) is required if the company has more than 500 employees; otherwise,

648-584: The most common corporation form in Germany because the AG ( Aktiengesellschaft ), the other major company form corresponding to a stock corporation, was much more complicated to form and operate until recently. A GmbH is formed in three stages: the founding association, which is regarded as a private partnership with full liability of the founding partners/members; the founded company (often styled as "GmbH i.G.", with "i.G." standing for in Gründung – literally "in

675-526: The unit. This sparked a debate in Germany over whether BenQ only acquired the Siemens mobile division for its patents and intellectual property, and that it did not intend to continue manufacturing mobile phones in Germany. The bankruptcy caused outrage in Germany over the possible thousands of job losses, with chancellor Angela Merkel having said that Siemens is responsible for the BenQ Mobile (i.e. former Siemens Mobile) employees who are at risk. Siemens set up

702-596: Was already insolvent as early as May 2006 - a claim first reported by German newspaper Die Welt . A settlement between Prager and Siemens was reached in November 2008. Former BenQ CEO K. Y. Lee, along with several executives including Eric Yu and Sheaffer Lee, were cleared of their insider trading, embezzlement and forgery charges in August 2009, after a two-year trial. After the company closed, its former parent company, BenQ, launched five new phones (produced in Asia) under

729-417: Was loss-making and struggling in the market, and the division was then sold to BenQ Corporation in June 2005 to try to turn the business around. As part of the deal, Siemens would pay BenQ at least 250 million euros to get the new venture to a solid start, in return of a 2.5% stake in BenQ. The acquisition was completed on 1 October 2005, with the formation of BenQ Mobile, led by a German CEO, Clemens Joos, and

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