Caroline Folz-Jorgensen Jan 19, 2014:

Thanks Teresa, I do think that it's the most plausible explanation. I've had that problem before with copies/pdf.

Teresa Reinhardt (asker) Jan 19, 2014:

I just had an epiphany (caffeine-induced, no doubt); went back and looked at the crummy photocopied pages - decided there was enough evidence that it's actually iÜ, with a 'g' in the preceding line obscuring the dots….Caroline, I will gladly wait until you have entered your suggestion as an answer.
My apologies to all for not verifying my first several guesses/readings sooner!

Teresa Reinhardt (asker) Jan 19, 2014:

Thank you all very much for your valiant efforts & guesses; I like Caroline's best so far because it makes sense. However, 'Vertrauen ist gut, Kontrolle ist besser' And unfortunately, they get all their umlauts right; so I don't think this is a typo.
@Phil: This is not about the language of the BGB; but so that you can see I've done my due diligence, here's § 242
Leistung nach Treu und Glauben

Der Schuldner ist verpflichtet, die Leistung so zu bewirken, wie Treu und Glauben mit Rücksicht auf die Verkehrssitte es erfordern.

Mercifully short (yes, there is such a thing even in German), and not very helpful (other than that it provides effective protection for contractual parties)

I'd prefer for someone to haul out their Palandt and look it up; I don't have access to one, and it's not yet online.

Caroline Folz-Jorgensen Jan 19, 2014:

I think it is/should read i. Ü. Abbreviation for "im Übrigen". Then the sentence would make sense: Sofern das Rechtsgeschäft im Übrigen wirksam ist, sind beide Parteien verpflichtet, alles zu tun, um die Genehmigung herbeizuführen.
So, my guess is that it is either a typo in the text, or if your copy of the text is copy/pdf, that it doesn't show the Umlaut dots clearly..

David Moore (X) Jan 19, 2014:

Hi Teresa, This isn't my field, so these are no more than guesses.

I found the following reference of a court case:
"Aktenzeichen: 1 U 24/13".

Since Palandt is full of abbreviations, is it possible that your "iU" means "im 'U' " - whatever the 'U' stands for here? Possibly someone in the know can tell us what the U means, and it may give us the answer - and then again, it may not... as I said, just a guess.

philgoddard Jan 19, 2014:

But it's a commentary on the BGB. I would look it up to see if it provides any clues.

Teresa Reinhardt (asker) Jan 19, 2014:

This is not from the BGB. It's an abbreviation that is specific to "the Palandt" (the dinosaur among BGB-Kommentare). All I can find is the same usage in a similar context. It's so obvious to a German lawyer that it doesn't require spelling out - like uU (unter Umständen), which is, however so close to common usage (u.U.) that it's more obvious. I am not familiar with i.U. in any context, and stuff like that doesn't google well

philgoddard Jan 19, 2014:

Have you looked up the relevant bit of the BGB?