Caution: Potential permanent hardware binding!

Office 2013 is bound in accordance with license conditions during the first activation permanently to the hardware, that is, you can the software not legal to another computer re-enable (after a computer failure or replacement of certain components such as the hard disk!) After previous uninstallation.

In the license terms for retail or OEM version of Office 2013 is literally:

[..] Can I transfer the software to another computer or user? You are not entitled to transfer the software to another computer or user. You may use the software installed on the licensed computer as with the COA label, and this agreement directly transferred to third parties. Before the transfer, the other party must agree that this agreement applies to the transfer and use of the software. [..]

To be sure, I have therefore asked the following question to the Microsoft support:

"Here [= indicated above excerpt from the license agreement] to transfer the license is excluded to another computer. How can we understand exactly? Does this mean that the acquired license of Office 2013 in the activation of a particular computer is tied and I the license can not be transferred to another of my computers (after uninstallation on the source computer)? [..] "

The (short) answer from Microsoft after a week:

"Office 2013 is generally Einzelpaltzlizenz and transfer this license, unlike Office 2010 is not allowed.
Please understand that we can not make any further legally binding statements. "

Which by the way does not apply to subscription models Office (Office 365)!

However, Microsoft has mid-February 2013, according to numerous online reports stated that in GERMANY, the legal situation (currently) does not allow the binding of software to hardware, ie, you can at least activate phone and legally the software to another computer.

For this one should, however, consider this:
In the license terms for Office 2013 is an extra section just for Japan, which explicitly allows the transfer of the license to another of his computer. Microsoft, however, has - so not incorporated a clause for Germany - in spite of the applicable law in Germany. This has determined a reason: It is therefore questionable to what extent Microsoft of any change in the legal situation in Germany (for example, by an EU directive or a new judgment) to activate the software will allow to different hardware in the future. The risk involved must now each weigh for themselves ...

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Update 1:

Microsoft has bakanntgegeben on its TechNet Blogs page on 06 March 2013 that the license conditions have been adjusted because of customer feedback.

"The Office suites Office Home and Student 2013, Office Home and Business 2013 and Office Professional 2013 and the individual applications of Office 2013 can be transferred with immediate effect."

This supplement can not be found, however, on the Microsoft Web site, if you unlock them downloaded the license terms for the purchase version of an Office 2013 product (as of 26.04.2013). These are still the 09.02.2013. Maybe the license text is not modified and the blog message should represent a supplement to the license agreement. Well, let's take it at times ...