Invalidity appeal · Board of Appeal · 2018-09-05
R1425/2017-3
Contested design: 002671305-0001
Outcome
The appeal is dismissed; the design holder is ordered to bear the invalidity applicant's costs of EUR 1,250 for both proceedings.
Show verbatim operative text
1. Dismisses the appeal; 2. Orders the design holder to bear the costs incurred by the invalidity applicant in the invalidity and appeal proceedings. 3. Fixes the costs to be reimbursed by the design holder to the invalidity applicant for the invalidity and appeal proceedings at EUR 1,250.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €1,250
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Griesson - de Beukelaer GmbH & Co. KGvia PDF extraction
Germany (DE)
August-Horch-Str. 23, D-56751 Polch, Germany
Represented by
Holder · RCD owner
Intercontinental Great Brands LLCvia PDF extraction
United States (US)
100 Deforest Avenue, East Hanover, New Jersey 07936, United States of America
Represented by
Prior art cited (1)
Mokka-Doppeldecker-Kekse (mocha sandwich cookie)
http://peho.typepad.com/chili_und_ciabatta/2008/12/mokkadoppeldeckerkekse.html · Blog 'chili und ciabatta' (peho.typepad.com) · disclosed 2008-12-03
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›Holder (appellant) argued D3 disclosure was unproven (no translation, date unreliable, blog inaccessible to trade circles) and that the RCD's thinness produced a different overall impression on the informed user.
- ›Invalidity applicant (respondent) argued the 2008 date was evident from URL and copyright notice without translation, that Article 7(1) CDR requires only accessibility not actual knowledge, and that the designs produce the same overall impression given average design freedom.
- ›The Board found D3 disclosed before the RCD filing date based on the copyright notice, URL structure and page date; the holder failed to show the disclosure could not have become known to the relevant trade circles in the normal course of business.
- ›On individual character, the Board found average designer freedom for sandwich cookies; the designs share circular shape and three equal-height superimposed layers, and differences in surface regularity are insufficient to produce a different overall impression on the informed user.
- ›Appeal dismissed; design holder bears costs of EUR 1,250.
Deciding panel
- ChairTh. M. Margellos
- RapporteurE. Fink
- MemberH. Salmi
- RegistrarI. Romero Conrad
Decision files
| Language | Type | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| esespañol (es) | machine translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| frfrançais (fr) | machine translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| ititaliano (it) | machine translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| enEnglish | original | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
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