Invalidity appeal · Board of Appeal · 2020-06-17
R0296/2019-3
Contested design: 001253876-0002
Outcome
The appeal is dismissed and the invalidity applicant is ordered to bear the design holder's costs.
Show verbatim operative text
1. Dismisses the appeal; 2. Orders the invalidity applicant to bear the costs incurred by the design holder.
CostsApplicant ordered to pay costs
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
TrekStor GmbHvia PDF extraction
Germany (DE)
Berliner Ring 7, 64625 Bensheim, Germany
Represented by
Holder · RCD owner
ZAGG Incorporatedvia PDF extraction
United States (US)
3855 South 500 West, Suite J, Salt Lake City, Utah 84115, United States of America
Represented by
Prior art cited (1)
Drawings/sketches allegedly created by Mr Jia in July/August 2010, claimed to be a copyright-protected work under German law underlying the contested RCD (iPad keyboard case); submitted via an assignment agreement dated 5 July 2011
Assignment of rights agreement between Speedy Mega/Tosenta and TrekStor, 5 July 2011
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›TrekStor (invalidity applicant/appellant) argued that RCD 1253876-0002 (protective cover for iPad with keyboard) constituted an unauthorised use of copyright-protected drawings created by Mr Jia in summer 2010 and assigned to TrekStor via a chain of transfers.
- ›ZAGG (design holder) countered that no pre-filing copyright work was identified or proven, the assignment agreement post-dated the RCD, German courts had held the drawings lacked copyright protection, and TrekStor was not the proper copyright holder under German law.
- ›The Board found TrekStor failed to identify a copyright-protected work, submit the actual drawings, establish German copyright protection or the chain of title; the sole evidence (the 2011 agreement) post-dated the RCD and was ambiguous.
- ›Appeal dismissed; on all counts TrekStor failed to substantiate existence of a protected work, authorship, and entitlement under Article 25(1)(f) CDR.
Deciding panel
- ChairTh. M. Margellos
- RapporteurH. Salmi
- MemberC. Rusconi
- RegistrarH. Dijkema
Decision files
| Language | Type | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| deDeutsch (de) | machine translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| 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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