Invalidity appeal · Board of Appeal · 2022-02-01
R0221/2021-3
Contested design: 003773068-0001
Outcome
The appeal is dismissed and the design holder must bear the invalidity applicant's costs.
Show verbatim operative text
1. Dismisses the appeal; 2. Orders the design holder to bear the costs incurred by the invalidity applicant.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
REFAN BULGARIA EOODvia PDF extraction
Bulgaria (BG)
Karlovsko shose, 52, Trud, Bulgaria
Represented by
Holder · RCD owner
FIONNA COSMETICS EOODvia PDF extraction
Bulgaria (BG)
7, Bulgaria Blvd., fl.7, app.7, 1408 Sofia, Bulgaria
Represented by
Vasil Pavlov Pavlov
Prior art cited (2)
three-dimensional flower-blossom shaped soap/candle mark
Bulgarian trade mark No 78 008 · Bulgarian Patent Office Official Bulletin / database extract · disclosed 2011-06-30
three-dimensional flower-blossom shaped soap/candle mark
Bulgarian trade mark No 86 121 · Bulgarian Patent Office Official Bulletin No 05/2013 · disclosed 2013-05-31
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The design holder argued that its rose-shaped soap or candle differed significantly from the earlier Bulgarian three-dimensional marks, that flower-blossom shapes were common in the sector, and that the trade-mark ground under Article 25(1)(e) CDR was inadequately supported.
- ›The invalidity applicant maintained that the contested design produced the same overall impression as its earlier Bulgarian flower-blossom mark registrations and also relied on those marks as earlier rights under Bulgarian law.
- ›The Board found TM2 validly disclosed before filing, treated it as relevant prior design material, and held that both shapes conveyed the same overall impression of a circular flower blossom despite minor petal-spacing differences and the broad designer freedom for soaps and candles.
- ›The appeal was dismissed; the contested RCD lacked individual character and the design holder had to bear the invalidity applicant's costs.
Deciding panel
- ChairG. Humphreys
- RapporteurC. Bartos
- MemberH. Salmi
- Registrarp.o. M. Chaleva
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 ↗ |