Invalidity appeal · Board of Appeal · 2023-05-18
R1446/2022-3
Contested design: 004368702-0004
Outcome
The appeal is dismissed, and the design holder must bear the invalidity applicant's costs and fees in the invalidity and appeal proceedings.
Show verbatim operative text
1. Dismisses the appeal; 2. Orders the design holder to bear the costs and fees incurred by the invalidity applicant in the invalidity and appeal proceedings.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
NICvia PDF extraction
Italy (IT)
Via Civita Castellana SNC, 01030 Castel Sant'Elia (VT), Italy
Represented by
Holder · RCD owner
CERAMICA CIELO S.p.A.via PDF extraction
Italy (IT)
Via Falerina km 7.800, 01034 Fabrica di Roma (Viterbo), Italy
Represented by
Prior art cited (2)
BESPOKE suspended bathroom furniture / washstand from the 2016 collection
archiproducts.com and antoniolupi BESPOKE 2016 online catalogue
OVVIO bathroom furniture shown in the NIC OVVIO 2016 catalogue
NIC OVVIO 2016 · NIC OVVIO 2016 catalogue
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The invalidity applicant argued that earlier BESPOKE and OVVIO bathroom-furniture designs disclosed in 2016 showed the same essential washstand appearance as the contested RCD.
- ›The design holder contested identification and disclosure of the earlier designs, challenged the quality of the single-view images, and argued that differences in proportions, countertop and cabinet details preserved individual character.
- ›The Board held that the relevant BESPOKE prior design had been sufficiently identified and disclosed through the web and catalogue evidence and that the washstands produced the same overall impression despite minor differences in panels, countertop dimensions and details.
- ›The Board confirmed that the contested RCD lacked individual character, found the appeal unsuccessful, and ordered the design holder to bear the costs.
Deciding panel
- ChairG. Humphreys
- RapporteurE. Fink
- MemberM. Bra
- Registrarp.o. E. Apaolaza Alm
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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