Invalidity appeal · Board of Appeal · 2023-05-18
R1448/2022-3
Contested design: 001464002-0001
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 washstand with circular washbasins 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 relied on earlier BESPOKE and OVVIO bathroom-furniture designs disclosed in 2016 and argued that the contested washstand with basin lacked individual character.
- ›The design holder challenged the admissibility, identification and disclosure of the cited prior designs and argued that differences in the number of panels, number and position of the washbasins, and countertop details produced a different overall impression.
- ›The Board held that the relevant BESPOKE prior design had been sufficiently identified and disclosed and that the shared rectangular cabinet, framed panels, thin countertop and circular washbasin(s) created the same overall impression on the informed user.
- ›The Board confirmed the lack of individual character, dismissed the appeal, 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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