Invalidity appeal · Board of Appeal · 2024-04-18
R2538/2022-3
Contested design: 007801725-0007
Outcome
The appeal is dismissed, and the design holder bears the costs of the invalidity and appeal proceedings.
Show verbatim operative text(de)
1. Die Beschwerde wird zurückgewiesen. 2. Die GGM-Inhaberin trägt die Kosten des Nichtigkeits- und des Beschwerdeverfahrens.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Penta Shoes, S.L.via PDF extraction
Spain (ES)
Polígono Cachapet, P-77, 03330 Crevillente (Alicante), Spanien
Holder · RCD owner
Birkenstock IP GmbHvia PDF extraction
Germany (DE)
Burg Ockenfels, 53545 Linz am Rhein, Deutschland
Represented by
Prior art cited (1)
Eddie Bauer double-strap platform sandal
ASIN B000X7FZJQK · Amazon.de · disclosed 2015-07-06
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The holder argued D1 was not reliably disclosed before the filing date and, in any event, created a different overall impression from the contested design.
- ›The invalidity applicant replied that the Amazon ASIN evidence was credible, was reinforced by additional Eddie Bauer web extracts, and showed the same sandal design.
- ›The Board admitted the additional appeal-stage evidence and found no concrete indication that the Amazon listing or date had been manipulated.
- ›The Board held that D1 had been publicly disclosed by 6 July 2015 and that the minor sole differences did not alter the overall impression on the informed user.
- ›The appeal was dismissed, so the invalidity decision stood and the holder was ordered to pay the costs of both instances.
Deciding panel
- ChairS. Stürmann
- RapporteurA. Pohlmann
- MemberE. Fink
- RegistrarH. Dijkema
Decision files
| Language | Type | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| enEnglish (en) | machine translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| frfrançais (fr) | machine translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| deGerman | original | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
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