Invalidity appeal · Board of Appeal · 2025-02-03
R1080/2024-3
Contested design: 001012769-0001
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
EGL CORAL Spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnościąvia PDF extraction
Poland (PL)
ul. Fabryczna 5, 05084 Leszno koło Błonia, Poland
Represented by
Holder · RCD owner
Schulpen Schuim Leiden B.V.via PDF extraction
Netherlands (NL)
Zaalbergweg 17, 2314 XS Leiden, Netherlands
Represented by
Prior art cited (1)
household sponge design
Design registration No 892 545-002 · French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) Bulletin · disclosed 1990-03-09
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The design holder appealed, arguing the contested sponge design had individual character because functional constraints limited design freedom and differences in texture, density, finish, and edges changed the overall impression.
- ›The invalidity applicant replied that design freedom for household sponges was high or at least average, and that both designs shared the same hourglass shape and two-layer structure without meaningful variation.
- ›The Board held that the prior French design had been disclosed before the filing date, that sponge design freedom still allowed many shapes and appearances, and that the informed user would focus on the shared curved two-layer configuration with irregular dark particles.
- ›The Board found any alleged differences too minor to alter the overall impression, confirmed lack of individual character, dismissed the appeal, and left novelty and other prior designs unexamined.
Deciding panel
- ChairG. Humphreys Bacon
- RapporteurH. Salmi
- MemberC. Bartos
- RegistrarH. Dijkema
Decision files
| Language | Type | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| deGerman | human translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| esSpanish | human translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| frFrench | human translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| itItalian | human translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| enEnglish | original | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
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