Invalidity appeal · Board of Appeal · 2026-02-06
R1376/2025-3
Contested design: 008313159-0001
Outcome
The contested decision is annulled, the case is remitted to the Invalidity Division for further prosecution, and each party bears its own costs and fees in the appeal proceedings.
Show verbatim operative text
1. Annuls the contested decision; 2. Remits the case to the Invalidity Division for further prosecution; 3. Orders each party to bear its own costs and fees incurred in the appeal proceedings.
CostsEach party bears its own costs
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
GreatStartools Germany GmbHvia PDF extraction
Germany (DE)
Brückenstraße 1, 51702 Bergneustadt, Germany
Holder · RCD owner
Yiwu ThousandShores E-Commerce Co., Ltdvia PDF extraction
China (CN)
9th Floor, Building No.3, YiWu International E-Commerce Town, 315 HongYun Road, ChengXi Street, 315 YiWu City, ZheJiang Province, China
Represented by
Joanna Dargiewicz
Prior art cited (3)
black kneeling pad, product number 56572
https://www.harborfreight.com/foam-kneeling-pad-56572.html · harborfreight.com
blue kneeling pad, product number 56572
https://www.harborfreight.com/foam-kneeling-pad-56572.html · harborfreight.com
YouTube review of the Harbor Freight Kneeling Pad Item #56572
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=364Z6CuTu5s · YouTube · disclosed 2020-09-06
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The invalidity applicant appealed, arguing that the contested EUD lacked novelty and individual character because black and blue Harbor Freight kneeling pads had already been disclosed online before the filing date.
- ›The design holder filed no observations either in the invalidity proceedings or in reply to the appeal.
- ›The Board held that the original hyperlinks and partial screenshots were insufficient on their own, but admitted the supplementary appeal evidence because it complemented the same prior designs and was relevant to disclosure.
- ›Assessing the website reviews, promotional material, and YouTube screenshots together, the Board found disclosure under Article 7(1) proven before filing, annulled the rejection, and remitted the case for substantive examination of validity.
Deciding panel
- ChairG. Humphreys Bacon
- RapporteurC. Bartos
- MemberA. González Fernández
- RegistrarK. Zajfert
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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