Invalidity · first instance · 2018-04-30
000010296
Contested design: 001431829-0010
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld, the contested RCD is declared invalid, and the holder must pay the applicants' costs fixed at EUR 1,500 in total.
Show verbatim operative text
The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld. Registered Community design No 001431829-0010 is declared invalid. 3. The holder bears the applicants’ costs, fixed at EUR 750 for each applicant, EUR 1500 in total.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €1,500
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Mystic Products Import & Export, SL
Spain (ES)
Carrer Guifre Nº 689, Badalona 08918, Spain
Represented by
Holder · RCD owner
Tinnus Enterprises, LLC
United States (US)
3429 18th Street, Plano, Texas, United States of America
Represented by
Prior art cited (2)
Ars Technica article 'Bunch O Balloons will revolutionize water fights' about the holder's water-balloon filling product
www.arstechnica.com · Ars Technica · disclosed 2014-07-27
European patent application depicting the same fluid distribution equipment / technical solution
EP 3 005 948 A2 · European Patent Office · disclosed 2016-04-13
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›Applicant argued that every essential feature of the water-balloon filling product was solely dictated by technical function and relied on a web article plus the holder's EP patent application for the same solution.
- ›Holder argued that the housing, hole pattern, straw lengths, balloon arrangement and bands reflected aesthetic choices, that alternative forms existed, and that patent wording could not prove lack of design freedom.
- ›Applying DOCERAM, the Division assessed the product objectively in light of its utilitarian, disposable nature and the evidence, and found no persuasive design effort or visual enhancement independent of function.
- ›The Division concluded that all essential features were chosen to make the product work, declared the RCD invalid under Article 25(1)(b) in conjunction with Article 8(1) CDR, and awarded costs against the holder.
Deciding panel
- MemberGailė SAKALAITĖ
- MemberLudmila ČELIŠOVÁ
- MemberMichele M. BENEDETTI-ALOISI
Decision files
| Language | Type | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| enEnglish | original | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
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