Invalidity · first instance · 2018-04-30
000010299
Contested design: 001431829-0002
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld, the contested RCD is declared invalid, and the holder must pay the applicants' costs fixed at EUR 750 for each applicant, EUR 1,500 in total.
Show verbatim operative text
The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld. Registered Community design No 001431829-0002 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, SLvia PDF extraction
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' showing the product filling multiple balloons simultaneously
www.arstechnica.com · Ars Technica · disclosed 2014-07-27
European patent application for the same fluid distribution equipment / water-balloon filling product
EP 3 005 948 A2 · European Patent Office · disclosed 2016-04-13
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicants argued that the contested design's essential features were solely dictated by technical function and relied on a web article and the holder's parallel European patent application.
- ›The holder contended that the product's configuration reflected aesthetic choices in the housing, straws, balloons, and bands, and that alternative forms and patent wording did not prove technical exclusivity.
- ›The Invalidity Division applied Article 8(1) CDR in light of DOCERAM and assessed the design objectively against the surrounding evidence rather than alternative forms alone.
- ›It found no persuasive design effort or visual enhancement independent of function and concluded that all essential features were chosen only to make the product work.
- ›The invalidity applications succeeded in full, the contested RCD was declared invalid, and the holder was ordered to pay costs.
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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