Invalidity · first instance · 2018-04-30
000010300
Contested design: 001431829-0003
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld, the contested RCD is declared invalid, and the holder must bear the applicants' costs fixed at EUR 750 for each applicant, EUR 1500 in total.
Show verbatim operative text
The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld. Registered Community design No 001431829-0003 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' showing the product filling multiple balloons simultaneously
www.arstechnica.com · Ars Technica · disclosed 2014-07-27
European patent application depicting the same water-balloon filling technical solution
EP 3 005 948 A2 · European Patent Office · disclosed 2016-04-13
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant argued that every essential feature of the contested design was chosen solely for the technical function of filling multiple water balloons at once.
- ›The holder responded that the housing, straw arrangement, balloons and rings also reflected aesthetic choices and that alternative product forms were possible.
- ›The Invalidity Division found the product's essential features were utilitarian, the patent disclosure closely matched the design, and no convincing design effort independent of function was shown.
- ›The application was upheld and the contested RCD was declared invalid under Article 25(1)(b) in conjunction with Article 8(1) CDR.
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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