Invalidity · first instance · 2018-04-30
000010305
Contested design: 001431829-0007
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 001431829-0007 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
www.arstechnica.com · Ars Technica · disclosed 2014-07-27
European patent application showing the same fluid distribution equipment / technical solution
EP 3 005 948 A2 · European patent application publication · disclosed 2016-04-13
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicants argued that all essential features of the water-balloon filling design were solely dictated by technical function under Article 8(1) CDR, relying on a web article and the holder's parallel patent application.
- ›The holder argued that the housing, straw arrangement, balloon uniformity and rings also reflected aesthetic choices, and that patent wording could not prove the design lacked creative design effort.
- ›The Invalidity Division assessed the design objectively in light of DOCERAM and the surrounding evidence, and found no convincing visual enhancement independent of the product's technical solution.
- ›It concluded that all essential features were chosen to make the product function, so the contested RCD was excluded from protection and declared invalid.
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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