Invalidity · first instance · 2018-08-20
000010574
Contested design: 002699777-0002
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld, the contested RCD is declared invalid, and the holder must pay the applicant's fixed costs of EUR 750.
Show verbatim operative text
The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld. Registered Community design No 002699777-0002 is declared invalid. The holder bears the applicant’s costs, fixed at EUR 750.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €750
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Warwick GmbH & Co. Music Equipment KG
Germany (DE)
Gewerbegebiet Wohlhausen, 08258 Markneukirchen, Germany
Holder · RCD owner
Pro Stage Gear LLC
United States (US)
108 4th Avenue South, Suite 203, Franklin, TN 37064, United States of America
Represented by
Prior art cited (2)
Pedaltrain Mini pedalboard
http://pedaltrain.com · Internet Archive · disclosed 2013-08-06
mounting board for guitar effects
US 6 459 023 B1 · disclosed 2000-09-07
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant sought invalidity for lack of novelty and individual character and argued that the design's essential features were solely dictated by technical function.
- ›The holder argued the earlier Pedaltrain Mini did not destroy novelty and that the contested design's third rail and symmetry created a different overall impression.
- ›The Division found the Pedaltrain Mini had been validly disclosed before filing, that designer freedom for pedalboards was broad, and that the contested design reproduced the prior design's main visual characteristics.
- ›The Division concluded the contested RCD lacked individual character, upheld the invalidity application, and did not examine the remaining grounds.
Deciding panel
- MemberGailė SAKALAITĖ
- MemberLudmila ČELISOVA
- MemberBenjamin VAN BAVEL
Decision files
| Language | Type | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| enEnglish | original | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
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