Invalidity · first instance · 2018-11-28
000010687
Contested design: 002634196-0001
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld, the contested RCD is declared invalid, and the holder must pay the applicant's costs fixed at EUR 750.
Show verbatim operative text
The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld. Registered Community design No 002634196-0001 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
EMKAN-PRO Krzysztof Murawski
Poland (PL)
Pstrągi Gniewoty 6, 18-300 Zambrów, Poland
Holder · RCD owner
JFC Polska Sp. z o.o.via PDF extraction
Poland (PL)
Karpin 1 A, 05-252 Dąbrówka, Poland
Represented by
Prior art cited (1)
waste tank / septic tank ('SEPTITANK')
www.jfcpolska.pl (Wayback Machine) · Wayback Machine archive of www.jfcpolska.pl, supported by newspaper Wiadomości Lisiewskie and invoices/product documents · disclosed 2010-07-30
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant argued that the contested waste-tank design lacked novelty and individual character because the same tank had been publicly disclosed before filing on the holder's website, in a local newspaper, and through product-sales evidence.
- ›The holder replied that the evidence was unsubstantiated because the images were blurred, key views were missing, and the test report was an internal non-public document.
- ›The Division held that the Wayback Machine captures, read together with the additional evidence, proved prior disclosure of the earlier tank design before the RCD filing date.
- ›It found the designs not identical because some undisclosed views differed, but those differences did not change the overall impression on the informed user.
- ›The application was upheld, the RCD was declared invalid for lack of individual character, and costs were awarded against the holder.
Deciding panel
- MemberAlvaro SESMA MERINO
- MemberGailė SAKALAITĖ
- MemberLudmila ČELIŠOVA
Decision files
| Language | Type | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| enEnglish | original | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
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