Invalidity · first instance · 2019-04-26
000011054
Contested design: 003426071-0001
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld; the contested RCD is declared invalid.
Show verbatim operative text
The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld. Registered Community design No 003426071-0001 is declared invalid.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €750
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Red Bull GmbH
Austria (AT)
Am Brunnen 1, 5330 Fuschl am See, Austria
Represented by
Holder · RCD owner
Voltino
Bulgaria (BG)
Petrovo village, Petrovo, Bulgaria
Represented by
Zdravka Dimitrova Kostadinova-Vulcheva
Prior art cited (4)
Red Bull figurative mark
EUTM No 1 143 122 · EUIPO register · disclosed 2000-04-14
Red Bull trade mark
EUTM No 4 381 471 · EUIPO register · disclosed 2006-03-14
Red Bull trade mark
EUTM No 10 811 826 · EUIPO register · disclosed 2012-08-28
Red Bull international trade mark
IR No 1 074 879 designating the European Union · International registration designating the European Union · disclosed 2011-09-15
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant argued that the can design reproduced the layout, colours and fighting-animal motif of its reputed Red Bull marks and therefore took unfair advantage of their repute.
- ›The holder denied similarity, stressed the wording and ram imagery of its own can, and argued that the earlier marks could not compromise the contested design.
- ›The Division treated the bad-faith plea as inadmissible, found low visual and conceptual similarity with a strong reputation for Red Bull energy drinks, and held that consumers would make a mental link between the signs.
- ›Because the contested can would free-ride on the repute of the earlier mark under Article 8(5) EUTMR, the RCD was declared invalid under Article 25(1)(e) CDR.
Deciding panel
- MemberNatascha GALPERIN
- MemberGailė SAKALAITĖ
- MemberMichele M. BENEDETTI-ALOISI
Decision files
| Language | Type | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| enEnglish | original | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
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