Invalidity · first instance · 2019-10-31
000105439
Contested design: 002776518-0001
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 002776518-0001 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
ETOS S.A.
Poland (PL)
ul. Bysewska 23, 80-298 Gdansk, Poland
Holder · RCD owner
EVOKAII CLOTHING Karolina Grobelna
Poland (PL)
ul. Makuszyńskiego 3, 63 400 Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland
Prior art cited (2)
hooded sweatshirt design shown in posts on the RCD holder's Facebook profile
RCD holder Facebook profile · disclosed 2014-02-11
hooded sweatshirt design offered at the street market in Mui Ne, Vietnam
street market in Mui Ne, Vietnam
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›Applicant sought invalidity for lack of novelty and individual character, relying on earlier disclosure of the sweatshirt design on the holder's Facebook profile and at a street market in Mui Ne, Vietnam.
- ›Holder argued the Facebook screenshots were unreliable and that the posts and market appearance could not reasonably have become known to the specialised circles in the sector concerned.
- ›The Division accepted the Facebook screenshots as reliable and found the holder had not rebutted the presumption that the Facebook posts and market offer were accessible to the relevant circles under Article 7(1) CDR.
- ›Comparing the prior design with the contested hooded sweatshirt, the Division found only minor differences and held that both created the same 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
- MemberBenjamin VAN BAVEL
- MemberGailė SAKALAITĖ
- MemberKelly BENNETT
Decision files
| Language | Type | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| esespañol (es) | machine translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| frfrançais (fr) | machine translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| ititaliano (it) | machine translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| enEnglish | original | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
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