Invalidity · first instance · 2020-07-23
000107499
Contested design: 004001709-0001
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld, the contested RCD is declared invalid, and the holder must pay the applicant's fixed costs of EUR 350.
Show verbatim operative text
The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld. Registered Community design No 0040017090001 is declared invalid. The holder bears the applicant’s costs, fixed at EUR 350.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €350
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Darren Hornbyvia PDF extraction
United Kingdom (GB)
9 Mountbatten Gardens, Beckenham Kent BR3 3TJ, United Kingdom
Holder · RCD owner
Guangzhou Li Hao Trading Ltdvia PDF extraction
China (CN)
Rm 2513, No. 26, Yuenan Street, Huangsha Avenue, Liwan District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China
Represented by
Prior art cited (1)
Wrinkle paper lantern
Chinese design registration No 201230228317.2 · DesignView database · disclosed 2012-12-12
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant sought invalidity for lack of novelty and individual character, arguing that the same paper-lantern design had long been sold by many providers before the RCD filing date.
- ›The holder denied any lack of novelty or individual character and argued that the prior designs did not disclose the contested lantern's detailed internal structure or the same overall impression.
- ›The Division accepted disclosure of the earlier Chinese design registration from the DesignView extract and treated it as sufficient prior art under Article 7 CDR.
- ›Comparing the designs from the informed user's perspective, the Division found shared core features and only minor differences that did not change the overall impression.
- ›The application was upheld because the contested RCD lacked individual character over the prior design; novelty was not examined further.
Deciding panel
- MemberNatascha GALPERIN
- MemberBenjamin VAN BAVEL
- MemberMichelle Marie DELLACHERIE
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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