Invalidity · first instance · 2021-03-23
000110682
Contested design: 001817404-0004
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
1. The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld. 2. Registered Community design No 0018174040004 is declared invalid. 3. The holder bears the applicant’s costs, fixed at EUR 750.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €750
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Borek Parasols B.V.via PDF extraction
Netherlands (NL)
Bedrijfsweg 7, Oisterwijk, 5061 JX, Netherlands
Represented by
Holder · RCD owner
Tribù N.V.
Belgium (BE)
Oude Heidestraat 72, 3740 Bilzen, Belgium
Represented by
Prior art cited (7)
armchair
RCD No 0000704200001 · Office Designs Bulletin · disclosed 2003-09-30
armchair
RCD No 0004446410005 · disclosed 2006-01-31
'Schultz 1966 armchair', designed by Richard Schultz for Florence Knoll
'Van der Sluis armchair', designed by Gijs van der Sluis in the 1960s
'first Natal armchair', designed by Wim Segers
International design No 049 089 · disclosed 1999-08-17
'Arco Frame chair', designed by Burkhard Vogtherr in 2000 for Arco
'Scalamonti armchair'
International design No 0638750001 · disclosed 2003-04-09
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant sought invalidity for lack of novelty and individual character, arguing the contested garden armchair largely reflected technical choices and closely matched earlier chair designs.
- ›The holder said the design was a new Natal-chair variant with a specific combination of features, and argued the cited prior designs did not reproduce the same overall impression or were insufficiently evidenced.
- ›The Invalidity Division accepted disclosure of earlier RCD No 0000704200001 and assessed individual character against that design, finding the designer's freedom for stackable armchairs broadly unrestricted.
- ›It held the rounded corners, finish, colour and texture differences were minor, so the contested RCD produced the same overall impression as D1 and had no individual character.
Deciding panel
- MemberLudmila CELISOVA
- MemberElisabetta FERRARO
- MemberNatascha GALPERIN
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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