Invalidity · first instance · 2021-06-29
000110881
Contested design: 002081471-0002
Outcome
The invalidity application is rejected, and the applicant must bear the holder's costs fixed at EUR 400.
Show verbatim operative text
1. The application for a declaration of invalidity of registered Community design No 0020814710002 is rejected. 2. The applicant bears the holder’s costs, fixed at EUR 400.
CostsApplicant ordered to pay costs of €400
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Aj Home SARLvia PDF extraction
France (FR)
555 rue Saint Pierre, 13012 Marseille, France
Represented by
Holder · RCD owner
Generale Maatschappij Voor Plastiek Internationaal NVvia PDF extraction
Belgium (BE)
Industriezone E3, Karrewegstraat 150152154, 9800 Deinze, Belgium
Represented by
Prior art cited (2)
earlier French design for a fence fastener/support component
French design No 585310001 · French Designs Bulletin · disclosed 1958-05-06
earlier French design for a fence fastener/support component
French design No 0823610008 · French Designs Bulletin · disclosed 2008-07-25
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant argued the RCD was not a design as filed, was purely functional or an interconnection feature, was invisible in normal use as part of a complex product, and lacked novelty and individual character over D1 and D2.
- ›The holder replied that the product indication did not limit protection, the component remained visible, aesthetic choices influenced the shape, and D1 and D2 created a different overall impression.
- ›The Division found the representation sufficiently clear, Article 4(2) did not exclude protection, and the applicant failed to prove that all relevant features were solely technically dictated or had to be reproduced exactly.
- ›The Division held that D1 and D2 were properly disclosed but produced a different overall impression, so the contested RCD had individual character and novelty.
- ›The invalidity application was rejected and the applicant was ordered to pay the holder's fixed representation costs of EUR 400.
Deciding panel
- MemberLudmila CELISOVA
- MemberElisabetta FERRARO
- MemberMichele M. BENEDETTI - ALOISI
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 ↗ |
Locarno classes
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