Invalidity · first instance · 2021-07-16
000109363
Contested design: 002684043-0002
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld; Registered Community design No 0026840430002 is declared invalid; the holder must bear 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 0026840430002 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
Anne Germannvia PDF extraction
Germany (DE)
Kölner Landstr. 117, 405 91 Düsseldorf, Germany
Holder · RCD owner
SunPower Corporationvia PDF extraction
United States (US)
77 Río Robles, San Jose, California, 951 34, United States of America
Represented by
Prior art cited (5)
international patent application on the technical background of ladder-like solar-cell structures
WO 2015/183827 A2
solar panel
RCD 002032581-0005 · EUIPO Community Designs Bulletin · disclosed 2012-05-07
solar panel with rectangular shape and three ladder-like structures
RCD 000034350-0001
solar panel
RCD 001386056-001
solar panel with four ladder-like structures
RCD 001955030-002
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant argued that the contested solar-panel design lacked novelty and individual character over earlier RCDs and that its features were solely dictated by technical function.
- ›The holder contended that the registered views included reflective surface features, that the prior designs created different impressions, and that aesthetic considerations influenced the design.
- ›The Division rejected the Article 8(1) and Article 5 attacks, finding unproven technical exclusivity and differences exceeding immaterial details.
- ›The Division found no individual character over earlier RCD 002032581-0005, upheld the invalidity application, and declared the contested RCD invalid.
Deciding panel
- MemberLudmila ČELIŠOVÁ
- MemberRebecca SANTANA DAVIES
- MemberRasa BARAKAUSKIENĖ
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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