Invalidity · first instance · 2022-03-28
000114662
Contested design: 007985015-0001
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld, the contested RCD is declared invalid, and the holders must bear costs fixed at EUR 750.
Show verbatim operative text
1. The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld. 2. Registered Community design No 007985015-0001 is declared invalid. 3. The holders bear the costs, fixed at EUR 750.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €750
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
PTM Guard, SIAvia PDF extraction
LV
Kārļa Ulmaņa gatve 2A, 1004 Rīga, Latvia
Represented by
Olga Vahatova
Holder · RCD owner
313 Sp. z o.o.
Poland (PL)
ul. Przędzalniana 60B, 15-688 Białystok, Poland
Prior art cited (3)
massage element for acupressure products
RCD No 0052425590001 · Community Designs Bulletin · disclosed 2018-04-26
massage element for acupressure products
RCD No 0015526050003 · Community Designs Bulletin · disclosed 2009-07-27
massage element for acupressure products
RCD No 0067817610001 · Community Designs Bulletin · disclosed 2019-08-30
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant argued the contested massage-element design lacked novelty and individual character over three earlier RCDs and also conflicted with an earlier Latvian copyrighted work.
- ›The holders argued the contested design remained new and individually distinctive because technical constraints and multiple visual differences changed the informed user's overall impression.
- ›The Division accepted publication of earlier RCD No 0067817610001 before filing and found broad designer freedom despite safety and functional constraints in acupressure massage elements.
- ›It held that the shared flower-blossom shape and concentric arrangement of protuberances outweighed minor differences in point, density, underside pattern, and colour.
- ›The application was upheld under Article 25(1)(b) in conjunction with Article 6 CDR, the contested RCD was declared invalid, and the holders were ordered to pay EUR 750 in costs.
Deciding panel
- MemberNatascha GALPERIN
- MemberRasa BARAKAUSKIENĖ
- MemberBenjamin VAN BAVEL
Decision files
| Language | Type | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| deDeutsch (de) | machine translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| 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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