Invalidity · first instance · 2024-05-15
000122975
Contested design: 008533418-0001
Outcome
The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld, Registered Community design No 008533418-0001 is declared invalid, and the holder must bear the costs fixed at EUR 750.
Show verbatim operative text(de)
1. Dem Antrag auf Nichtigerklärung wird stattgegeben. 2. Das eingetragene Gemeinschaftsgeschmacksmuster Nr. 008533418-0001 wird für nichtig erklärt. 3. Die Inhaberin trägt die Kosten, die auf 750 EUR festgesetzt werden.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €750
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Sysbo AGvia PDF extraction
Switzerland (CH)
Viscosestrasse 46, 9443 Widnau, Schweiz
Represented by
Stefan Lausegger
Holder · RCD owner
aqotec GmbHvia PDF extraction
Austria (AT)
Vöcklatal 35, 4890 Weißenkirchen im Attergau, Österreich
Represented by
Clemens Thiele
Prior art cited (1)
SYSBO logo used on the applicant's website and brochures
www.sysbo.ch · www.sysbo.ch / Internet Archive Wayback Machine and applicant brochure · disclosed 2008-05-03
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant sought invalidity because the contested logo design allegedly lacked novelty and individual character in light of the earlier SYSBO logo D1, and it also invoked copyright-based unauthorised use.
- ›The holder argued the cited materials were not design-relevant prior art, disclosure of the earlier sign was unproven, bad faith was not an available invalidity ground, and the applicant had not established copyright ownership or infringement.
- ›The Division found D1 had been publicly disclosed before filing through archived pages of www.sysbo.ch and the applicant's January 2018 brochure, satisfying Article 7(1) CDR.
- ›Comparing the signs, it held that both showed the same SYSBO word element with a horizontal white bar and differed only slightly in colour, which did not change the overall impression on the informed user.
- ›The contested design therefore lacked individual character under Article 6(1)(b) CDR, so the invalidity application was upheld and the holder was ordered to pay EUR 750 in costs.
Deciding panel
- MemberIvanka IVANOVA
- MemberAlvaro SESMA MERINO
- MemberWolfgang SCHRAMEK
Decision files
| Language | Type | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| enEnglish (en) | machine translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| deGerman | original | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
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