Invalidity · first instance · 2024-12-12
000125816
Contested design: 006658613-0018
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld; Registered Community design No 006658613-0018 is declared invalid, and the holder must bear EUR 750 in costs.
Show verbatim operative text
1. The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld. 2. Registered Community design No 006658613-0018 is declared invalid. 3. The holder bears the costs, fixed at EUR 750.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €750
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Vitra Collections AGvia PDF extraction
Switzerland (CH)
Klünenfeldstr. 22, 4132 Muttenz, Switzerland
Represented by
Holder · RCD owner
Lei Hou
China (CN)
No. 124, Hudong New Village, Pudong New Area, Shanghai, China
Represented by
Maria Ioannides
Prior art cited (1)
Eames Plastic Armchair DAW chair
Wayback Machine capture of the VITRA webpage · Wayback Machine / VITRA website · disclosed 2016-04-25
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant argued that the contested chair copied the Eames Plastic Armchair DAW and infringed its earlier German copyright in that work.
- ›The holder filed no observations in reply to the invalidity application.
- ›The Division found German law and court decisions established copyright protection and the applicant's entitlement to enforce the DAW chair rights before the filing date.
- ›It held that the contested design reproduced the essential features of the copyright work, so the design constituted unauthorised use under Article 25(1)(f) CDR.
- ›The application was upheld, the contested design was declared invalid, and costs were awarded against the holder.
Deciding panel
- MemberNatascha GALPERIN
- MemberEmmanuel COLLIN
- MemberRebecca SANTANA DAVIES
Decision files
| Language | Type | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| enEnglish | original | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
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