Invalidity · first instance · 2025-01-24
000124415
Contested design: 003400472-0001
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld, the contested RCD is declared invalid, and the holder 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 003400472-0001 is declared invalid. 3. The holder bears the costs, fixed at EUR 750.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €750
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Alfredo Langellavia PDF extraction
Italy (IT)
Via delle Rondini, 95, 00169 Roma, Italy
Represented by
Holder · RCD owner
NIKE Innovate C.V.
United States (US)
One Bowerman Drive, Beaverton, Oregon 97005-6453, United States
Represented by
Prior art cited (1)
shoe upper
US design patent No 330,452 · United States Patent and Trademark Office · disclosed 1992-10-27
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›Applicant sought invalidity for lack of novelty and individual character, relying notably on US design patent No 330,452 as an earlier disclosure of the lateral shoe-upper element.
- ›Holder argued the footwear sector was crowded and the contested design created a different overall impression because it showed a simpler upside-down C element, unlike the prior design.
- ›The Division found the US patent sufficiently disclosed the earlier design and held that the protected lateral element of the contested design remained clearly comparable as a part of product.
- ›Given the designer's high freedom and the strong similarity of the curved lateral element, the contested design lacked individual character under Article 6(1)(b) CDR.
- ›The application was upheld, the contested design was declared invalid, and costs were awarded against the holder.
Deciding panel
- MemberLudmila ČELIŠOVÁ
- MemberRebecca SANTANA DAVIES
- MemberEmmanuel COLLIN
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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