Invalidity · first instance · 2025-05-23
000127919
Contested design: 015037241-0002
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld, the contested EU design is declared invalid, and the holder must pay EUR 750 in costs.
Show verbatim operative text
1. The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld. 2. Registered EU design No 015037241-0002 is declared invalid. 3. The holder bears the costs, fixed at EUR 750.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €750
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Flamagas, S.A.via PDF extraction
Spain (ES)
Barcelona, Spain
Represented by
Eduardo Zamora Martínez
Holder · RCD owner
Benxi Fenghe Lighter Co., Ltd
China (CN)
Benxi, Liaoning, China
Represented by
Jesús Eladio Sánchez Silva
Prior art cited (1)
gas lighters
EU design registration No 004971505-0002 · EU Designs Bulletin · disclosed 2018-03-26
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant sought invalidity for lack of novelty and individual character and also invoked conflicts with earlier design rights and trade marks, relying among other things on prior EU design No 004971505-0002.
- ›The holder filed no observations in response to the invalidity application.
- ›The Division treated the prior EU design publication as sufficient disclosure and found the designer's freedom at least average for cigarette lighters.
- ›It held that the contested design and the prior design create the same overall impression despite colour differences and the word element 'CLIPPER', so the design lacks individual character.
- ›The application was upheld, the contested design was declared invalid, and costs were awarded against the holder.
Deciding panel
- MemberRasa BARAKAUSKIENĖ
- MemberEmmanuel Jérôme Daniel COLLIN
- MemberRebecca Julia SANTANA DAVIES
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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