Invalidity · first instance · 2025-07-21
000126167
Contested design: 015027288-0001
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld, the contested EU design 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 EU design No 0150272880001 is declared invalid. 3. The holder bears the costs, fixed at EUR 750.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €750
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Mera Group Corporationvia PDF extraction
South Korea (KR)
Seoul, South Korea
Represented by
Thierry Van Ransbeeck
Holder · RCD owner
Zielinski Robert und Raja Haroon GbR
Germany (DE)
Frankfurt, Germany
Represented by
Prior art cited (2)
Food Waste Bin
Korean design patent No 300983328 · South Korea · disclosed 2018-12-03
Design shown in a YouTube video, invoked as pre-disclosure by the holder
YouTube
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant sought invalidity for lack of novelty and individual character, relying mainly on Korean design patent No 300983328 and related disclosure evidence.
- ›The holder argued the bins differ in proportions, handles, tab, and basket details, and that designer freedom is constrained for waste bins with inner baskets.
- ›The Division accepted disclosure of the Korean design patent, rejected the later YouTube-based design as inadmissible, and found broad designer freedom for these waste bins.
- ›The Division held the differences were minor and the compared designs created the same overall impression on the informed user, so the application succeeded.
Deciding panel
- MemberCarlos MATEO PÉREZ
- MemberLudmila ČELIŠOVÁ
- 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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