Invalidity · first instance · 2025-10-10
000125776
Contested design: 006658613-0017
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 006658613-0017 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)
Muttenz, Switzerland
Represented by
Holder · RCD owner
Lei Hou
China (CN)
Shanghai, China
Represented by
Maria Ioannides
Prior art cited (1)
Eames Plastic Side Chair DSW
Wayback Machine capture of VITRA webpage · VITRA website / Wayback Machine · disclosed 2016-04-25
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant claimed the contested chair copied the Eames Plastic Side Chair DSW and sought invalidity under Article 25(1)(f) EUDR based on German copyright law.
- ›It submitted German statutory excerpts, German court decisions, an expert opinion, and a Wayback capture to prove copyright protection, entitlement, prior disclosure, and copying.
- ›The holder filed no observations in response to the invalidity application.
- ›The Division found the DSW chair protected by German copyright, accepted the applicant's entitlement, and held that the contested design reproduced the essential protected features.
- ›The application was upheld, the contested design was declared invalid, and the holder was ordered to bear fixed costs of EUR 750.
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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