Invalidity · first instance · 2025-10-14
000127177
Contested design: 006310082-0001
Outcome
The invalidity application is upheld, the contested EU design is declared invalid, and the holder must pay EUR 350 in costs.
Show verbatim operative text
1. The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld. 2. Registered EU design No 0063100820001 is declared invalid. 3. The holder bears the costs, fixed at EUR 350.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €350
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Matthias Josef Wintervia PDF extraction
Germany (DE)
Mainz, Germany
Holder · RCD owner
Hermanus Johannes Matheus Verdegaal
Netherlands (NL)
Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands
Prior art cited (1)
steps
EU design No 0020956380001 · EU Designs Bulletin / Office design database · disclosed 2012-09-06
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›Applicant sought invalidity for lack of novelty and individual character based on an earlier EU design for steps published in 2012.
- ›Holder responded that he owned both designs and that the contested filing was intended as a renewal of the earlier design, not a new registration.
- ›The Division accepted disclosure of the earlier design through its bulletin publication and assessed individual character first for procedural economy.
- ›It found the stepladders identical or almost identical overall, with minor fixing differences insufficient to change the informed user's overall impression.
- ›The application was upheld under Article 25(1)(b) in conjunction with Article 6 EUDR, so Article 5 did not need examination.
Deciding panel
- MemberEmmanuel COLLIN
- MemberLudmila ČELIŠOVÁ
- MemberCarlos MATEO PÉREZ
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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