Invalidity · first instance · 2026-02-23
000130721
Contested design: 015095621-0002
Outcome
The invalidity application is rejected, and the applicant must pay the holder’s costs fixed at EUR 400.
Show verbatim operative text
The application for a declaration of invalidity of registered EU design No 0150956210002 is rejected. The applicant bears the holder’s costs, fixed at EUR 400.
CostsApplicant ordered to pay costs of €400
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
geobra Brandstätter Stiftung & Co. KGvia PDF extraction
Germany (DE)
Zirndorf, Germany
Represented by
Sebastian Eckhardt
Holder · RCD owner
Shengzhi Jiang
China (CN)
Shantou City, Guangdong Province, China
Represented by
Emilio Zeininger
Prior art cited (3)
toy figure (hockey player)
EU design No 0025978150017 · EUIPO eSearch database · disclosed 2015-10-05
toy figure (hockey player)
EU design No 0025978150012 · EUIPO eSearch database · disclosed 2015-10-05
Power Planet toy figure web disclosures
Google search results and product websites including Made-in-China · disclosed 2023-11-15
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›Applicant sought invalidity based on earlier EU designs, alleged Power Planet internet disclosures, earlier PLAYMOBIL trade marks, and German copyright in the PLAYMOBIL figure.
- ›Holder filed no observations and left the application undefended.
- ›The Division accepted disclosure only of D1 and D2, found broad design freedom for toy figures, and held the contested military figure created a different overall impression from the prior hockey-player designs.
- ›It also found the cited marks insufficiently similar or weakly distinctive for confusion, and the copyright claim insufficiently substantiated because the national law and protected work were not identified with the required precision.
- ›The application was rejected and the applicant was ordered to pay EUR 400 in fixed representation costs.
Deciding panel
- MemberLudmila ČELIŠOVÁ
- MemberRasa BARAKAUSKIENĖ
- MemberDimitrios ANDRIANOPOULOS
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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