Invalidity · first instance · 2026-03-05
000127279
Contested design: 000732607-0013
Outcome
The application for a declaration of invalidity is upheld, the contested EU design No. 000732607-0013 is declared invalid, and the holder must bear costs fixed at EUR 750.
Show verbatim operative text(de)
1. Dem Antrag auf Nichtigerklärung wird stattgegeben. 2. Das eingetragene EU-Geschmacksmuster Nr. 000732607-0013 wird für nichtig erklärt. 3. Die Inhaberin trägt die Kosten, die auf 750 EUR festgesetzt werden.
CostsHolder ordered to pay costs of €750
Parties
Applicant · invalidity challenger
Robert Bosch GmbHvia PDF extraction
Germany (DE)
Gerlingen, Deutschland
Holder · RCD owner
KNIPEX-WERK C. Gustav Putsch KG
Germany (DE)
Wuppertal, Germany
Represented by
Prior art cited (1)
water pump pliers
Chinese design No. 3040630 (application No. 95301009.0) · WIPO Global Design Database / Chinese Patent Office · disclosed 1996-02-07
Legal grounds invoked
Argument summary
- ›The applicant sought invalidity for lack of novelty and individual character over earlier Chinese design D1, disclosed before the contested design's 30 May 2007 filing date.
- ›The holder argued the application should be rejected, requested an oral hearing, and said D1 was merely a counterfeit or imitation of its own pliers and the designs differed in several visible details.
- ›The Division refused an oral hearing, held that any alleged copying of the earlier design was irrelevant, and accepted the 7 February 1996 Chinese publication as sufficient disclosure under Article 7(1).
- ›It found average designer freedom for pliers and concluded that the compared handle sections created the same overall impression despite minor differences in colour, surface, and exact contouring.
- ›The contested design lacked individual character under Article 6(1)(b), so the invalidity application was upheld and costs were awarded against the holder.
Deciding panel
- MemberWolfgang SCHRAMEK
- MemberNatascha GALPERIN
- MemberThorsten ICKENROTH
Decision files
| Language | Type | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| enEnglish (en) | machine translated | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
| deGerman | original | Download original from EUIPO ↗ |
Locarno classes
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