EU General Court rules against EUIPO in design case
The EU General Court has ruled in favour of a German individual’s invalidity appeal against a Community design for a mobile phone case.
In December 2011, French individual Sorouch Mahdavi Sabet applied for the registration of a Community design at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) covering mobile phone and computer cases. The design had a priority date of June 30, 2011.
In May 2012 Claus Gramberg of Germany filed a declaration of invalidity of the contested design for lack of novelty. Gramberg markets mobile phone accessories under the Mumbi brand. His sales mainly take place on Amazon.de under the name HandyNow.
In his evidence, Gramberg said that he previously purchased phone cases corresponding with the contested design.
In support of his application, Gramberg said that the contested design had been disclosed before the June 30, 2011 priority date.
The Cancellation Division said Gramberg’s evidence was valid proof and declared the invalidity of the contested design based on a lack of individual character in January 2013.
Sabet appealed against the Cancellation Division’s decision at the EUIPO in March 2013. The Third Board of Appeal of the EUIPO annulled the decision of the Cancellation Division in January 2015 and dismissed the declaration of invalidity. The board claimed that the evidence was insufficient to prove the disclosure of the contested design before June 30, 2011.
Gramberg appealed to the General Court.
The court sided with Gramberg and set aside the decision of the Board of Appeal to annul the Cancellation Division’s decision. The court said that the board had incorrectly assessed the evidence before it which could have an influence on the resolution of the dispute.
However, the court said it does not have the power to rule on whether the design is invalid.
The court ordered the EUIPO to bear its own costs and those incurred by Gramberg.
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