Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2023:516
Date: 2023-09-06
Language of the case: Polish
Court formation: Seventh Chamber
Subject matter: Intellectual, industrial and commercial property;Designs
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Malta

Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 6 September 2023 – Iwuć v EUIPO – Hangzhou XiangHui (Packaging box and set of socks) (Case T‑492/22) (1) (Community design – Invalidity proceedings – Registered Community design representing a packaging box and a set of socks – Grounds for invalidity – Articles 5, 7 and 25(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002) 1. Community designs – Grounds for invalidity – Lack of novelty – Previous disclosure of identical design – Proof of the disclosure (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Arts 5(1)(b), 7(1) and 25(1)(b)) (see paragraphs 16, 17) 2. Community designs – Grounds for invalidity – Lack of novelty – Previous disclosure of identical design – Representation of a packaging box and a set of socks (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Arts 5(1)(b), 7(1) and 25(1)(b)) (see paragraphs 25-27, 29, 33, 34, 36) 3. Community designs – Conditions for protection – Overlap of the conditions of novelty and individual character (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Arts 5 and 6) (see paragraph 32) 4. Action for annulment – Pleas in law – Pleas and complaints not capable of giving rise to annulment of the contested act – Ineffective pleas in law (Art. 263 TFEU) (see paragraph 40) 5. Action for annulment – Subject matter – Decision based on several pillars of reasoning, each sufficient to justify the operative part – Annulment of such a decision – Conditions (Art. 263 TFEU) (see paragraphs 41, 42) 6. Community designs – Grounds for invalidity – Use of a distinctive sign in a subsequent design – Invalidity of the subsequent design –Maintenance in an amended form (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Art. 25(6)) (see paragraph 49) Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders each party to bear its own costs. 1 OJ C 368, 26.9.2022.