Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2025:349
Date: 2025-04-02
Language of the case: German
Court formation: First Chamber
Subject matter: Intellectual, industrial and commercial property;Designs
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded;Action for annulment - inadmissible
Origin: Germany

Summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based – Pleas in law not set out in the application – General reference to other documents – Inadmissibility (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Arts 76(d) and 177(1)(d)) (see paragraphs 16, 17) 2. EU designs – Grounds for invalidity – No individual character – Design not giving the informed user a different overall impression from that produced by the earlier design – Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Arts 6(1) and 25(1)(b)) (see paragraph 39) 3. EU designs – Surrender and invalidity – Application for a declaration of invalidity based on the existence of an earlier design – Burden of proof (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Arts 4 to 9 and 25(1)(b)) (see paragraph 40) 4. EU designs – Grounds for invalidity – No individual character – Design not giving the informed user a different overall impression from that produced by the earlier design – Criteria for assessment – Freedom of the designer (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Arts 6(2) and 25(1)(b)) (see paragraphs 43-45) 5. EU designs – Grounds for invalidity – No individual character – Design not giving the informed user a different overall impression from that produced by the earlier design – Representation of a profile bar (building materials) (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Arts 6(1) and 25(1)(b)) (see paragraphs 50, 51, 62-65, 76, 92) 6. EU designs – Grounds for invalidity – No individual character – Design not giving the informed user a different overall impression from that produced by the earlier design – Global assessment of all the elements of the earlier design (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Arts 6(1) and 25(1)(b)) (see paragraphs 53-55, 61) 7. EU designs – Conditions for protection/Requirements for protection – Design constituting a component part of a complex product – Component part having to remain visible during normal use of the product in order to be regarded as new and individual in character (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Art. 4(2)) (see paragraphs 88, 89) Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders SMT GmbH to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by MM. Gerrit Pies and Wolfgang Rixen; 3. Orders the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to bear its own costs.