Judgment;Information — ECLI:EU:T:2023:132
Date: 2023-03-15
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Subject matter: Intellectual, industrial and commercial property;Designs
Procedure: Action for annulment - successful

Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 15 March 2023 – Homy Casa v EUIPO – Albatros International (Chairs) (Case T‑89/22) (1) (Community design – Invalidity proceedings – Registered Community design representing a chair – Earlier design – Ground for invalidity – Disclosure of the earlier design – Disclosure via the Internet – Identification of the earlier design – Discretion of the Board of Appeal – Article 63(1) of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002) 1. Community designs – Appeals procedure – Action before the EU judicature – Jurisdiction of the General Court – Re-evaluation of the facts in the light of evidence produced for the first time before it – Precluded (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Art. 61) (see paragraphs 15, 20) 2. Community designs – Grounds for invalidity – No individual character – Disclosure to the public – Exception – Facts not reasonably capable of being known to specialist circles of the sector concerned (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Art. 7(1)) (see paragraph 26) 3. Community designs – Grounds for invalidity – No individual character – Disclosure to the public – Proof of the disclosure (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Arts 7(1), 25(1)(b) and 65(1); Commission Regulation No 2245/2002, Art. 28(1)(b)(v) and (vi)) (see paragraphs 27-31, 36) 4. Community designs – Grounds for invalidity – No individual character – Previous disclosure of identical design – Proof of the disclosure – Content of a website – Amazon (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Art. 7(1)) (see paragraph 37) 5. Community designs – Decisions of EUIPO – Legality – Examination by the EU judicature – Criteria (Council Regulation No 6/2002) (see paragraph 53) 6. Community designs – Procedural provisions – Examination of the facts of EUIPO’s own motion – Action for invalidity – Examination restricted to the facts, evidence and arguments provided (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Art. 63(1)) (see paragraph 59) 7. Community 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, Art. 52; Commission Regulation No 2245/2002, Art. 28(1)(b)(i) and (vi)) (see paragraphs 61, 68) 8. Community designs – Requirements for protection – Overlap of the conditions of novelty and individual character (Council Regulation No 6/2002, Arts 5 and 6) (see paragraphs 70, 71) Operative part The Court: 1. Annuls the decision of the Third Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 30 November 2021 (Case R 837/2020-3); 2. Orders EUIPO to pay the costs, including the costs necessarily incurred by Homy Casa Ltd for the purposes of the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of EUIPO; 3. Orders Albatros International GmbH to bear its own costs. 1 OJ C 148, 4.4.2022.