62024TJ0220_INF
Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 2 April 2025 –SMT v EUIPO – Pies and Rixen (Building materials)
(Case T‑220/24)
(Community design – Invalidity proceedings – Registered community design representing a profile bar (building materials) – Grounds for invalidity – No individual character – No different overall impression – Article 4(1), Article 6(1)(b), and Article 25(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 – Features of appearance of a product to be necessarily reproduced in their exact form and dimensions in order to permit the interconnection with other products – Article 8(2) of Regulation No 6/2002 – Component part of a complex product – Article 4(2) of Regulation No 6/2002)
1.
Judicial proceedings – Application initiating proceedings – Formal requirements – 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.