05/07/10
Use of a Trade Mark to invalidate a Registered Community Design
A Registered Community Design ("RCD") is a unitary right which provides protection for designs across the European Union. In the context of Community (registered and unregistered) designs "design" means the appearance of the whole or a part of a product remitting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation .
One of the cases in which a Community design may be declared invalid is if a distinctive sign is used in a subsequent design, and Community law or the law of the Member State governing that sign confers on the right holder of the sign the right to prohibit such use. This ground must be invoked by the right holder of the sign.
In a recent case the General Court had to consider this situation.
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