Piaggio lost a dispute in the EU over scooter design

The General Court of the European Union has ruled in the case T‑219/18 Piaggio v EUIPO. The dispute concerns the following registered European design for scooters by a Chinese company in 2010:

The Italian company Piaggio an invalidity procedure in 2014 claiming that this design is very similar to that implemented in its own scooters which are famous amongst the consumers for many years. In addition, some registered designs and trademarks were been invoked too.

The EUIPO dismissed the application for invalidity concluding that the overall impression created by the later design and that of the earlier one is different.

The decision was appealed.

The General Court upheld the EUIPO’s position on the matter.  According to the court:

First of all, it should be noted, that the applicant has no reason to claim that the fact that process designs have several common elements and, in general, a very similar form, leads to the conclusion that the contested design creates the general impression for “Déjà vu” when compared to earlier industrial designs.

In fact, as the Board of Appeal correctly observed, that while in the contested industrial design, the angular lines were predominant, in the earlier industrial design the lines were rather rounded. The process designs give the opposite impression to the informed consumer, who is given particular vigilance and sensitivity, in particular to the design and aesthetic qualities of the products concerned.

It follows from all of the foregoing that the Board of Appeal did not err in its assessment that the contested and earlier designs gave different general impressions to the informed consumer, concluding that the contested designs were original in the meaning of Article 6 of Regulation No 6/2002 as compared to the earlier one.

As regards the opposing marks, the court considers that:

It follows from all the foregoing that, because, on the one hand, the earlier mark’s overall visual impression is different from that of the contested industrial design and, on the other, the importance that aesthetic qualities have for the choice, the average consumer, who is highly attentive, will not assume that the disputed industrial design uses the earlier mark despite the identity of the products concerned.

(unofficial translation)