Invalidity
Applications for invalidity may be made to the EUIPO by any natural or legal person, as well as by a public authority empowered to do so. A fee is required to request a declaration of invalidity.
More information regarding invalidity applications can be found in the Guidelines, Examination of Design Invalidity Applications.
More information regarding invalidity applications can be found in the Guidelines, Examination of Design Invalidity Applications.
For further information regarding the application fee for declaration of invalidity, please consult the fees and payment section.
Concerning Community design invalidity proceedings, applicants who do not have their domicile, principal place of business or real and effective commercial establishment within the EEA (
European Economic Area) are required to be represented before the Office. To access the Office’s list of representatives, please consult
eSearch plus.
The language regime in design invalidity proceedings is not the same as that governing trade mark proceedings.
The application for a declaration of invalidity must be filed in the language of proceedings, which is the language used for filing the application for registering the contested Community design (language of filing), provided the language of filing is one of the five languages of the Office (Article 98 CDR; Article 29 CDIR).
If the language of filing is not one of the five languages of the Office, the language of proceedings is the second language indicated in the application for the contested Community design (Article 98(4) CDR; Article 29(1) CDIR).
For more information, please see the Guidelines on Examination of design invalidity applications.
The application for a declaration of invalidity must be filed in the language of proceedings, which is the language used for filing the application for registering the contested Community design (language of filing), provided the language of filing is one of the five languages of the Office (Article 98 CDR; Article 29 CDIR).
If the language of filing is not one of the five languages of the Office, the language of proceedings is the second language indicated in the application for the contested Community design (Article 98(4) CDR; Article 29(1) CDIR).
For more information, please see the Guidelines on Examination of design invalidity applications.
Invalidity applications will be received by the EUIPO, which is competent, together with the Community design courts, to resolve conflicts that arise concerning registered Community designs. On the other hand, conflicts concerning unregistered Community designs will be dealt with exclusively by the Community design courts.
Once a number of decisions on these matters have been reached by the EUIPO and by the competent national courts (Community design courts) or European courts, case-law will naturally and gradually be built up. This will be documented and commented on for all to consult.
To consult case-law, please use eSearch Case Law.
Once a number of decisions on these matters have been reached by the EUIPO and by the competent national courts (Community design courts) or European courts, case-law will naturally and gradually be built up. This will be documented and commented on for all to consult.
To consult case-law, please use eSearch Case Law.
The questions and answers provided on this page serve a purely informative purpose and are not a legal point of reference. Please consult the European Union Trade mark and Community Design Regulations or Trade mark / Design Guidelines for further details.
For more information about how the Office handles your personal data, please consult the Data Protection Statement.