Article 25 - Grounds for invalidity

1. An EU design may be declared invalid only in the following situations:
(a) the EU design does not correspond to the definition under Article 3, point (1);
(b) the EU design does not fulfil the requirements laid down in Articles 4 to 9;
(c) by virtue of a decision of the competent court or authority, the right holder is not entitled to the EU design under Article 14;
(d) the EU design is in conflict with a prior design which has been made available to the public prior to or after the date of filing of the application, or if priority is claimed, the date of priority of the EU design, and which is protected from a date prior to the date of filing of the application, or if priority is claimed, the date of priority of the EU design:
(i) by a registered EU design, or an application for such a design subject to its registration,
(ii) by a registered design right of a Member State, or by an application for such a right subject to its registration, or
(iii) by a design right registered under the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs of 1999 (“the Geneva Act”), which has effect in the Union, or by an application for such a right subject to its registration;
(e) a distinctive sign is used in a subsequent design, and Union 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;
(f) the design constitutes an unauthorised use of a work protected under the copyright law of a Member State;

g) the design constitutes an improper use of any of the items listed in Article 6ter of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (“the Paris Convention”), or of badges, emblems and escutcheons other than those covered by that Article and which are of particular public interest in a Member State, and the consent of the competent authorities to the registration has not been given.

2. The grounds for invalidity provided for in paragraph 1, points (a) and (b), may be invoked by the following:
(a) any natural or legal person; or
(b) any group or body set up for the purpose of representing the interests of manufacturers, producers, suppliers of services, traders or consumers, if that group or body has the capacity to sue and be sued in its own name under the law governing it.
 

3. The ground for invalidity provided for in paragraph 1, point (c), of this Article, may be invoked solely by the person who is entitled to the EU design under Article 14.

4. The grounds for invalidity provided for in paragraph 1, points (d), (e) and (f), may be invoked solely by the following:
(a) the applicant for or the holder of the earlier right;
(b) the persons who are entitled under Union law or the law of the Member State concerned to exercise the right; or
(c) a licensee authorised by a proprietor of the earlier right.
 

5. The ground for invalidity provided for in paragraph 1, point (g), may be invoked solely by the person or entity concerned by the improper use.

6. By way of derogation from paragraphs 4 and 5, Member States may provide that the grounds provided for in paragraph 1, points (d) and (g) may also be invoked by the appropriate authority of the Member State in question on its own initiative.

7. A registered EU design shall not be declared invalid where the applicant for or holder of one of the rights referred to in paragraph 1, points (d) to (f), consented expressly to the registration of the EU design before submitting the application for a declaration of invalidity or the counterclaim.

8. Where the applicant for or a holder of one of the rights referred to in paragraph 1, points (d), (e) and (f), has previously applied for a declaration that an EU design is invalid or made a counterclaim in infringement proceedings, they shall not submit a new application for a declaration of invalidity or lodge a new counterclaim on the basis of any of the other rights referred to in those points, which could have been invoked in support of the first application or counterclaim.