On 16/09/2021 the Supreme Court of Spain (SC) handed down a judgment in a landmark case in the field of designs. In its judgment 608/2021, the SC overturns the first instance and appeal judgments and, in line with the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, invalidates a registered design consisting of the design of the regional Aragonese cachirulo applied to an elastic multifunctional head and neck garment. The SC establishes the criteria to be followed in the examination of novelty and individual character of designs and declares that “the mere application of an already known pattern, such as the cachirulo, to a specific product does not in itself give the design an individual character, as long as it does not cause a different overall impression to the cachirulo pattern for an informed user of the products in which the registered design is incorporated”.
The GUELL IP team, led by the firm’s managing partner Jordi Güell, has represented ORIGINAL BUFF S.A., the undisputed world leader in the production of multifunctional tubular neck and headwear, in this case.
As a result of this judgment, we have confirmation that the mere application of an already known pattern to a previously known product lacks novelty and individual character.