PMS International Cow Kiddee Case - Kids Travel Case

Product Information

By way of background, Magmatic had alleged that PMS' Kiddee Case products infringed the RCD (see images below), which protected its Trunki product. Designers preparing material for filing a CRD will now have to take extra care in how they present their innovative products. had not considered the CRD ‘globally’ and did not have regard to the fact that the CRD was clearly intended to create the impression of a horned animal because of its shape.

Reliance on a purported technical effect for inventive step (interpreting G 2/21) The Enlarged Board of Appeal’s decision G 2/21 was noted for the abstract criteria it set for relying on post-published evidence to support an inventive step. Simplicity or minimalism can notoriously be an aspect of a design, and it would be very curious if a design right registration system did not cater for it" [see para 44].The HC on the other hand had viewed the RCD as just protecting the shape alone and had not taken account of the colour contrast (which was absent in the Kiddee Case) when comparing the designs.

Paul Beverley, the managing director of PMS, has openly admitted that he came up with the idea for Kiddee Cases after seeing Trunki luggage. Simplicity or minimalism can notoriously be an aspect of a design, and it would be very curious if a design right registration system did not cater for it. It is quite unlikely that Magmatic intended to highlight that aspect of their design when they prepared and filed the registration, however this (partially) allowed the Supreme Court to conclude that the Kiddee case (an image of which is shown above) did produce a different overall impression and therefore did not infringe. Both Lewison J ([2007] FSR 13) and the Court of Appeal held, as Jacob LJ put it at [2008] FSR 8, para 40, that “[t]he registration is evidently for a shape.Comapring the respective shapes alone, and ignoring the markings on the side and the eyes at the front, he found that there had been infringement. It is a conclusion I would have reached with some regret, as the conception of the Trunki, a ride-on wheeled case which looks like an animal, seems to have been both original and clever; as Arnold J said at para 16 of his judgment, “[t]here is no dispute that the Trunki was an innovative design” and it “has won numerous awards and has been a significant commercial success. With carry handles, a tow strap, horn grips and secure internal straps, you can pack your favourite toys and clothes in the case, lock the catches and you are ready to go! He held that the "CRD is evidently for the shape of the suitcase, and the proper comparison is with the shape of the Kiddee Case.