In Case T-337/12, El Hogar Perfecto del Siglo XXI SL v OHIM, Wenf International Advisors, the General Court dismissed an appeal against a decision of an OHIM Board of Appeal which upheld the Cancellation Division's initial decision that a Community registered design for a corkscrew was invalid for lack of individual character on the basis of an earlier design (above) registered in Spain.  The corkscrew for which the design registration was invalidated is illustrated in the decision.

The interesting thing here is the court's decision that the Board of Appeal had correctly identified the informed user as both a private individual who used corkscrews at home and a professional who might use them in a restaurant, and that the degree of freedom in designing the corkscrew was high, since the design and shape of the handle and the position of the screw, lever and blades were not dictated by function. 

Class 99 wonders about this, this blogger has a drawer full of corkscrews that bear a strong resemblance to each other on account of what he had assumed to be a lack of design freedom.