In brief
On 10 October 2024, the Council of the European Union approved the EU design legislative reform package, marking the final step before its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. The designs protection package includes two legislative acts, the Revised Directive on the Legal Protection of Designs (recast of Directive 98/71/EC) and amended Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 of Community Designs.
This reform aims to modernize the 20-year-old design legislation, simplify, strengthen, and standardize design protection across the EU, aligning it with existing trademark rules, enhancing predictability, and harmonizing protection with national laws. This ensures the EU design system remains robust and fit for the future. Designers, Small and Medium Enterprises, and other businesses will benefit from better protection as the texts update the current design legislation to improve the protection of industrial designs in the era of digital designs and 3D printing.
Who's on board?
The package has been approved by the Council of the European Union, which represents the governments of all EU member states. This means that all 27 EU countries are on board with this legislative reform. This package aims to harmonize design protection laws across these countries, ensuring a unified approach to the protection of industrial designs within the EU.
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) plays a crucial role in implementing and overseeing these changes, as the responsible authority for managing registered Community designs (soon to be called registered EU designs), along with EU trade marks, and as of recently, Geographical Indications for craft and industrial products.
Key aspects of the designs protection package
The designs protection package brings several elements aimed at modernizing and improving the protection of industrial designs within the EU:
- Simplified and harmonized registration process. The package aims to make the registration process for designs at the EU level cheaper and easier, while harmonizing procedures between European and national systems. On paper, it will make the process more accessible for a broader range of applicants to protect their designs, and the procedures will be more consistent across all EU member states, enhancing legal certainty and predictability. In addition, to ensure the viable co-existence of national and EU design protection systems, the provisional agreement increases EU-wide fees, which would be higher compared with national-only protection schemes, to reflect the larger territorial scope of the EU-wide design protection.
- Repair clause. Replacement parts for a complex product that are used to repair and restore its original appearance are excluded from protection (particularly relevant for the automotive sector). By allowing the use of spare parts for repairs without infringing design rights, it ensures that consumers have access to affordable and sustainable repair options while still protecting the owner´s rights.
- Cultural Heritage Protection. The package includes provisions to prevent the registration of designs that incorporate elements of cultural heritage of national interest, as per the definition provided by UNESCO which, under certain circumstances, could prevent registration of designs including traditional symbols, costumes and other culturally significant items.
- Amendments of definitions of "product" and "design". These new definitions try to adapt current interpretation of the design legislation to contemporary non-physical environments and take into consideration the phenomenon of 3D-printing.
Why is the designs protection package of relevance?
The designs protection package marks a significant advancement in the EU's intellectual property framework, addressing the need for updated legislation to protect designs in the digital age. Design-intensive industries, which contribute almost 16% of the EU's GDP and 14% of all jobs in the Union, stand to benefit from improved design protection, enhancing innovation and competitiveness. This said, as it primarily focuses on harmonizing procedures and simplifying the registration process, it will still leave individual Member States to address specific national concerns, either by adopting the principles outlined in the package or through other unspecified measures.
Entry into force and next steps:
The Council's approval on 10 October 2024 marked the final step before the publication of the design package in the EU Official Journal.
- The Directive on the Legal Protection of Designs will enter into force 20 days after publication. Member States will then have 36 months to transpose the directive into their national laws.
- The Regulation on Community Designs will also enter into force 20 days after it is published, and will be applicable four months later.
The amendment of the design legislation marks a significant step forward in fostering innovation and protecting the creative efforts of designers, which may have a significant impact in industries such as automotive or fashion.
