On October 10, 2024, the Council of the European Union approved a package of legislative reforms aimed at improving the protection of industrial designs. This package includes a new regulation amending Council Regulation (EC) No. 6/2002 on Community designs, as well as a new directive that strengthens legal protection within the EU.
This article provides an in-depth exploration of the objectives of the new law on the protection of industrial designs, its main new features, opportunities, and effective date.
What are the objectives of the legislative reform package on designs?
This legislative review has several key objectives:
- Modernizing the systems for protecting industrial designs in the EU. The previous directive dated back to 1998, so the new regulation aims to better adapt to the current economic and technological context, including new market realities, digital innovations, and forms of commercialization.
- To create a protection model that is more accessible and attractive to individual designers and companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These stakeholders often faced numerous barriers, and the new law aims to provide more efficient and effective legal protection.
Design Protection: Key Developments
1. Introduction to the Term “European Union Design”
One of the main changes is the replacement of the term “Community design” with“European Union design.” This change reflects the need to modernize legal language and to standardize terminology in line with other concepts such as“European Union trademark.”
2. Expansion of the definition of products eligible for design protection
Previously, only designs incorporated into a physical object were considered protected. However, the reform extends this protection to a wider range of products, such as those displayed in a graphic or a digital environment.
The importance of the spatial arrangement of elements intended to form an interior or exterior environment is also recognized; and it is accepted that the animation, movement, or transition of a product’s characteristics can contribute to the appearance of the design.
3. A product's design features do not need to be visible
The scope of protection has been expanded, and a product's design features no longer need to be visible at a specific time or in a specific situation in order to qualify for design protection.
However, there is one exception: design protection for the components of a complex product is valid only if those components remain visible during the product’s normal use.
4. Remedy Clause
The repair clause is introduced with the aim of harmonizing the laws of the Member States regarding the use of protected designs, in order to allow for the repair of a complex product and restore it to its original appearance.
This provision takes effect when the design is applied to or incorporated into a product that constitutes a component of a complex product, where the protected design of the component depends on the appearance of that complex product.
5. Protection against unauthorized copies created using 3D printing technologies
In light of advances in 3D printing technologies, the new regulations establish specific measures to prevent the unauthorized reproduction of protected designs.
Thus, it is established that any action related to the creation, downloading, copying, distribution, or making available of any medium or software that incorporates a design, with the intent to reproduce a product that infringes on that protected design, must be subject to theauthorization of the rights holder.
Entry into Force and Opportunities Under the New Design Law
The new Directive was signed on October 23 by the presidents of the European Parliament and the Council, and will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Directive will enter into force 20 days after its publication and will become applicable 4 months after that date. Member States will have 36 months to implement the necessary measures to transpose the new Directive into their national laws.
This reform opens up new opportunities for users of the design protection system, who will soon be able to benefit from an updated legal framework that offers new tools (a regulation and a directive) to more effectively protect all of their creations.
Pedro Saturio, Associate Partner in the Patent Practice Group at Elzaburu