05 Nov Final push for the revision of Registered Design protection
On October 10, 2024, the European Council adopted the two texts that will make up the new legal package for Registered Design protection in the European Union: the revision of the Directive for the legal protection of designs and the amendments to the Community Design Regulation in the era of digital designs and 3D printing.
This puts an end to the path initiated in 2022 by the European Commission with its proposals, which had as objectives, on the one hand, to modernize and improve the existing provisions, modifying outdated rules, increasing legal certainty and clarifying rights in terms of scope and limitations of Registered Community Designs, and, on the other hand, to simplify accessibility, as well as efficiency, and to make Registered Community Design protection more affordable, simplifying procedures and adjusting its cost (1).
In this respect, the adopted Directive and Regulation will make the registration procedure for designs at EU level cheaper and simpler, while harmonizing procedures between the European and national systems. A so-called “repair clause” is also included, with new rules to exempt spare parts used for the repair of complex products (such as spare parts in the field of automotive repair) from design protection. A harmonized transitional period will be established so that existing designs of components will be protected during the transition from the existing legal framework to the legislation now adopted.
It only remains for the new Directive on the legal protection of designs and the new Regulation on Community Designs to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union so that the deadlines for their entry into force can start. Member States will have a period of 36 months to take the necessary measures to transpose the Directive.
(1) Proposal of the European Commission concerning the Community Design Regulation (https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-15390-2022-INIT/en/pdf)
Author: Ricard Valdés-Bango Curell
Photo by Brecht Corbeel on Unsplash