On 18 November 2024 a design reform package was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The package includes a recast Directive on legal protection of designs and amending Regulation on EU designs.
The changes will come into effect in stages – the first stage regarding EU designs will enter into force on 8 April 2025. EU Member States have an additional term to transpose the changes into their national laws.
Below is a summary of the adopted main reforms in the design protection:
- The definition of ‘design’ is updated to cover also animated images and designs, transitions, movements, etc. At the same time the requirements on visibility of a design and scope of protection are clarified and developed
- The definition of ‘product’ to which a design is applied now also includes non-physical forms (such as graphical user interfaces, interior and exterior layouts, websites, etc.)
- The so-called “repair clause” is explicitly regulated providing, under certain conditions, a limitation of design protection in case of repairs and spare parts
- Design fees are now simplified by merging the registration and publication fee; application fees are made simpler and are optimized in case of multiple designs applied for by a single design application
- Similar to trademarks, design owners will be able to inform the public that their rights are registered by displaying the registration symbol of a letter D enclosed within a circle
- Design owners are given a new exclusive right to 3-D print their designs (and are protected against 3-D printing without their permission)
- More defense possibilities are envisaged in case of infringement claims – design users may now be exempt from responsibility if they are using another person’s design in comparative advertising, or for the purposes of comment, critique or parody (showing a certain similarity to copyright exceptions and limitations).