Are you ready for the new EU Design Package?

The forthcoming EU Design Regulation and Directive are set to introduce a number of changes around Community Designs and member state design regulations. Among others, these include renaming Community Designs as EU Designs, aligning them with EU Trademarks (which were rebranded from Community Trademarks many years ago.)

The regulation provides an update to the definition of a design to include ‘movement, transition to any other sort of animation’ and to the definition of product to broaden what is covered digitally. In anticipation of  future development, the word ‘digital’ has however been replaced by ‘non-physical’.  It also expands those definitions to include spatial arrangements, such as shop layouts, and graphic works, such as graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Zacco has achieved considerable success with protecting ‘get-ups’, or shop layouts, and GUIs for global clients and the regulatory update will enshrine into law some of the work that we have been dealing with for many years, making it easier to secure and enforce such rights in the future.

The scope of protection for a registered design has been expanded, both as an EU design and a national design following the proposal for a new Directive. This prohibits 3D printing as a potentially infringing activity; prevents counterfeit products transiting through the EU, in line with protections currently available to EU trademark holders; and removes the ‘unity of class’ requirement currently in place, allowing rights holders to add more designs within a single application. The proposal for new Directive  also introduces a ‘Design Notice’, a ‘D’ inside a circle, notifying the public that the design is registered, and a ‘Prior Use’ defence, formalising some of the provisions outlined in current regulations. Unregistered designs will no longer be permitted at national level, only registered designs, and will only be able to claim as EU unregistered design.

Another interesting addition is related to Cultural Heritage, allowing member states to mitigate the risk of cultural appropriation of designs that are of ‘national interest’’. These will be aligned with UNESCO’s definition of cultural heritage and are set to include designs related to monuments, artefacts and costumes, among others, with the new Directive introducing registration and validity conditions for applications that could be associated with national landmarks, traditions or customs.

Finally, one of the most significant updates is in making a transitional repair clause permanent in the EU regulation, with some amendments, which will limit the ability of rights owners to enforce design rights for components that are intended to repair a complex product to restore it to its original appearance. This removes an element of exclusivity within spare parts, which may be good news for third party manufacturers, but has the potential to create issues for rights holders, particularly in relation to those worried about the risk to reputation that may arise from potentially untested non-OEM spare parts.

The EU Parliament formally endorsed the new legislation during its March 2024 Plenary and the directive has now been formally approved by the Council Permanent Representative Committee. Following publication in the Official Journal, the regulation will now enter force on the twentieth day after November 18^th and will apply after four months. Member states will then have three years to introduce the Directive into national legislation.

These are some of the most prominent changes but there are others, and the new requirements are set to shake up EU Designs. The new rules will make protection and enforcement easier in some cases, and provide more rights for consumers, but what could they mean for your IP portfolio? Zacco is now assisting our clients with navigating the forthcoming changes outlined in the regulation, ensuring that companies understand their implications and that they can make use of the opportunities for enhance protection and enforcement.

For more information, or for guidance and assistance in bringing your international portfolio in line with the new Regulation and Directive, please reach out to Claes Agnvall, Thomas Mølsgaard or Nils Köster.

For advice in Norway, please contact Lars Henrik Stoud Platou, or for the UK, please contact Iram Zaidi.