Significant changes to industrial designs (Community designs) in European Union law are coming into force this year and next. The legal framework for this reform is provided by Regulation (EU) 2024/2822 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 on Community designs and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 2246/2002 and Directive (EU) 2024/2823 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 on the legal protection of industrial designs. The terminology used in this area is changing. The Community design becomes the European Union design (EU design or EUD). The Community Design Regulation becomes the European Union Design Regulation (EUDR).
Moving on to the most significant changes, it is important to note the revised definition of design (Article 3(1) EUDR) and product (Article 3(2) EUDR). The definition of "design" has been expanded to include animation. Animation should be understood as a gradual change in the features of a design, with or without preserving their identity. Animation is a broad term and encompasses both movement and transition. The definition of "product" has been amended to explicitly include non-physical objects. It clarifies that a product can be any industrial or handicraft item other than computer programs, regardless of whether it is embodied in a physical object or materialized in a non-physical form. Furthermore, the list of what constitutes a product has been revised and expanded. The definition now explicitly includes kits of articles, spatial arrangements of objects intended to create an indoor or outdoor environment, and parts intended to be assembled to create a complex product, as well as graphic works or symbols, logos, surface designs, and graphic user interfaces. The adopted change is therefore a response to the developing digital and generally intangible economy.
Other changes also significantly address the issue of technological innovation. The scope of exclusive rights to industrial designs has been expanded to include 3D printing (Article 19(2)(d) EUDR). Creating, downloading, copying, and making available or distributing to others any media or software that registers a design now also constitutes unlawful use of the design.
Another noteworthy change is the implementation of a design information system. This system allows design owners, or third parties with their consent, to display design information on their products to raise awareness of the design registration system. The design information will consist of the letter "D" enclosed in a circle (D), which can be used to indicate that a product is protected by a design registration. This measure aims to facilitate the marketing of registered designs and increase the visibility of design protection.
In summary, the changes introduced should be welcomed. To some extent, they help eliminate or significantly minimize the uncertainties arising from the application of industrial design regulations in the dynamically evolving virtual and digital environment.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of March 4, 2025
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