European Commission plans industrial design rules revamp
EU-wide ‘repair clause’ of significance to car repair sector | Clause to have legal effect for future designs | Commission aiming for simplification of processes.
The European Commission has proposed the revision of industrial design rules to make it cheaper, quicker and more straightforward to protect industrial designs across the EU.
In an announcement shared on Tuesday, November 29, the Commission said that its proposals for a revised regulation and directive “modernise the existing Community design framework and parallel national design regimes, created and harmonised 20 years ago”.
An industrial design covers the outer appearance of a product characterised by its lines, contours or shape.
Under the proposals, the EU-wide ‘repair clause’ will be introduced into the Design Directive, which the Commission said will open up and increase competition in the spare parts market.
“This is particularly important in the car repair sector, where it should become legally possible in all EU countries to reproduce identical “must match” car body parts for repair to restore its original appearance,” said the Commission.
This clause will only have legal effect for future designs, so that designs already granted protection will remain covered during a transitional period of ten years.
Also as part of the proposals, the Commission is looking to simplify and streamline the procedure for EU-wide registration.
Two-prong approach
The proposals take a two-prong approach to this, making it easier to present designs in an application for registration (for example, by submitting video files) or combine more than one design in one application, as well as by lowering the fees to be paid for the first ten years of protection.
Additionally, the new framework looks to ensure harmonisation with national design systems, so that “greater complementarity among EU level and national design protection rules” is ensured, for example on requirements for registering designs or simplifying rules for invalidating registered designs.
The proposals follow the Intellectual Property Action Plan, adopted in November 2020 by the European Commission. At the time, the Commission announced that it would revise EU legislation on design protection, following the reform of the EU trademark legislation.
Both the directive and regulation proposal will be sent to the European Parliament and the Council for adoption under the ordinary legislative procedure.
After adoption, EU member states will need to transpose the new rules of the directive into national law within two years. Most amendments to the Community Design Regulation will become applicable three months after its entry into force, while the rest will only apply when the necessary delegated and implementing acts are enacted (18 months after entry into force).
Thierry Breton, commissioner for the internal market, said: “Twenty years on, the current framework for industrial designs continues to provide robust protection to this type of IP. Today’s well-targeted modernisation will help make it easier to protect products’ industrial designs.
"At the same time, it will help to complete the single market when it comes to using spare parts for repair, by limiting excessive protections still granted in some member states.”
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