Scope

The Design Directive applies to the registration of design rights.

The proposal widens the scope of the Design Directive by broadening the definitions of “design” and “products”. The definition of “design” will now extend to the movement, transition, or any other sort of animation of design features. The definition of “product” will now also include designs not embodied in physical products, objects materializing in digital form (e.g. NFTs), spatial arrangements of items intended to form an interior or exterior environment, and graphical user interfaces.

Relevance

The proposal to revise the Design Directive seeks to align the design protection systems in the EU with the digital age and make it more accessible and efficient for applicants. Of particular interest for the technology sector is the expanded possibility to register digital designs, such as graphic user interfaces.

Key takeaways

Other main changes of the proposal include:

• Expanding the scope of design protection by including means such as 3D printing technologies
• Introduction of a “repair clause”, which in practice allows third parties to reproduce protected features of a design solely for the purpose of repairing a complex product and restoring its original appearance
• Revising the registration process, by broadening the means of which applicants can represent their designs, for example by video or 3D printing, and allowing applicants to combine multiple designs in one application.