Reform of EU Design Law

Key Takeaways

1. Extended design protection for digital and animated designs, including virtual objects
2. Simplification of the application process with more flexible forms of representation
3. New requirements and limitations for design protection
4. Extension and amendment of the so-called “repair clause”

What is the purpose of the EU design law reform?

EU design law protects the outer appearance of products in the European Union and its Member States. The purpose of the new EU design law reform is to adapt the European design law to past and ongoing technological developments. In particular, the new EU design law clarifies that purely digital and virtual designs such as user interfaces, in-game objects, augmented reality assets and designs embodied in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will be eligible for protection in future. Moreover, the reform strengthens the position of design owners and reflects broader policy goals, including sustainability under the EU’s so-called “Green Deal”, an initiative to push the sustainability in the EU economics.

The New European Union Design

The legislative procedure with respect to the reform of the European design law has been completed. The amended EU Design Regulation has entered into force on May 1, 2025. Additionally, the European Union Design Directive No. 2024/2823 on the legal protection of designs replaces the European Community Design Directive No. 98/71. Henceforth, the Community design is called European Union design.

Animated Designs

The EU design law reform clarified that animated designs are eligible for design protection. The appearance of a product can be shaped and determined by movements, transitions, and other animations. The explicit inclusion of dynamic elements in the scope of design protection reflects the increasing importance of animated designs in practice (in particular, in online, virtual and augmented reality spaces).

No Requirement of Physical Embodiment

In principle, a design protects the outer appearance of a product. Under the new EU design law, a product does not have to be physically embodied to be eligible for EU design protection. Designs of non-embodied products can also be protected and there remains no requirement of actual manufacture or commercial exploitability of the designed product.

The revision of the Community Design Regulation and the Community Design Directive allows, among other things, computer-generated and purely virtual objects to be protected as designs. This extension of design protectability concerns, for example, virtual architecture, objects in computer games or in augmented reality, and the designs of non-fungible tokens ("NFTs").

Extended Rights in Relation to 3D Printing

A registered design grants its owner the exclusive right to use it and to prohibit third parties from using it without the consent of the design owner. In view of the increasing use of 3D printing technologies in various industries and growing importance due to the development of Artificial Intelligence, the list of exclusive rights of design owners is supplemented. In future, acts of creation, downloading, copying, and sharing or distributing media or software used to record or embody the design will lie exclusively with the design owner. This can become relevant when distributing 3D models of designs for 3D printing.

Changes in the spare parts business: A modified repair clause

In line with the EU Commission's "Green Deal" and the mobilization of industry for a circular economy, the so-called “repair clause” has been revised. Put simply, designs should not be used to monopolize the spare parts market. Where a design relates to a spare part (e.g., a car rim, a fender, etc.) that is used exclusively for the purpose of repairing the entire product (in the previous example: a car), it may be excluded from design protection. Under the old design law, this raised the controversial question of whether only "must-match parts" were excluded from design protection. "Must-match parts" are spare parts that must be designed in the same way as the original part. Rims, for example, do not fall under this category, as different rim designs can be used for the same car.

Contrary to the prevailing opinion, the ECJ had ruled under the former law that the exclusion from protection is not limited to (form-bound) "must-match parts." However, as a result of the change in the law due to the EU design law reform, this case law is now obsolete. From now on, black-letter law stipulates that the exclusion of protection under the repair clause only applies to "must-match parts," i.e., shape-bound components.

Reproduction of the Design in the Design Application

The possibilities for reproducing a design for the purposes of design registration are significantly expanded under the new law. It is now possible to reproduce designs not only statically, but also dynamically, animated, and in videos in the application. The previous limitation on the views that can be submitted no longer applies.

The "D" in the circle

The "D" within a circle ( Ⓓ ) is newly added as a registration symbol for registered designs. Similar symbols are already familiar from copyright (©) and trademark law (®) .