European Design Legislation: Fit For Purpose?
Published date | 11 January 2021 |
Subject Matter | Intellectual Property, Patent, Trademark |
Law Firm | Marks & Clerk |
Author | Mr Thomas Prock |
The European Commission has recently published its report assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of current European design legislation. The assessment has been conducted over a number of years and follows the publication of the commission study on whether current IP systems are fit for purpose in light of developments in 3D printing. While the 3D printing study considered all IP rights and their ability to serve as a tool for protecting innovation in a 3D printing world the design study more generally looks at fitness for purpose of current design legislation. The report concludes that EU design legislation achieves its intended aim and is popular, if somewhat underused.
The study concludes that current legislation should be updated to account for changes brought about by the digital and green transformations. In reaching this conclusion the design study unsurprisingly leans on the earlier 3D printing study. The 3D printing study found that a particular concern relates to the handling of CAD files. Whilst CAD files per-se do not attract design protection the design the CAD file is based on does. As a result of this it is presently not clear if acts such as uploading, hosting and downloading a CAD file on a publically available server constitutes design right infringement. The 3D printing study suggested that the scope of protection of European design rights be changed to better protect digital designs. Additionally it recommends that the breadth of the private use exception in the context of 3D printing be reviewed to ensure design protection strikes the correct balance between securing protection and allowing individuals a reasonable degree of freedom of use.
An expansion of the scope of protection afforded by European design protection to capture digital designs would be a welcome development not only for those creating digital content intended for sharing but also...
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