European Union (EU) Revolutionizes General Industrial Design Protection

Abstract

If you have had business facilities or activities in the European Union after March 6, 2002, you may have experienced already the benefits of the new EU Community Design Regulation unregistered protection. It is expected that in 2003 the EU registered Community Design will be available, initiating the second protection stage of the new Regulation. For the U. S. practitioner, the Regulation offers a single system for protecting a design throughout the EU.This article highlights some of the features of the new EU Community Design Regulation, its history and importance to. future development of global design protection.. The Regulation has introduced a revolutionary two stage form of design protection, which has simplicity, low cost and prompt protection as its primary goals. It was set up to serve industries that need immediate, relatively simply to enforce, low cost protection against copying, and offered the option of longer term, exclusive right. For both forms of protection the general standards are the same. It is a very practical design protection system, that includes ideas for other countries to consider in improving their design protection.