There has been a lot of movement and prognosticating lately in
the world of IP to gear up for the future of an oft-forgotten but
all the more useful legal instrument: designs.
In 2024 we can expect a revision of the Community Design
Regulation and Directive, the main pillars of legal protection of
designs in the EU that have been in effect for more than 20 years.
This will modernise the legal framework and make protecting designs
in the EU quicker, cheaper and more predictable. In addition, the
Court of Justice of the European Union this year dealt with several
design law cases that are shaping harmonised design law at an EU
level.
What designs are worthy of protection?
The cases to be resolved can be rather special, such as a recent
one in which the CJEU addressed a question posed by the German
Supreme Court about whether the design of the underside of a
bicycle saddle can be subject to design protection. This matter
arose in connection with the requirement that
