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ARTICLE · 09 JULY 2026

Technical Function In Designs – Decathlon V Delta-Sport And Chiaro V Mayborn

Boult Wade Tennant LLP
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The General Court of the European Union upheld Decathlon's registered EU design for its EASYBREATH full-face snorkelling mask against a technical function challenge, while the UK High Court found Chiaro's Elvie breast pump design had narrow infringement scope after excluding technical features. These contrasting outcomes reveal how the exclusion for designs dictated solely by technical function can dramatically affect protection scope, even for products designed to fit the human body.

United KingdomIntellectual Property
Maryam Ahmed
Maryam Ahmed
Jonathan Pratt
Jonathan Pratt
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Registered designs protect the visual appearance of a product and can be incredibly useful tools for designers to help prevent knock-offs of their products from flooding the market. However, certain aspects of a design which are dictated solely by their technical function are excluded from forming a part of registered design protection. One of the reasons for this is to prevent designs being used as a substitute for patents.

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In a decision at the General Court of the European Union, the Registered EU Design for Decathlon’s ‘EASYBREATH’ full-face snorkelling mask (002526699-0001) were upheld as valid following a challenge filed by Delta-Sport Handelskontor GmbH.

Delta-Sport alleged that the design of the Decathlon mask was solely dictated by its technical function because it needed to fit a person’s face and function as a snorkelling mask. However, the General Court upheld the design, finding that there were sufficient features which were not solely dictated by technical function

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