Unregistered Designs And The Question Of First Disclosure

For many years there has been a question mark over whether a design must be first published in the geographical territory of the European Union in order for it to attract protection as an unregistered Community design. However, a recent case brought before the Intellectual Property and Enterprise Court (IPEC) in the UK has prompted the court to seek clarification on precisely this issue, and the court has referred the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for guidance. The CJEU’s decision will be highly significant to designers in the UK who will find themselves outside of the EU’s unregistered designs regime following Brexit, and could pave the way for continued protection in the EU for designs first disclosed in the UK.