CJEU Ruling: Greater Copyright Protection For Design Works

In Short

The Situation: The Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") recently ruled that design works must be protected by copyright in the EU regardless of their country of origin. This decision rejects the application of the reciprocity clause from the Berne Convention for applied arts originating from third countries.

The Background: A Swiss furniture design company, holding intellectual property rights on chairs designed by American artists, sought to stop a Dutch and Belgian furniture chain from selling a chair allegedly infringing on its copyright. The Dutch court referred the matter to the CJEU to determine whether the reciprocity clause of the Berne Convention should apply.