As cheap copies of original products increasingly flood into the European market, design protection has taken on a new economic dimension. The industries most critically affected by this development encompass manufacturers of toys, sports products, fashion and furniture - but in general, any industrial design may be worth protecting. In particular, design protection often provides an interesting and cost-effective alternative to 3-D trademarks.

With the entry into force of the Regulation on Community Designs in 2003, the legal situation in Europe regarding design protection has fundamentally changed - to the advantage of design owners. Community design protection is directly enforceable in each Member State of the European Union (EU), providing both the option of an unregistered and a registered design right for the territory of all Member States. The recently re-codified and harmonized German national design law will no doubt support this process.

While an unregistered design only protects the right holder automatically from unauthorized copies for three years after disclosure , the registered EU design gives an exclusive exploitation monopoly for up to 25 years. The new EU design regime provides design owners with the possibility of enforcement before only one national Community Design Court, and with an EU wide effect under specific circumstances.

Both community and national design applications result in non-examined IP rights. For this reason, their validity is revealed only during enforcement and/or cancellation proceedings. BARDEHLE PAGENBERG was among the first to have successfully enforced designs under the new EU law. An up-to-date collection of the emerging national case law on the EU design in other Member States ensures that our firm can maintain its place at the forefront of this new development in intellectual property law.