European Economic
and Social Committee
Revision of the Design Directive and Regulation
Background
The Designs Directive and Community Design Regulation, which were written twenty years ago, are being revised to ensure that design protection is fit for purpose in the digital age and supports the green transition. The revision is also intended to make rules more accessible and efficient for individual designers, SMEs and design intensive industries in terms of costs and complexity, speed, predictability and legal certainty, following surveys which flagged up shortcomings in the current rules
Key points
In its opinion, the EESC supports the main features of the revised legislation, particularly the new definition of a design; the limitation of design protection to features described in the registration application, ensuring greater legal certainty; and the "repair clause", allowing original designs to be reproduced for the purpose of repairing complex products, thus enhancing consumer protection.
The EESC proposes the following changes to the new proposals:
- lowering filing fees for SMEs and individual designers, perhaps charging them in proportion to their turnover. The EESC does not believe that merging publication and registration fees would be as favourable for these groups as claimed in the proposals, because fees for renewals would increase drastically;
- a more radical simplification of the design filing systems available on the websites of national industrial property offices and the European Union Intellectual Property Office. Scrapping the "unity of class" rule is a welcome simplification, but it will not be enough. The Committee suggests using the expertise of patent agents to come up with solutions.
- The EESC objects to the use of delegated acts to adopt rules on design disputes and appeals. These are matters which relate to the right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial, enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (Article 47, Chapter VI). They cannot therefore be regulated though delegated acts, which are only for supplementing or amending non-essential elements of legislation.
Additional information
EESC section responsible: Single Market, Production and Consumption (INT)
Opinion type: mandatory referral
Rapporteur: Ferre WYCKMANS (Workers/Belgium)
Reference: COM(2022) 666 final — 2022/0391 (COD) and COM(2022) 667 final — 2022/0392 (COD)
Date of adoption by plenary: 22/03/2023
Result of the vote: 148 votes in favour, none against, with 3 abstentions
Contacts
Daniela Marangoni