EU Design regulation changes coming on 1 May 2025: What businesses need to know

Background

1 May 2025 sees the first in a series of implementations of the long-awaited changes to EU design law.

In December 2024, Directive (EU) 2024/2823 (Designs Directive (recast)) and Regulation (EU) 2024/2822 (CD Amending Regulation) came into force. The CD Amending Regulation is applicable from 1 May 2025, with some exceptions, and the Designs Directive (recast) must be transposed into national law by December 2027. There is, however, a transitional period that applies to the repair clause that allows existing designs of component parts to remain protected at a national level until December 2032.

Key changes applicable from 1 May 2025

• The CD Amending Regulation renames the European registered right the 'registered EU design' (REUD), and correspondingly the Community Design Regulation becomes the EU Designs Regulation.
• The CD Amending Regulation repeals with Fees Regulation (2246/2002). The effect of this will be to make registration of designs cheaper (many fees have been reduced), and easier to use (designers can now apply for registrations in different Locarno classes in one single application) which should encourage more designers to apply for registered design right protection.
• Under Article 2(3) of the Designs Directive (recast) the REUD is broadened to include dynamic objects, including the movement, transition or animation of the features applicable to the definition of a design at sections 1(1) and (2) RDA 1949 ('the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture or materials of the product itself or its ornamentation' ('ornamentation' now being replaced with 'decoration'). This will allow designs which would previously not be registerable, such as non-static designs, layouts such as shop designs and designs embodied in non-physical products to attract the 25-year monopoly protection offered by the registered right. The same descriptive change also applies to the UEUD regime (ie Unregistered EU Designs).
• The examples of what is considered a 'product' are broadened to include digital designs, graphic works, symbols, logos, surface patterns and graphical user interfaces.
• Changes to infringement provisions will include the right to prohibit "creating, downloading, copying and sharing or distributing to others any medium or software which records the design for the purpose of enabling a product to be made". This will likely mean that 3D printing will constitute an act of infringement, recognising the technical advances affecting design-led industries.
• Visibility requirements will be clarified so that EU design protection covers features that are shown visibly in the application for registration. This does not mean that a design feature needs to be visible in any particular situation (apart from with reference to the component parts of a complex product exception, where a component part needs to remain visible in normal use of the product to attract protection).
• In line with current trade mark provisions, REUD holders will now be able to stop counterfeit products transiting through from outside the EU, thus bolstering design-right holders arsenal for preventing counterfeit products entering the market.
• The transitional repair clause is made permanent by the CD Amending Regulation, with some amendments to reflect the CJEU case of Acacia v Audi and Porsche. The new repair clause provides that design rights (REUD and UEUD) cannot be enforced where the design of the component part of a complex product is applied or incorporated into an item used solely for repairing a complex product to restore its original appearance.
• Certain new defences apply (both to REUDs and UEUDs), which align design rights more closely with the copyright regime, namely (i) referential use; (ii) comment; (iii) critique; and (iv) parody.

Changes applicable from 1 July 2026

• The design representation scheme will be updated, removing the seven-view limit to design registration images, and different file types will become acceptable for registration (e.g. JPEGs, MP4s). This will align the procedure with trade mark registration for motion EU trade marks and will allow new non-static and non-physical embodiment designs to be more easily registered. The number of views and methods of registration allowed will be set out in national legislation and some coordination will be required to ensure that national offices accept similar applications.
• Fast track invalidity proceedings will be introduced by member states where the design rights owner will not contest the grounds of invalidity.

Who needs to be aware of these changes?

Designers and IP rich companies operating in the EU:

Companies may want to take advantage of the reduction in certain fees to make designs more central to their rights portfolio and register more designs going forward. They may find it easier to register certain types of designs (e.g dynamic and animated images) once the seven-image restriction is removed and will find that more fluid and up-to-date modes of registrations are permitted. This will be particularly attractive to creators of digital designs, including GUIs and designs which can be 3-D printed, as well as more traditional designers.

Brands with strong trade mark portfolios:

The reduction in fees and greater alignment of the practical registration process with trade mark registrations, will allow companies to utilise their strong trade marks alongside design rights to develop and more comprehensively protect the reputation and goodwill in their products and business. This should be particularly effective for brands with digital designs, graphic works, logos or patterns where there is an overlap and complimentary protection between design rights and trade mark registrations.

Manufacturers of complex products and design owners operating in the spare parts market:

The spare parts market will be shaken up with the repair parts provision being made permanent. Manufacturers of repair parts will be pleased to see this change, which protects them from design right infringement where an item is used to repair a complex product to restore its original appearance. Interestingly, these same spare parts manufacturers may see an increase in competition in this space with the risk of design right infringement having been clarified.

Questions for the future

These changes to EU design regulation are likely to be largely welcome – they recognise the impact of some aspects of modern technology (such as 3D printing and digital design) and are a helpful step forward in many areas. However, they do not include any specific mention of AI generated designs, whether these can be protected, or in what circumstances such designs might infringe existing design rights. This is an area that will test the fabric of the regime.  It will be of interest to designers to see how the interplay between designs and copyright and AI develops, and how the EU addresses the need for protections to be put in place for designers and creatives in this sphere, while taking into account EU targets on promoting tech innovation.