On 18 November 2024, the EU design law reform package was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, which includes the revised Directive (EU) 2024/2823 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 on the legal protection of industrial designs and Regulation (EU) 2024/2822 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 amending Community designs. The revised Directive (EU) 2024/2823 will enter into force on 8 December 2024 and Member States will have 36 months to transpose it into national law. The amending Regulation (EU) 2024/2822 will also enter into force on 8 December 2024, but its implementation will be phased in. Most changes will enter into force four months from 8 December 2024, while provisions to be further developed through secondary legislation (implementing regulations and delegated regulations) will enter into force after eighteen months.
This is the biggest reform in the field of industrial design in the last twenty years and the new provisions modernise the legislation to meet the needs of consumers, the challenges posed by the virtual world and also harmonise the provisions at national and European level. The definitions of ‘design’ and ‘product’ have been expanded.