On Monday 25 September in Brussels, the European Ministers for Competitiveness approved two political agreements in principle (‘general approach’) on the proposals for a directive and a regulation revising the system of legal protection for industrial designs.
“Thanks to the priority that the Spanish Presidency has given to this issue, we have a compromise that is very broadly in line with what the Commission had presented”, said the European Commissioner for Industry, Thierry Breton.
The two texts should make it possible to adapt and harmonise registration procedures for the protection of industrial designs. To this end, the EU Council is proposing to further clarify the definitions of “design” and “product” to bring them into line with the digital age.
The EU-27 are also suggesting that registration requirements be simplified so as not to delay the registration process.
Finally, instead of the 24 months proposed by the Commission, the EU Council is counting on a transposition period of 36 months to give Member States sufficient time to apply the new measures.
For its part, the European Parliament plans to adopt its position in November, after which inter-institutional negotiations can begin.
See the general approach for the directive: https://aeur.eu/f/8qq
See the general approach for the regulation: https://aeur.eu/f/8qr (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)