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98/71/EC
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European Parliament & Council
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Art 100a
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L289, 1998-10-28 , pp 28&ndash35
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1998-10-13
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1998-11-17
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2001-10-28
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C345, 1993-12-23 , p 14<br/>C142, 1996-05-14 , p 7
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C388, 1994-12-31 , p 9<br/>C110, 1995-05-02 , p 12
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C339, 1995-10-30 , p 157<br/>C339, 1997-11-10 , p 52
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is a
European Union Directive in the field of
Industrial Design Rights , made under the
Internal Market
provisions of the
Treaty Of Rome . It sets harmonised standards for eligibility and protection of most types of
Registered Design .
A
Design is defined as "the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular,
the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation" (Art. 2).
Designs may be protected if:
- they are ''novel'', that is if no identical design has been made available to the public;
- they have ''individual character'', that is the "informed user" would find it different from other designs which are available to the public.
Where a design forms part of a more complex product, the novelty and individual character of the design are judged on the part
of the design which is visible during normal use.
Designs are not protected insofar as their appearance is wholly determined by their technical function, or by the need to
interconnect with other products to perform a technical function (the "must-fit" exception). However modular systems such as
Lego or
Mechano may be protected
{Link without Title} .
The holder of a registered design right has the exclusive right to authorize or prohibit others from using the design in any
way, notably by producing, importing, selling or using products based on the design. However, rightholders may not prevent
private and non-commercial use, use for research or use for teaching. There is also an exception for foreign-registered ships
and aeroplanes, based on the principles of maritime sovereignty.
Protection under a registered design right last initially for one or more periods of five years, and may be renewed up to a
maximum total of twenty-five years. In respect of a given product, they are exhausted when it is sold with the consent of the
rightholder (the
First-sale Doctrine ).
Protection by a registered design right does not affect any other intellectual property rights in the product, notably
Unregistered Design Right s,
Patent s and
Trade Marks . The question of copyright protection is left to the
laws of the Member States, which apply varying criteria of originality to the copyright protection of "applied art": however,
the existence of the registered design right does not make the design ineleigible for copyright protection.
The Directive leaves the question of component parts mostly without harmonisation, given the widely varying practices between
Member States.
