New EU legislation on the implementation of the EU Design

The European Union Design Reform consists of the newly agreed Directive 2024/2823 (replacing Directive 98/71) and Regulation – EU – 2024/2822 – EN – EUR-Lex (replacing Regulation – 6/2002 – EN – EUR-Lex). Both legislations introduce substantial changes to design protection across the EU. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), as the competent EU agency, will adopt these changes, in three stages:

• Phase 1: Parts of the Regulation will enter into force on May 1st, 2025
• Phase 2: The entirety of the Regulation will enter into force on July 1st, 2026
• Phase 3: Member states have time to implement the new Directive until December 9th, 2027

Phase 1: Simplified fee regime, and increase of renewal fees

The registration and publication fees have been combined into a single application fee of €350. The fee for each subsequent design in a single application containing multiple design applications increased from 115€ to 125€. Additionally, the renewal fees for EU design registrations that were directly registered with the EUIPO, have increased under the new regulation. Previously, the fees ranged from 90€ to 180€, but under the new regulation, they range from 150€ to 700€, reflecting a substantial increase, especially in later renewal periods.

Renewal fees comparison

Period of Renewal	Old (EUR)	New (EUR)
1	90€	150€
2	120€	250€
3	150€	400€
4	180€	700€

Phase 1: Modified renewal process and timeline requirements

The changes to the EU Design legislation introduce further important changes concerning the time limit of the renewal process for EU design registrations. While maintaining the basic principle that renewals must be requested by the right holder or an authorized person, the new Article 50d of Regulation 2024/2822 aligns the basic renewal period with that of EU trademarks. The new regulation specifies that the six-month renewal period now ends on the exact day of registration expiry, rather than the last day of the expiry month as previously required.

Regulation comparison: Renewal process

Regulation	Article
Regulation 6/2002	Article 13 3. The request for renewal shall be submitted and the renewal fee paid within a period of six months ending on the last day of the month in which protection ends. Failing this, the request may be submitted and the fee paid within a further period of six months from the day referred to in the first sentence, provided that an additional fee is paid within this further period.
Regulation 2024/2822	Article 50d 3. The request for renewal shall be submitted within a six-month period prior to the expiry of the registration. The renewal fee shall also be paid within that period.

Phase 1: Unity of class requirement for multiple EU design applications abandoned

Until May 1st, 2025, it was still required to submit multiple design applications within the same Locarno class. Previously, Regulation 6/2002 mandated that all designs in a multiple design application must belong to the same class under the International Classification for Industrial Designs. With the adoption of Regulation 2024/2822, this restriction has been removed, allowing designs across different Locarno classes to be included in a single application. However, a new limit of 50 designs per application has been introduced.

Phase 1: Expanded enforcement for EU designs: 3D printing and goods in transit

The amendments to the EU Design regulations further expand the enforcement capabilities for design rights holders, particularly in the areas of 3D printing and counterfeit goods in transit. Design holders can now take action against unauthorized copies produced using 3D printing technologies. The exact wording of this change is reflected in Article 19 of Regulation 2024/2822. The following table shows the difference between the old and new wording.

Regulation comparison: Article 19 (Enforcement)

Regulation	Article 19
Regulation 6/2002	A registered Community design shall confer on its holder the exclusive right to use it and to prevent any third party not having his consent from using it. The aforementioned use shall cover, in particular, the making, offering, putting on the market, importing, exporting or using of a product in which the design is incorporated or to which it is applied, or stocking such a product for those purposes.
Regulation 2024/2822	1. A registered EU design shall confer on its holder the exclusive right to use it and to prevent any third party not having the consent of the holder from using it. 2. The following, in particular, may be prohibited under paragraph 1: (a)making, offering, placing on the market or using a product in which the design is incorporated or to which the design is applied; (b)importing or exporting a product referred to in point (a); (c)stocking a product referred to in point (a) for the purposes referred to in points (a) and (b); (d) creating, downloading, copying and sharing or distributing to others any medium or software which records the design for the purpose of enabling a product referred to in point (a) to be made.

Phase 1: EU design registration symbol: New requirements and guidelines

The changes to the EU Design legislation further introduce a new label for EU design holders. The D in a circle “Ⓓ” allows EU design holders to mark their designs, similar to the ® and © symbols used for trademarks and copyright protection in the EU design framework. Under EU Design Regulation 2024/2822, Article 26a specifically addresses the EU design registration symbol requirements. Holders of registered EU designs now have the official right to display the circled D symbol (Ⓓ) on products incorporating their protected designs. This new EU design marking system serves to strengthen design rights awareness and provide clear visual indication of design protection status. The EU design regulation further specifies that design holders may enhance their protection notice by including either:

• The official EU design registration number
• A hyperlink directing to the design’s entry in the EU Design Register

Phase 2: Expanded definition of EU designs: Embracing digital innovation

From July 1st, 2026, the new EU Design legislation introduces a new definition of the design itself, by explicitly including digital and animated elements. This expansion is supposed to address the growing presence of digital interfaces, user experience design, and dynamic visual elements in modern product and software design. Key changes in the EU Design definition concern the new Article 3 of the regulation, which expands the traditional concept of design protection to encompass:

• Movement-based features
• Transition effects
• Animated elements
• Digital interface designs

The following table shows a comparison between the definitions of the old and new EU regulation.

Regulation comparison: Article 3 (Design definition)

Regulation	Article 3
Regulation 6/2002	“design” means 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;
Regulation 2024/2822	“design” means the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features, in particular the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and/or materials, of the product itself and/or of its decoration, including the movement, transition or any other sort of animation of those features;

Phase 2: New representation requirements for EU design applications

According to a change to Article 36 of the regulation, the limit concerning the representation of a single design per application is most likely* no longer limited to seven. * This assumption is based on the fact that the new regulation empowers the Executive Director of the EUIPO to make a decision on how representations, especially concerning animations, should be handled. The old regulation left it open to the implementing regulations to decide how many representations of a design should be part of the application at maximum. It is now still referencing them but specifically requests the Executive Director of the EUIPO to “determine the manner of numbering different views in the event of representation by static views, the formats and size of an electronic file as well as any other relevant technical specification”.

Regulation comparison: Article 36 (Representation requirements)

Regulation	Article 36
Regulation 6/2002	5. The application shall comply with the conditions laid down in the implementing regulation. Implementing Regulation: Article 4 – 2. The representation may contain no more than seven different views of the design. Any one graphic or photographic reproduction may contain only one view. The applicant shall number each view using arabic numerals. The number shall consist of separate numerals separated by a point, the numeral to the left of the point indicating the number of the design, that to the right indicating the number of the view.
Regulation 2024/2822	an application for a registered EU design shall comply with the formal requirements laid down in this Regulation and in the implementing acts adopted pursuant to it. To the extent that those requirements relate to the design representation as referred to in paragraph 1, point (c), and the means of representation, the Executive Director shall determine the manner of numbering different views in the event of representation by static views, the formats and size of an electronic file as well as any other relevant technical specification. If those requirements provide for the identification of a subject matter for which no protection is sought by way of certain types of visual disclaimers or for the filing of certain specific types of views, the Executive Director may determine that additional types of visual disclaimers and specific types of views are permitted.’

Phase 3: Repair clause and upcoming end of protection for “must match” parts

Phase 3, for which member states have until December 9th, 2027, to implement the new Directive into national laws, concerns the newly introduced repair clause and the end of protection for “must match” parts, such as car parts. The “repair clause” introduces new rules exempting spare parts used for repair of complex products from design protection. This clause is limited to “must match” parts only, i.e. to parts that are used to restore the original appearance of the product. There is a transitional period of 8 years (i.e. until 9 December 2032) that will allow existing (national) designs of component parts to still enjoy protection during this time. This is laid down in Article 12a(1) of Directive 2024/2823, which states: “Protection shall not be conferred on a design which constitutes a component part of a complex product, upon whose appearance the design of the component part is dependent, and which is used for the sole purpose of the repair of that complex product so as to restore its original appearance.” The full text of the directive can be found here: Directive – EU – 2024/2823 – EN – EUR-Lex The changes to the new EU design legislation introduce many changes into the existing EU design law, which may be tough to navigate at times. Should you have any questions concerning the application of an EU design according to the new EU design legislation, feel free to get in touch with one of our legal experts.