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DRAFT REPORT (COM(2022)0667 – C9395/2022 – 2022/0392(COD))

On the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the legal protection of designs (recast)

JURI-PR-749961

Committee on Legal Affairs · Rapporteur: Gilles Lebreton

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The Committee on Legal Affairs' draft report sets out Parliament's first-reading position on the proposed directive on the legal protection of designs (recast). It amends the Commission proposal through 15 amendments, mostly to recitals and articles. The amendments replace 'identical' with 'uniform', 'similar' with 'equivalent', and 'aligned to' with 'inspired by', and add references to legal certainty and to Parliament's resolution of 11 November 2021. They extend protection to new forms of designs linked to new technologies, including virtual and animated designs, and replace 'origin' of the product with 'identity of the manufacturer' in the repair clause. The draft shortens the transitional period for existing national repair-clause protection from ten years to three years from the directive's entry into force.

Committee position. The rapporteur takes a generally favourable view of the Commission proposal and proposes 15 amendments, mainly to enhance legal certainty and reiterate Parliament's previous positions, including replacing 'origin' with 'identity of the manufacturer' and shortening the transitional period from ten to three years.

Key points

  1. Amendment 1 updates Recital 7 to refer to Parliament's resolution of 11 November 2021 and adds that design protection should support the transition to a sustainable and digital economy.
  2. Amendment 2 replaces 'identical' with 'uniform' for the conditions for obtaining a registered design right in all member states.
  3. Amendment 3 clarifies Recital 18: design features need to be visible to benefit from protection, but not at all times or in a particular situation.
  4. Amendments 4 and 6 add that the substantive grounds for non-registrability and invalidation, and the limitations to exclusive rights, should be listed exhaustively for legal certainty.
  5. Amendment 5 adds to Recital 29 that combating counterfeiting more effectively was called for by Parliament in its resolution of 11 November 2021.
  6. Amendment 7 adds to Recital 34 that Parliament previously highlighted the legal uncertainty caused by differences in national laws on repair.
  7. Amendment 8 replaces 'origin' with 'identity of the manufacturer' in Recital 35 and requires the repair clause not to be invocable by manufacturers or sellers who fail to inform consumers about the manufacturer's identity.
  8. Amendments 9 and 10 replace 'similar' with 'equivalent' for registration rules and 'aligned to' with 'inspired by' for the administrative invalidity procedure.
  9. Amendment 11 clarifies Article 6(1): a design is not made available to the public if disclosed only to a third person under conditions of confidentiality.
  10. Amendment 12 adds Article 15(1a): the proposal extends to new forms of designs linked to new technologies, including virtual and animated designs, of products which may be in digital form.
  11. Amendment 13 removes from Article 19(1) the words 'upon whose appearance the design of the component part is dependent', which were unclear.
  12. Amendments 14 and 15 require the manufacturer's identity indication to include name, registered address and nationality, and shorten the transitional period for existing national repair protection from ten to three years.

Who is affected

  • Member states, which must apply uniform conditions for registered design rights and an administrative invalidity procedure inspired by the EU design system.
  • Manufacturers and sellers of component parts, who must inform consumers about the manufacturer's identity to invoke the repair clause.
  • Consumers, who should be able to make an informed choice between competing products used for repair.
  • Holders of registered design rights, whose exclusive rights are subject to an exhaustive list of limitations.

Figures and deadlines

  • 11 November 2021: date of Parliament's resolution on an intellectual property action plan, cited in amendments.
  • three years from the date of entry into force of this Directive: transitional period for existing national repair protection.

Legal basis: Article 294(2) and Article 114(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.