Activites

• 2002/01/05 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Regulation 2002/6
  • OJ L 003 05.01.2002, p. 0001-0024
• #2399
• 2001/12/12 Council Meeting
• 2001/12/12 End of procedure in Parliament
• 2001/12/12 Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
• #2371
• 2001/09/27 Council Meeting
• 2000/11/30 Debate in Council
• 2000/10/20 Modified legislative proposal published
  • COM(2000)0660 summary

    This document presents the amended proposal for a Council Regulation on Community Design, in response to the amendments tabled by the European Parliament. Recommendations contained in 13 amendments tabled by the European Parliament were taken on board by the Commission in its amended proposal. Certain other amendments which were not strictly in accordance with what has been agreed in the context of the Design Directive in 1998, have not been adopted by the Commission. The main amendments accepted by the Commission are the following: - deletion of the reference to "bad faith" principle contained in Article 20(2); - clarifications as regards the commencement and term of protection (Article 12), the claims relating to the entitlement to an unregistered Commuinity design (Article 16) and the presumption of validity of an unregistered Community design (Article 89); - deletion of Article 27(5) referring to the unitary nature of the Community design; - deletion of reference to the establishment of a Community authority with Community powers; - deletion of paragraph which constituted an exception to the unitary character of the Community design; - amendment of Article relating to presumption of validity and defence as to its merits.�

• 2000/06/16 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
  • T5-0288/2000 summary

    In adopting the report drafted by Mr. Enrico FERRI (EPP/ED, It), the European Parliament accepts the amended proposal for a Council Regulation on Community design with a number of amendments. The amendments were aimed inter alia at making drafting amendments and ensuring consistency between the regulation and Directive 98/71/EC on the legal protection of designs. Furthermore, new provisions were included, one concerning the right to information on the origin and marketing of counterfeit products, to enable a design holder to trace operators and prevent copying, and the other on establishing recognition of ownership. Furthermore, the word "orders" in amendment 19 shall be replaced by the word "decision".�

• #2265
• 2000/05/25 Council Meeting
  • 2265 summary

    While awaiting the Opinion of the European Parliament which is expected on 16 June, the Council took note of a progress report on the amended proposal for a Regulation on Community designs. The original proposal, together with a proposal for a Directive on the legal protection of designs, was presented to the Council by the Commission in December 1993. The purpose of the proposal for a Regulation is to create a Community legal protection system for designs. In accordance with the decision of the European Council of 29 October 1993, the Community design will be administered by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (trademarks and designs). The purpose of the directive, adopted on 13 October 1998, is to approximate the laws of the Member States on the legal protection of designs in order to reduce the legal obstacles to the free movement of goods to which designs are applied. Following the adoption of the Directive, the Commission submitted and amended proposal for a Regulation on 21 June 1999, which takes into account the final version of the Directive and amends the legal basis (Article 308 - consultation procedure, instead of Article 95 - codecision procedure). The Commission has announced its intention of submitting a further amended proposal to take account of the Opinion of the European Parliament.�

• 2000/05/25 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A5-0150/2000
• #2248
• 2000/03/16 Council Meeting
  • 2248
• 1999/09/13 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1999/06/21 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(1999)0310 summary

    The Commission presented a new modified proposal on 21 June 1999, based on Article 308 of the EC Treaty, in order to give effect to a Court of Justice opinion (opinion 1/94 of 15/11/1994), as well as to a request made by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights of the European Parliament on 27/11/1997 to change the legal base of its proposal. The Court of Justice's opinion 1/94 ruled that the Community, in creating a new and unitary Community design right through a Regulation, use the same legal basis as for the Regulation on the Community trade mark, i.e. Article 308 of the Treaty. The Commission's initial proposal had been based on Article 95 of the Treaty. Furthermore, the amended proposal includes all the relevant provisions on substantive design law, which are incorporated in the Design Directive. On certain issues, these provisions differ from the provisions on substantive design law, which were included in the Commission's initial proposal for the Regulation on Community Design. The reason is that the provisions in the Commission's initial proposal for the Regulation incorporated the substantive provisions of the Commission's initial proposal for the Directive. Certain relevant provisions of the Directive focused in particular on the free use of spare parts for repair purposes and the protection of their design. In design terms, the problem related in particular to component parts of complex products upon whose appearance the design is dependent. In such cases, the consumer would not have any choice as to the replacement of the spare part to permit the repair of the complex product so as to restore its original appearance. The so-called 'repair' clause should avoid the creation of captive markets in spare parts, in particular in the motor vehicle sector. After lengthy and complex discussions, the Conciliation Committee finally reached an agreement which is often referred to as the 'freeze plus' compromise. The compromise implies that Member States shall maintain in force their existing legal provisions relating to the use of spare parts for the purpose of repair and shall introduce changes to those provisions only if the purpose is to liberalise the market for such parts. The Commission undertook to submit an analysis of the consequences of the Directive 3 years after the implementation date of the Directive and to propose, at latest one year later, any changes to the Directive needed to complete the internal market in respect of spare parts. The Commission also undertook to launch a consultation exercise, immediately after the adoption of the Directive, involving the parties most concerned, and with a view to arriving at a voluntary agreement among these parties on the free use of spare parts for repair purposes and their protection. The consultation exercise has in the meantime been initiated. Given that full harmonisation of the design laws of the Member States on the spare parts issue could not yet be introduced, at the present stage, it does not seem either appropriate or realistic to expect that such harmonisation could be achieved through this Regulation. It would not be appropriate because the Commission has only just started the consultations with the parties most concerned with the spare parts issue, in accordance with the commitment which it undertook vis-à-vis the Council and the Parliament. Under these circumstances, it would be preferable to await the outcome of these consultations and, subsequently, the review of the consequences of the Directive for, in particular, the spare parts sector before presenting any proposals on the free use of spare parts and the protection of their design, within the context of this Regulation. Nor would it be realistic to expect at this stage, and under the circumstances described above, a concrete solution with regard to the use and protection of the design of spare parts can be found within the framework of this Regulation. For these reasons, the amended proposal excludes, for the time being, the registration of the design of a component part of a complex product upon whose appearance the design of a component part is dependent. A proposal with regard to the use and protection of spare parts under this Regulation, shall be submitted by the Commission in parallel with the proposal which the Commission shall make to complete the internal market in respect of spare parts within the framework of the Design Directive. It should be stressed that the suggested approach does not deprive the designers of spare parts from the filing of applications for the registration of their design in all circumstances. First, spare parts, the design of which is not dependent on the appearance of the complex product can be filed for registration, if they fulfil the conditions set out in Art. 4 of this Regulation. Second, where the design of a given spare part cannot be registered as a Community design, pursuant to Art. 10a, applications for the registration of such design may be filed in those Member States, which continue to provide such possibility, in accordance with Art. 14 of the Directive. To summarise, the proposed Regulation would: - define what constitutes a 'design', - establish criteria for protection (a design would have to be new and have individual character), - fix the duration protection (minimum of 5 years and maximum of 25 years), - fix the scope of protection (the designer would have the exclusive right to use the design and prevent any third party from using it); - establish limits to the design right (e.g. it would not normally cover inter-connections between components), - establish rules on the nullity of the registration of a design, - provide that Community protection of designs would co-exist with existing Member State systems for protecting designs, including under copyright, trade mark or patent law, and with the Community Trade Mark.�

• #2163
• 1999/02/25 Council Meeting
  • 2163
• #1937
• 1996/06/18 Council Meeting
  • 1937
• #1886
• 1995/11/23 Council Meeting
  • 1886 summary

    On the basis of a new report from the Presidency, the Council noted the progress of work on the proposal for a regulation on the Community design and the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the legal protection of designs. It also took note of the fact that the Commission intended to submit an amended proposal for a directive and asked it to do so as quickly as possible. The Council instructed the Permanent Representatives Committee to expedite proceedings on the basis of the amended proposal so that the Council’s common position on the proposal for a directive could be adopted at the next meeting and discussion of the proposal for a regulation in the light of the opinion to be delivered by the European Parliament.

• #1851
• 1995/06/06 Council Meeting
  • 1851
• 1993/12/03 Initial legislative proposal published
  • COM(1993)0342 summary

    OBJECTIVE: to establish a Community system for the protection of designs in order to eliminate the present need to carry out national registrations under different national procedures within the Community. CONTENT 1. This regulation made it possible to establish a right in a design which would be valid throughout the Community. As with trade marks, this Community system would co-exist at least temporarily with national protection systems which would themselves be harmonised to a large degree. 2. The regulation provided for two forms of protection: *without any formalities, as an 'unregistered Community design'; * as a 'registered Community design', if it was registered at the Community Design Office. 3. Definition of 'design' within the meaning of the regulation. Definition of cases of exemption from protection, for example designs whose publication is contrary to public policy. 4. In order to be able to enjoy protection, a design had to be new and have an individual character. 5. Statement of the term and scope of protection, drawing a distinction depending on whether or not the design was registered. The former was protected for a minimum term of five years and a maximum term of twenty-five, and the protection conferred on its holder both the right to prevent its use by third parties and the exclusive right to use the design. The latter granted protection against copying for three years and accorded the exclusive right to prevent use by third parties. 6. Limitation et exhaustion of rights conferred by the Community design. These did not extend, for example, to acts done for experimental purposes. 7. Rules on invalidity of designs. Conditions, grounds and effects of invalidity. Rules on surrender of a registered design. 8. Rules on ownership of Community designs: criteria for connection to the Member State of registration comparable to national designs, transfer, rights in rem (security etc) in a design, levy of execution, bankruptcy, licensing and effects vis-à-vis third parties (possibilities of asserting rights vis-à-vis third parties). 9. Rules governing the application for registration: filing of application and forwarding to the Office, conditions with which applications must comply, date of filing and rules governing right of priority. 10. Rules governing the registration procedure: examination of compliance of the application with formal requirements, registration and publication. 11. Appeals from the decisions of the Office: decisions subject to appeal, persons entitled to appeal, time-limit and form of appeal etc. 12. Procedure before the Office: obligation to state reasons and to give notification of decisions, exchange of publications with central industrial property services etc. 13. Jurisdiction and procedure in legal actions relating to Community designs. 14. Community Design Office: organisation, management, distribution of powers within the Office etc. Source : European Commission - Info92 08/95 �

Documents

• Initial legislative proposal published: COM(1993)0342
• Debate in Council: 1851
• Debate in Council: 1886
• Debate in Council: 1937
• Debate in Council: 2163
• Legislative proposal published: COM(1999)0310
• Debate in Council: 2248
• Debate in Council: 2265
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A5-0150/2000
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T5-0288/2000
• Modified legislative proposal published: COM(2000)0660
• : Regulation 2002/6
• : OJ L 003 05.01.2002, p. 0001-0024

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)