Community designs are now EU designs. What changed?
EU design law has had its first major update in over twenty years. If you own or plan to file a design, here is what is different.
The timeline
The reform is made up of an amending Regulation and a recast Directive. Both entered into force on 8 December 2024.¹ Most of the Regulation has applied since 1 May 2025, and the remaining provisions since 1 July 2026.² From that date, the rules have been set out in a single codified text, Regulation (EU) 2026/715, which now governs EU designs in place of Regulation 6/2002.¹⁰ Member States have until December 2027 to bring their national design laws in line with the Directive.³
New names
The registered Community design is now the registered EU design, and the unregistered Community design is the unregistered EU design.⁴ Existing registrations carry on under the new name.
Digital designs are covered
The definition of a design now expressly includes movement and animation, and products include non-physical ones such as graphical user interfaces.⁵ Since July 2026, designs can be filed using video and 3D files, and the EUIPO has published the first such registrations.⁶
3D printing and counterfeits in transit
Creating, downloading, copying or sharing a file that records a protected design, so that the product can be made, can now infringe.⁵ Owners can also stop counterfeit goods passing through the EU from outside, even if they are not intended for sale in the EU.⁷
A new symbol
Owners of registered EU designs can mark their products with the Ⓓ symbol, just as ® is used for registered trade marks.⁷
The repair clause
Design protection does not extend to component parts of complex products, such as car parts, used solely to repair the product and restore its original appearance.⁸
Easier multiple filings
A single application can now include several designs even if they fall in different product classes.⁸ Previously they all had to be in the same class.
What has not changed
A registered EU design still lasts up to 25 years, renewed every five years. An unregistered EU design still lasts three years from first disclosure in the EU.⁹ Renewal dates now fall on the anniversary of the filing date.⁷
What to do
Update any references to “Community design” in your contracts, packaging and website.
Consider adding the Ⓓ symbol to registered products.
If you sell digital products, interfaces or animated content, check whether they can now be protected.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Thinking about protecting a design? Write to hello@lunelegal.com. See also our Areas of Practice.
Sources
Mondaq, EU Design Reform (above)
Plesner (above)
Regulation (EU) 2026/715 on European Union designs, Arts. 12(1) and 13(2)
Regulation (EU) 2026/715 (above), recital 1; Fieldfisher, EU designs reform phase 2: new legislation in force from 1 July 2026