New EU Design Regime Changes

The world of design has changed significantly since the EU design rights regime was established in 2002. Back then, it would have been hard to imagine a situation where designers sought to protect virtual clothing worn by avatars in the metaverse, for example. It’s not surprising, therefore, that technological advances, product innovations, and market shifts – including the rise of non-physical products and product repairability – mean that existing EU design regulation has become outdated.

To address prevailing issues, harmonise legislation across the EU, and improve access to design protection, the European Union has introduced a package of Designs legislative reforms in a regulation* that will be implemented in two phases. Phase 1, from 1 May 2025, introduced practical updates to structures, definitions, and procedures governing design protection.

Owners of, or applicants for, EU Designs should ensure they are aware of the changes and that their IP Management Systems are configured accordingly. Key changes include:

New terminology: The Community Design Regulation (CDR) becomes the European Union Design Regulation (EUDR), and all Community Designs (CD) are renamed European Union Designs (EUD), which become Registered European Union Designs (REUD) upon successful registration. The community design court becomes the EU design court.

Design and product definitions broadened to reflect innovations: The definition of a ‘design’ now includes animations, movement, and transitions, while ‘product’ now includes non-physical creations such as digital files. However, the design representation that will enable the protection of these new types of designs and products comes into force as part of phase two of the reform, from 1st July 2026.

New fee structure: Registration and publication fees are consolidated into a single application fee of €350. Additional designs in a multiple design application attract a fee of €125.

Renewal fees have increased compared to the former regime and are structured to increase over the life of the EUD. The first renewal, after five years, attracts a fee of €150. After ten years, the fee is €250, rising to €400 after fifteen years and €700 after 20 years.

Late renewal fees remain at 25% of the full renewal fee.

Renewal dates: REUDs will now expire on the same day of the month as the filing date, not the last day of the month in which the anniversary of the filing date falls, as was the case under the previous regime. The six-month renewal period will also end on the anniversary of the filing date, and the subsequent six-month grace period for late filing will end on the same day of the month.

Centralised filing: all applications must now come to the EU IPO, rather than being submitted through national offices.

Automatic publication of designs after deferral period: when an applicant requests that publication of a design be deferred from the time of filing (which attracts a €40 fee for deferral of the first design and €20 fee for all subsequent design deferral requests), the design will automatically be published at the end of the deferral period, with no action required by the applicant. Earlier publication may be requested, or the design may be surrendered if the applicant decides not to proceed to publication.

Multi-class applications permitted: applications need no longer be restricted to a single Locarno classification. Applicants can combine different products in a single application, with up to 50 designs permitted in a single filing.

New (D) symbol launched: a new symbol called ‘the design notice’ can now be used to mark registered designs. This informs the public that a design is protected and may reduce instances of design infringement where infringers claim they are not aware that a design is protected. Public familiarity with the ™ and ® notices should help achieve rapid recognition for the (D) mark.

3D-printing now in scope: protection against infringement by creating, copying and distributing 3D-printed designs is now enforceable.

New limitations: the regulation specifies two acts that explicitly do not constitute Registered EU Design infringement, these are: referencing or identification – acts carrier out to refer to a product.

Permanent repair clause: One of the express aims of the new regime is to “liberalise the spare parts market for the benefit of consumers” through the introduction of a spare parts clause. This clause seeks to introduce competition in the spare parts market for parts that are solely used to repair a complex product to restore its original appearance (with visibility of the part during normal use being a critical factor in its exclusion from design protection). It will not be possible for design owners to use EU design rights to monopolise the spare parts market.

Change of ownership requests: a request for a change of ownership of a design can be filed directly by a rightful owner without having to first invalidate the design.

Effective design protection for the modern era

Overall, the new regime will clarify and strengthen design protection across the EU, providing greater legal certainty and improving accessibility so more innovative, individual designs can benefit from protection.

EU Design owners and applicants should familiarise themselves with the practical and procedural aspects of the changes, and ensure that the systems in place to maintain and renew design rights reflect them to avoid any risk of missed renewals and a possible lapse in protection.

WebTMS customers with questions about managing EU Designs in our software are encouraged to contact our friendly support team at [email protected].

For a more detailed look at the new regime, we recommend watching this EU IPO webinar: Course: Unpacking the details of the Designs legislative reform: what’s new and what’s next?

The second phase of the regime will come into force in July 2026, when we will provide an update via this blog.

*The reforms are enabled by a re-cast EU Directive (EU) 2024/2823, which establishes the legal protection of designs. EU states have a period of 36 months in which to transpose the rules in the recast Directive into national laws.