The joint comments can be downloaded and read in full on the Position Papers page on the MARQUES website.
The three associations strongly welcome the Commission's intention to revise the EU legislation on design protection, and agree that there are some shortcomings that need to be addressed.
The comments support the objective of modernising, clarifying and strengthening design protection, but say that amendments to definitions of essential notions such as "design" and to the wording of what can be protected and relating to the scope of protection should be cautiously chosen.
In particular, a clarification that GUIs, animated designs, fonts and icons are not "computer programs" and are therefore eligible for design protection would be welcomed. Changes to address properly and fight design-infringing goods in transit are supported.
The comments address many other issues, including the list of limitations, the intersection between design and copyright protection, improving accessibility and affordability of design protection, aligning Community design procedures with those for the EUTM and fee structures.
The comments fully support the objective to enhance harmonisation between national laws and between national laws and the Regulation, and make several observations in this respect.
Regarding spare parts, the paper says: "We agree with the Evaluation Report that there should be political agreement on the issue of spare parts. Acknowledging that the issue is of high controversy, we urge that any failure to progress on this topic shall not delay the EU designs reform agenda."
Finally, the comments highlight some issues not addressed in the Assessment, namely enforcement, international dimension, unregistered designs, and the implications of 3D printing.
Thanks to members of the Designs Team for their work on this paper. The Team will continue to keep MARQUES members updated as the review progresses.
Issue 121
The MARQUES Spring Team Meeting will take place online on 11 and 12 March, and there are webinars being held on 4 February and 2 March
Episode 2 of the Talking MARQUES podcast is now available. This month's episode focuses on the threat from counterfeit and fraudulent pharmaceuticals, devices and vaccines in light of the COVID-19 pandemic
The MARQUES Copyright Team has a launched a tracker on the implementation of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market
MARQUES, together with ECTA and INTA, has submitted joint comments on the European Commission's Inception Impact Assessment on the review of the Design Directive and Community Design Regulation
All EU SMEs can apply for co-financing for certain services under the new Ideas Powered for Business SME Fund, which will provide up to €20 million in grants for IP services this year
WIPO has published Information Notice No 1/2021 on Updated Official Forms under the Madrid System and New Accompanying Notes for Filing
Thanks to all the MARQUES Teams and members who continue to contribute updates to the Class 46 and Class 99 blogs!