European associations call for adoption of EU property rights
European trade associations Cerame-Unie, Euratex, FESI and TIE have called on representatives of EU member states to take the necessary measures to enable adoption of the proposed Regulation on Community Design. The Regulation sets up a registration system for Community-wide legal protection of designs to be administered by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM), which currently administers the Community trademark system. The system will operate in parallel with national schemes for protecting designs.
The Regulation also includes provision for unregistered designs, enabling manufacturers of products to which these designs apply to assess the commercial value of their products in the market place before deciding which to protect. As well as helping to prevent unnecessary and substantial expenditure, it also provides protection against obvious copies.
