Registered Community Design (RCD) meaning

The Court of Appeal has ruled that Zaun Ltd is barred from resurrecting its counterclaim to annul Betafence’s UK re-registered design, having already failed to overturn the EU ‘parent’ design right. Delivering the judgment for a three-judge panel, Justice Richard Arnold explained that UK re-registered designs—though legally distinct from community designs—are of a ‘parasitic nature’ and are, in substance, the same as the community design from which they derive. Consequently, Zaun cannot target Betafence’s design for a second time. The court relied on the principle of res judicata, which prevents a party from relitigating an issue that has already been determined...

EU designs This Practice Note addresses the infringement of EU designs. The registered Community design (RCD) and the unregistered Community design (UCD), together termed ‘Community designs’, were established under Regulation (EC) 6/2002. They constitute unitary design rights that extend across the entire EU and can be enforced throughout. In November 2022, the European Commission proposed two initiatives to update design legislation at both EU and national Member State level, aiming to make EU-level registration cheaper and simpler and to harmonise procedures between EU and national frameworks. The legislation was published in the Official Journal in November 2024 as: Regulation (EU) 2024/2822 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 amending Council Regulation (EC) 6/2002 on Community designs and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) 2246/2002 (the Amending Regulation) Directive (EU) 2024/2823 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 on the legal protection of designs (recast) (the Directive) The Amending Regulation reforms the Community design system...

Design rights before and after Brexit The aim of this Practice Note is to provide a concise overview of the different UK design rights available both before and after Brexit. In brief, the UK’s departure from the EU means that, from IP completion day (11.00 pm on 31 December 2020), the UK stopped being subject to the EU design framework, which at that time covered registered Community designs (RCDs) and unregistered Community designs (UCDs). The UK is excluded from the territorial scope of those unitary rights (and from international design registrations designating the EU) and is no longer bound by Regulation (EC) 6/2002. Consequently, the UK implemented arrangements under which the proprietor of an RCD or a UCD on IP completion day automatically became the owner of an equivalent UK design right. Designs safeguarded as RCDs were cloned into a new UK right called the re-registered design (or the re-registered international design). Designs protected as UCDs continued in the UK as a ‘continuing unregistered design’ (CUD) for the balance...

Changes to intellectual property (IP) law from 1 January 2021 Before considering how IP law applies to medical devices, it is worth noting the position as at 31 December 2020 (IP completion day). The key development concerns EU trade marks (EUTMs) and registered Community designs (RCDs). From 1 January 2021, proprietors of EUTMs and RCDs that were already registered and published automatically acquired equivalent, registered and enforceable UK rights (UK comparable rights). Entries on the EUIPO register were effectively cloned onto the UKIPO register. These UK comparable rights were created automatically and at no charge to the rights holder. They preserve the filing date and, where relevant, the priority date of the original EUTM or RCD. They are independent of the EU rights and can be assigned or licensed on a standalone basis. Renewal fees must be paid separately for the original EUTMs and RCDs and for the UK comparable rights. The EU design regime has also been...