Article 3

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1. Member States shall protect designs by registration, and shall confer exclusive rights upon their holders in accordance with the provisions of this Directive.

 

2. A design shall be protected by a design right to the extent that it is new and has individual character.

 

3. A design applied to or incorporated in a product which constitutes a component part of a complex product shall only be considered to be new and to have individual character:

(a) if the component part, once it has been incorporated into the complex product, remains visible during normal use of the latter, and

(b) to the extent that those visible features of the component part fulfil in themselves the requirements as to novelty and individual character.

 

4. 'Normal use` within the meaning of paragraph (3)(a) shall mean use by the end user, excluding maintenance, servicing or repair work.