Preliminary questions: Can unregistered Community designs in individual parts of a product arise as a result of disclosure of an overall image of a product?

24-04-2020 Print this page
IP10254

Case: C-123/20: Ferrari. Preliminary questions Bundesgerichtshof – Germany.

 

Design LawGov.co.uk: “The following questions are referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of Article 11(1) and the first sentence of Article 11(2), as well as of Article 4(2)(b) and Article 6(1)(a) of Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 of 12 December 2001 on Community designs (OJ 2002 L 3):

 

1. Can unregistered Community designs in individual parts of a product arise as a result of disclosure of an overall image of a product in accordance with Article 11(1) and the first sentence of Article 11(2) of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002?

 

2. If Question 1 is answered in the affirmative:

 

What legal criterion is to be applied for the purpose of assessing individual character in accordance with Article 4(2)(b) and Article 6(1)of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 when determining the overall  impression of a component part which - as in the case of a part of a vehicle’s bodywork, for example - is to be incorporated into a complex product? In particular, can the criterion be whether the  appearance of the component part, as viewed by an informed user, is not completely lost in the appearance of the complex product, but rather displays a certain autonomy and consistency of form such that it is possible to identify an aesthetic overall impression which is independent of the overall form?”