The new hybrid product design legislation - The protection of fashion and product design in the digital world and the physical world
(2024) HARN63 20241Department of Business Law
- Abstract
- With the rise of new technologies such as augmented reality , virtual reality , non-fungible tokens (NFT) and the metaverse . A new world is on the rise, the digital world. With the digital world on the rise there will be new design, digital design. With digital design, there will be new opportunities for brands to capitalise on new markets. Brands such as Gucci, Nike and Balenciaga are in the forefront to capitalise market shares in the digital world. The EU have encountered the digital evolution and have come to the realisation that the current (soon to be former) design regulation, the Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 of 12 December 2001 on Community design, requires to change. The changes are aimed to protect design in both the... (More)
- With the rise of new technologies such as augmented reality , virtual reality , non-fungible tokens (NFT) and the metaverse . A new world is on the rise, the digital world. With the digital world on the rise there will be new design, digital design. With digital design, there will be new opportunities for brands to capitalise on new markets. Brands such as Gucci, Nike and Balenciaga are in the forefront to capitalise market shares in the digital world. The EU have encountered the digital evolution and have come to the realisation that the current (soon to be former) design regulation, the Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 of 12 December 2001 on Community design, requires to change. The changes are aimed to protect design in both the digital world and the physical world. For this kind of, hybrid product design regulation to exist, the commission proposed a new definition of “design” and “product”. With some modification, the parliament accepted the proposal.
“The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse the new definitions of “product” and “design” in the new EU design regulation , and to describe and analyse to what extent the design of digital product will be able to be protected in the digital world, such as metaverse.
To fulfil the purpose of this thesis, the following questions will be answered:
1. What is the content and scope of the new definitions of “product” and “design” in the updated EU design legislation and how do they differ from the current definitions?
2. To what extent can the design of a digital product be protected in the digital world?”
The conclusion is that the definition of “product” and “design” has changed to be able to protect digital products in the digital world. The new word for digital product in the new regulation is “non-physical form” which is the opposite to a physical product/object. This means that, design of patterns, animation, logos, different shape and lines etc, could be protected in the digital world. These examples are only touching the surface of what these changes will and could do to the overall protection of design. The new definitions, gives precision to what could be protected in the physical world as in the digital world. With the technology of NFT, one could protect a digital product with the help of NFT technology and a registration at the EUIPO. There is a possibility that international legislation will follow the same hybrid approach to update the legislation to be fitted in both worlds, for example an evolution of the TRIPS agreement. However, it is important to emphasise that this is only the beginning for the new regulation. From my point of view, the criteria for protection, novelty and individual character will change with the help of case law. The limitation will be more concrete over time with the help of case law and guidelines. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9158709
- author
- Titikic, Oliver LU
- supervisor
-
- Johan Axhamn LU
- organization
- course
- HARN63 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Product, Design, Fashion, NFT, Metaverse, Hybrid legislation, Suitability.
- language
- English
- id
- 9158709
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-11 09:41:03
- date last changed
- 2024-06-11 09:41:03
@misc{9158709,
abstract = {{With the rise of new technologies such as augmented reality , virtual reality , non-fungible tokens (NFT) and the metaverse . A new world is on the rise, the digital world. With the digital world on the rise there will be new design, digital design. With digital design, there will be new opportunities for brands to capitalise on new markets. Brands such as Gucci, Nike and Balenciaga are in the forefront to capitalise market shares in the digital world. The EU have encountered the digital evolution and have come to the realisation that the current (soon to be former) design regulation, the Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 of 12 December 2001 on Community design, requires to change. The changes are aimed to protect design in both the digital world and the physical world. For this kind of, hybrid product design regulation to exist, the commission proposed a new definition of “design” and “product”. With some modification, the parliament accepted the proposal.
“The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse the new definitions of “product” and “design” in the new EU design regulation , and to describe and analyse to what extent the design of digital product will be able to be protected in the digital world, such as metaverse.
To fulfil the purpose of this thesis, the following questions will be answered:
1. What is the content and scope of the new definitions of “product” and “design” in the updated EU design legislation and how do they differ from the current definitions?
2. To what extent can the design of a digital product be protected in the digital world?”
The conclusion is that the definition of “product” and “design” has changed to be able to protect digital products in the digital world. The new word for digital product in the new regulation is “non-physical form” which is the opposite to a physical product/object. This means that, design of patterns, animation, logos, different shape and lines etc, could be protected in the digital world. These examples are only touching the surface of what these changes will and could do to the overall protection of design. The new definitions, gives precision to what could be protected in the physical world as in the digital world. With the technology of NFT, one could protect a digital product with the help of NFT technology and a registration at the EUIPO. There is a possibility that international legislation will follow the same hybrid approach to update the legislation to be fitted in both worlds, for example an evolution of the TRIPS agreement. However, it is important to emphasise that this is only the beginning for the new regulation. From my point of view, the criteria for protection, novelty and individual character will change with the help of case law. The limitation will be more concrete over time with the help of case law and guidelines.}},
author = {{Titikic, Oliver}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The new hybrid product design legislation - The protection of fashion and product design in the digital world and the physical world}},
year = {{2024}},
}