Stone on European Union Design Law A Practitioners' Guide

Design law is a complex and fluctuating field of practice in the European Union. Twenty years after the introduction of the Community Registered Designs system, the EU has significantly amended its design law. These amendments modernise the legislation to future-proof the rights of designers and harmonise design protections across Member States. The new edition of Stone on European Union Design Law: A Practitioners' Guide provides comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of the EU-wide legislation and the thousands of court and tribunal decisions interpreting it. The Third Edition of this highly respected practitioner text offers an informative history of the legislation's development and aims. It traces the introduction of fundamental changes to the protection of industrial and ornamental designs throughout the EU up to and including the 2024 amendments. Since the previous edition, hundreds of cases have been decided by the EUIPO, the General Court, the Court of Justice, and national courts. Stone on European Union Design Law situates primary legal provisions in context, supported by excerpts and references to case law up to January 2025. Chapters cover topics including the definition of terms, the system of courts and tribunals with jurisdiction for EU design disputes, overlap with other intellectual property rights, exclusions from protection, the right to EU designs, invalidity of prior design and novelty arguments, the procedure of the EUIPO, infringement and applicable defences, jurisdictional issues, and the recast Design Directive. Providing accessible and robust coverage of the complete design law of the EU, this book is an essential reference for practitioners in Europe and beyond. It offers practical insights and detailed analysis, making it invaluable for anyone involved in the field.

1 - Historical Introduction
2 - Aims and Interpretation of the EU-Wide Legislation
3 - The System of Courts and Tribunals with Jurisdiction for European Union Design Disputes
4 - Definitions
5 - Cumulative Effect With Other Intellectual Property Rights
6 - Exclusions From Protection
7 - Unitary Character of EU-Wide Design Rights and Territorial Effect
8 - Right to the EU Design
9 - Interpreting a Design
10 - Prior Designs
11 - Novelty
12 - Individual Character
13 - Grounds for Invalidity
14 - The Office
15 - REUDs
16 - International Registrations
17 - Invalidity Proceedings before the Office
18 - Unregistered EU Designs
19 - Infringement
20 - Defences to Infringement
21 - Remedies
22 - Jurisdiction
23 - The Directive

David Stone is a partner at White & Case LLP, specialising in intellectual property (IP) protection and litigation practice. He is a keen design rights proponent, encouraging designers to protect their work and advocating for improvements to the ways in which legal systems protect the appearance of a product. A graduate of the universities of Sydney, Oxford, and Cambridge, David teaches design law at the universities of Oxford and Alicante, and writes widely on the subject. He also sits part-time as a Deputy High Court Judge (England & Wales), is a jury member for the DesignEuropa Award, and is on the editorial boards of several leading IP journals.