Draft:Registered design symbol



The registered design symbol, Ⓓ (a circled capital letter D for design), is the symbol to provide notice that an industrial design is registered as an EU design[1][2][3]. It was introduced in Regulation (EU) 2024/2822 of the European Parliament and of the Council, which amended the Regulation on Community Designs, and which will enter into effect on December 8, 2024. The European Union is currently the only jurisdiction which recognizes this mark by statute.

European Law

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The registered design symbol was described in a November 28, 2022, legislative proposal to the European Commission to amend the Regulation on Community Designs, which included the addition of Article 26a (Registration symbol).[4] Later drafts of the regulation included the symbol itself. Regarding use of the symbol, the final text of the regulation provides:

The holder of a registered EU design may inform the public that the design is registered by displaying on the product in which the design is incorporated or to which it is applied the letter D enclosed within a circle (Ⓓ). Such design notice may be accompanied by the registration number of the design or hyperlinked to the entry of the design in the Register.[5]

Use of the symbol to mark a design as protected by a registered design is optional. However, its use is expected to improve the deterrent effect of a design right by providing awareness of its registration and by serving as a warning to potential infringers, similar to parallel marks for copyrights (©) and registered trademarks (®).[6][7]

Digital representation

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Unicode does not (as of Version 16.0.0[8]) include a dedicated character for the registered design symbol, for example as it does for the copyright symbol (©) and for the sound recording copyright symbol (℗). However, Unicode does include U+24B9 Ⓓ CIRCLED LATIN CAPITAL LETTER D, which has a similar appearance.

References

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  1. ^ "Design Reform". EUIPO. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  2. ^ "EU Design reform: a reminder of the key issues".
  3. ^ "Revamping designs: Changes to the EU design framework". Mishcon de Reya LLP. 2024-11-25. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  4. ^ Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 on Community designs and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 2246/2002, 2022, retrieved 2024-11-26
  5. ^ "Regulation - EU - 2024/2822 - EN - EUR-Lex". eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  6. ^ Sosna, IDEA Intellectual Limited-Joerg (2024-05-21). "EU Design Law Reform: Modernizing for the Digital Age (Update 2024)". Lexology. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  7. ^ "Modernising EU design law: An Overview of Proposed Changes". www.marks-clerk.com. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  8. ^ "Unicode 16.0.0". www.unicode.org. Retrieved 2024-11-26.