IP case law Court of Justice

Art. 7 CDR : Disclosure

1. For the purpose of applying Articles 5 and 6, a design shall be deemed to have been made available to the public if it has been published following registration or otherwise, or exhibited, used in trade or otherwise disclosed, before the date referred to in Articles 5(1)(a) and 6(1)(a) or in Articles 5(1)(b) and 6(1)(b), as the case may be, except where these events could not reasonably have become known in the normal course of business to the circles specialised in the sector concerned, operating within the Community. The design shall not, however, be deemed to have been made available to the public for the sole reason that it has been disclosed to a third person under explicit or implicit conditions of confidentiality.
2. A disclosure shall not be taken into consideration for the purpose of applying Articles 5 and 6 and if a design for which protection is claimed under a registered Community design has been made available to the public:
(a) by the designer, his successor in title, or a third person as a result of information provided or action taken by the designer or his successor in title; and
(b) during the 12-month period preceding the date of filing of the application or, if a priority is claimed, the date of priority.
3. Paragraph 2 shall also apply if the design has been made available to the public as a consequence of an abuse in relation to the designer or his successor in title.

1 preliminary ruling

Judgment of 13 Feb 2014, C-479/12 (Gautzsch)

On a proper construction of the first sentence of Article 7(1) of Regulation No 6/2002, it is possible that an unregistered design may not reasonably have become known in the normal course of business to the circles specialised in the sector concerned, operating within the European Union, even though it was disclosed to third parties without any explicit or implicit conditions of confidentiality, if it has been made available to only one undertaking in that sector or has been presented only in the showrooms of an undertaking outside the European Union, which it is for the Community design court to assess, having regard to the circumstances of the case before it.

2 appeals

Order of 10 Sep 2020, C-320/18 (Crocs v EUIPO and Gifi Diffusion)


Judgment of 21 Sep 2017, C-361/15 (Easy Sanitary Solutions v Group Nivelles)



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