Art. 10 CDR : Scope of protection (informed user)

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1. The scope of the protection conferred by a Community design shall include any design which does not produce on the informed user a different overall impression.
2. In assessing the scope of protection, the degree of freedom of the designer in developing his design shall be taken into consideration.

1 preliminary ruling

Judgment of 4 Sep 2025, C-211/24 (LEGO)

Article 10 of Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 of 12 December 2001 on Community designsmust be interpreted as meaning that the scope of protection of a design under Article 8(3) of that regulation must be assessed by reference to the overall impression produced by that design on an informed user who, without being a designer or a technical expert, knows the various designs which exist in the sector concerned, possesses a certain degree of knowledge with regard to the features which those designs normally include and, as a result of his or her interest in the products concerned, shows a relatively high level of attention when he or she uses them as components of the modular system of which they form part, and not on a user who, possessing technical knowledge similar to that which may be expected of a sectoral expert, examines the design concerned down to the smallest detail and whose overall impression is based primarily on technical considerations.

2 appeals

Judgment of 18 Oct 2012, C-101/11 (Herbert Neuman)

Judgment of 20 Oct 2011, C-281/10 (PepsiCo)

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