| Abstract: | LEGAL CONTEXT: Within the context of the European Union legal framework ofdesigns, the Community Designs Regulation has been operatingsince March 2002. Since April 2003, the first Registered CommunityDesigns were published by the Alicante-based OHIM. From thespringtime of 2004, the first decisions issued by OHIM relatedto invalidity of designs were published. KEY POINTS: Enforcement of Community Designs is a matter for national courtsto deal with it, since no Community-wide judicial system wasset. National "Community Design Courts", as they are called,were set in each Member State with jurisdiction to hear infringementcases and make decisions with cross-border effect. PRACTICAL SIGNIFICANCE: For holders of Community designs, the first cases decided bythe Spanish Community Designs Courts are specially relevantsince holders have a legitimate expectation, on the basis ofthe first decisions adopted since September 2004, to see theirdesigns effectively enforced. The consolidation of the Communitydesign system will very much depend on the effectiveness ofenforcement by courts like the one in Alicante, which has shown,not only a clear readiness to protect CTM owners, but now also,Community design holders. |
