Fashion Law
Attorney Specializing in Fashion Design Protection: Your Collection Is Protected as Soon as You Show It
An unregistered EU design comes into existence without an application, without a fee, and without an office—simply by making your designs public in Europe. Three years of protection for every season. There’s just one catch, and very few labels are aware of it.
The intellectual property rights that arise while you're showcasing your collection
Most labels that come to us believe they have no rights at all because they’ve never filed for protection. That’s not true. Anyone who publicly discloses a design in the European Union for the first time automatically receives protection: the unregistered EU design. No forms, no fees, no registry—protection takes effect the moment your designs become visible.
That’s exactly what this right was created for. The fashion industry produces two, four, or eight collections a year. Registering each item individually would be impractical both in terms of time and cost. The unregistered design fills this gap: It automatically covers everything you show and remains in effect for as long as a season is commercially relevant.
The catch lies in the scope of protection—and in the fact that, in the event of a dispute, you must prove everything. Both can be prepared for. But only beforehand, not afterward.
Key Facts
Four Things You Need to Know About Unregistered EU Designs
It is not a lesser version of a registered design, but a distinct right with its own logic. These four points determine whether it will help you in a real-life situation:
This is how it's made
Through the brand’s first public debut in the EU—a fashion show, lookbook, trade show, online store launch, and social media post—the key was that the brand’s design was able to gain recognition among industry professionals in the EU.
Until then,
Calculated from the date of this initial release. Non-renewable. This is usually enough for seasonal merchandise—but not for a bestseller that stays on the market for years.
You must meet these requirements
The same requirements as for a registered design: novelty and distinctiveness. Your design must create a different overall impression on an informed user than what existed before.
That's the catch
You are protected only against imitation. Anyone who develops the same design independently and without knowledge of your collection is not infringing any rights. With a registered design, that would also be covered.
The Difference
Registered or Unregistered—Where the Line Is Drawn
Both rights are based on the same requirements. They differ in what they require of you in the event of a dispute—and that is the only practical difference:
Unregistered EU Design
It costs nothing and is provided automatically. It covers every design shown, including the twenty pieces in a collection that would never make it into the registration.
In return, you bear the full burden of proof in the process: You must demonstrate when and where you first disclosed that your design is new and has a distinctive character—and that the opposing party copied it.
Registered EU Design
It costs a fee and requires registration. In return, you get a registration with a fixed date, a term of up to 25 years, and a presumption of legal validity.
And most importantly: It also protects against independent developments. You don’t have to prove that someone copied from you—the overall impression alone is sufficient.
The combination is the answer, not the decision. In practice, it almost always works like this: The unregistered design is worn throughout the entire collection starting on the day of the show. Within the first twelve months, you then specifically register the pieces that turn out to be bestsellers. If you let those twelve months pass, you can no longer register your own collection—it is then no longer considered new due to your own public release.
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The most important event of the season
The First Revelation—and Why You Need to Document It
Everything hinges on a single moment: the day your design is first made public. That’s when the clock starts ticking for protection, that’s when the twelve-month window for registration begins, and that’s exactly the day you’ll need to prove in the event of a dispute. There are three things to clarify here:
When and where does it matter?
The design must have been made public to such an extent that industry experts in the EU could have become aware of it in the normal course of business. A fashion show in Paris or Milan is sufficient. A confidential showroom appointment, on the other hand, is not—and a launch that takes place exclusively outside Europe is problematic.
How do we secure the evidence?
Including dates, images, and witnesses. Lookbooks with publication dates, press distribution lists, trade show catalogs, timestamped screenshots of the online store, and archived social media posts. We set up a streamlined process for brands that takes half an hour per collection—and determines everything along the way.
What happens the following year?
Publishing your own content won't affect a future application for twelve months. This window is the real strategic advantage: After the season, you'll see which pieces are performing well—and that's exactly what you'll secure for the long term.
The mistake we encounter most often: A label showcases a collection, someone copies it a year later, and no one can say anymore on what day the piece was first seen. The claim may still stand—but it can no longer be proven. The effort required for documentation is ridiculously small compared to what’s lost here.
For Brands & Female Founders
A Roadmap Through a Season
Here’s the process we follow with our clients in the fashion industry. Four stages that are integrated into every collection cycle:
Before Publication
Review the collection to determine which pieces are truly distinctive enough. Conduct research in the design registry for those items where you’re operating in a highly competitive market. Ensure that showroom appointments and sample shipments are protected by confidentiality agreements.
On the day of the show
Document the disclosure thoroughly: date, complete photo series, location, and reach. From this point on, the three-year protection period begins for each item shown—and the twelve-month window for filing a registration application.
After three to six months
Analyze sales figures and decide: Which items will carry the brand beyond this season? For those items, it’s worth filing for registration—preferably as a collective application. Everything else remains under automatic protection.
Ongoing
Monitor marketplaces and social media. Counterfeits usually appear there first—and the sooner you find them, the easier it is to prove that the product was copied rather than developed independently.
Protect Your Collection From the Very Beginning
An unregistered EU design often automatically protects your designs. We’ll show you what matters most right now and how you can enforce your rights if necessary.
Enforcement
Someone is copying your collection—here's what you need to do
With an unregistered design, the burden of proof rests entirely with you. That sounds tough, but it’s doable if three conditions are met:
The Revelation
When and where did you first display the design in the EU? Without this proof, there is no intellectual property right that could be the subject of a dispute.
The Peculiarity
What exactly makes your design distinctive? You don’t have to prove its entire distinctiveness—it’s enough to specify exactly what makes it distinctive. And comparisons are always made with individual older designs, not with a cobbled-together mix of features from several models.
The Imitation
The fact that the other side must have been aware of your design. Your show’s reach, press coverage, availability in stores, and timeline—that’s what you use to build your case.
If that’s the case, you have the same rights as you would with a registered design: cease-and-desist, disclosure, damages, recall, and destruction. Depending on the urgency, these rights are enforced either through a cease-and-desist letter or—if the collection is currently on the market and every day counts—through a preliminary injunction. In the fashion industry in particular, speed is everything: a knockoff that remains on the market for an entire season has already caused damage before a trial on the merits has even been scheduled.
As of 2026
New Names, Same Rights—What the EU Design Reform Has Changed
The biggest reform of European design law in over twenty years has been in effect since May 2025, and it will be fully implemented as of July 1, 2026. For you as a label, two things are important: what has changed—and what has definitely not.
This is new
The definition of a “product” has been expanded and now explicitly includes non-physical designs: graphic works, surface patterns, user interfaces, symbols, and characters. Movements and animations may also be considered part of the design.
A designation symbol—a “D” in a circle—has been added for registered designs. Since July 2026, new reproduction formats have also been available, allowing digital and animated designs to finally be represented accurately.
That remains
Nothing has changed regarding the substance of unregistered designs. They continue to arise upon first disclosure in the EU, remain valid for three years, continue to require novelty and distinctiveness, and continue to provide protection only against imitation.
So anyone who has already established their collection routine does not need to make any changes. Those who have not yet done so should do it now—the legal situation will remain stable for years to come.
Why There's a Different Name Everywhere
As you do your research, you'll come across three different terms for the same thing. This isn't your fault; it's because the legislature itself is inconsistent:
Term
Where he's from
Community Design
The old term, valid through 2025. It still appears in almost all guidebooks and court rulings—and is therefore what most people are still looking for.
EU Design
The official German term in the new regulation. “Union design” had been proposed but was ultimately removed from the final version.
EU-Design
The EUIPO’s official terminology: “unregistered EU design.” This is the term that has become established in practice—and is also used in the new Design Directive.
For you, this means: It’s all the same law. If a contract, a letter from a lawyer, or a form at a trade show uses any of these three terms, it makes no difference in terms of protection. It only becomes important when deadlines and versions matter—and in those cases, we’ll review them together anyway.
Protect your collection—before it gets copied.
Are you planning to launch a new collection, have you already discovered counterfeits, or do you want to protect your designs for the long term? In a no-obligation initial consultation, we’ll show you which intellectual property rights make sense for you and how you can protect your collection in a legally sound way.
Frequently Asked Questions About the EU AI Act
That's right—there's no form and no fee. The right arises upon the first disclosure within the European Union. What you need to do is something else: document the date of that disclosure so that you can still prove it years later.
In many cases, yes—the key factor is whether industry experts in the EU were able to become aware of it. Reach, visibility, and discoverability all play a role here. Because these factors are often challenged in disputes, we recommend never relying on a single channel, but rather ensuring that the publication is widely distributed and verifiable.
In that case, there is no infringement. An unregistered design provides protection only against copying. This is precisely where a registered design offers stronger protection, because it also covers independent parallel developments. That is why it is worth filing additional registrations for the most important parts.
Yes, if you file your application within twelve months of your own publication. This grace period is intended precisely for cases like this. After that, your own publication will stand in your way because the design will no longer be considered new. It’s better to file sooner rather than later.
This is the most delicate scenario in practice. The law is based on a disclosure that may have become known to European experts. A launch that takes place exclusively outside the EU can therefore become a problem—both for protection and for novelty. Anyone planning an international rollout should go over the sequence with us beforehand.
For traditional seasonal merchandise, the answer is generally yes—the commercial relevance of a collection usually wears off much sooner. The situation becomes more critical for items that become a permanent part of the product line. For those items, registration—which is valid for up to 25 years—is the right approach.
All three terms refer to the same thing. “Community design” is the old term, “Union design” is the official German term in the new regulation, and “EU design” is the terminology used by the EUIPO and the new directive. The term does not affect the scope of protection.