EuroParl Committee Approves End to Design Protection for Spare Parts

Thanks to the IPR HelpDesk for reporting that members of the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament have "approved a Report in favor of the approval in first reading of the Commission proposal for a Directive amending Directive 98/71 on the legal protection of designs":

The Proposal implies the end of the protection for spare car parts and other machinery components under industrial designs. The main consequence of the new
Directive will be that the secondary market in spare parts -e.g. cars and industrial machinery - will be opened to competition and suppliers will be able to produce motor vehicle components which are identical to the original parts without infringing design protection. None the less, the Committee proposes a five year transitional period before full liberalisation of the market takes effect.

For more background, see "Spare parts protection under the design law."