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Protection of car designs in Europe—some observations from a practitioner’s perspective

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Abstract

Protecting car designs is no easy feat. Many hurdles have to be overcome before a car design can be protected in Europe. Is the design valid? Is it infringed? What is the target audience? Is a specific part of the design protected? If the car is damaged, are spare parts available and will they be the same? The list goes on. Although Europe has harmonised its design laws, there is still much conflict among the member states regarding the protection of car designs, not to mention other jurisdictions such as the United States and China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Attorney-at-Law and Partner, Bardehle Pagenberg, Galileiplatz 1, 81679, München, Germany

    Henning Hartwig

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  1. Henning Hartwig
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Correspondence to Henning Hartwig.

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This paper is based on a presentation given by the author at the Academy of European Law Conference on European Union Law on Trademarks and Design, Alicante, 4–5 March 2010. The author wishes to extend sincere thanks to Thomas Huber and Thomas Luckett for their invaluable help on concluding this paper.

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Hartwig, H. Protection of car designs in Europe—some observations from a practitioner’s perspective. ERA Forum 11, 439–458 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12027-010-0165-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12027-010-0165-9

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