EU design law is undergoing its most significant reform in decades - are your filing strategies prepared? This focused webinar offers UK trade mark attorneys the practical insight needed to adapt quickly and effectively.
The session will clearly explain what’s changing - from new terminology and updated filing requirements (including representations and multiple designs) to key substantive reforms covering disclosure, visibility, and the repair clause.
These changes modernise design law to reflect technological developments such as 3D printing and aim to open up fairer competition in the aftermarket for spare parts.
As filing rules evolve, understanding the strategic value of design rights becomes more important than ever.
For clients in sectors where product shape or appearance is commercially significant, EU designs can offer meaningful protection - particularly when trade mark or patent routes are not ideal.
This practical session will help you evaluate when and how design filings should complement broader IP strategies and ensure your advice remains current and commercially focused.
Learning outcomes
- Gain a clear understanding of the legal changes under the EU design law reform.
- Recognise when design protection is the most effective option for your clients.
- Adapt filing strategies to reflect the new formal and material requirements.
- Advise clients more confidently where the shape or appearance of a product is commercially important.
Meet your speakers
Thomas Grimm, Haseltine Lake Kempner LLP
Thomas is a German lawyer and a certified specialist for intellectual property law.
During his education Thomas was working in the cinema sector, his love for films and arts paved the way for his interest in intellectual property and copyright. To learn more about the international aspects of intellectual property (especially in the common law world) he completed his postgraduate studies in New Zealand and graduated as Master of Laws from Victoria University of Wellington. These studies also involved an internship at the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ). In 2006 Thomas started his career at a well-known intellectual property law firm in Munich.
Thomas has been successfully assisting clients in both contentious and non-contentious intellectual property matters including trademarks, designs, copyright, patents, utility models and unfair competition law, before German courts for many years. He has also represented clients from different industry fields in numerous cases before the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
Roland Weede, Haseltine Lake Kempner LLP
Roland is a German lawyer with extensive experience in intellectual property law, specialising in trademarks and designs.
In addition to completing various stages of his legal education abroad, Roland also spent three years of his professional life working as a trademark attorney in Japan. This experience provided him with invaluable insights into the global aspects of trademark law and enriched his professional capabilities. As a fully qualified German “Rechtsanwalt”, he is representing clients in litigation in front of German courts of all instances up to the Federal Patent Court.
Roland holds a board certification for expertise in matters of intellectual property, and has worked for clients in a wide range of trademark, design and domain matters, offering both contentious and non-contentious legal services. He has been a representative for his clients’ interests at the German Patent Office and the European Trademark Office, from one-man start-ups to multinational corporations, and from various industries (media, automotive and pharmaceutical). He has also litigated cases before German civil courts, the German Federal Patent Court and the General Court of the European Union.
Cost
- Member £0 (VAT exempt)
- Standard £35 (VAT exempt)
To note
- Payment online via debit or credit card only; proforma invoices are not available.
- Full terms and conditions apply.
- Closing date: 12.30pm, Tuesday 17th June 2025