The European Court has ruled in case C‑123/20 Ferrari SpA v Mansory Design & Holding GmbH and WH.
This dispute focuses our attention on the limited edition Ferrari car model FXX K that is similar to another model 488 GTB. There is a visual difference between both models in some design elements.
The German company Mansory Design & Holding GmbH,WH starts to produce and offer those design elements as tuning parts which can be used by owners of 488 GTB to make their cars look like FXX K.
Ferrari initiated a lawsuit in Germany for infringement of unregistered Community design but lost it. The decision was appealed and the German Supreme Court asked the European Court to clarify whether the making available to the public of images of a product, such as the publication of photographs of a car, could lead to the making available to the public of a design on a part or a component part of that product and, if so, to what extent the appearance of that part or component part must be independent of the product as a whole in order for it to be possible to examine whether that appearance has individual character.
The EU Court has ruled, inter alia, that EU law must be interpreted as meaning that the making available to the public of images of a product, such as the publication of photographs of a car, results in the making available to the public of a design on a part of that product or on a component part of that product, as a complex product, provided that the appearance of that part or component part is clearly identifiable at the time that design is made available.
In the first place, the Court noted that the material conditions required for the protection of a Community design to arise, whether registered or not, namely novelty and individual character, are the same for both products and parts of a product. Provided that those material conditions are satisfied, the formal condition for giving rise to an unregistered Community design is that of making available to the public within the meaning of Article 11(2) of Regulation No 6/2002.
In order for the making available to the public of the design of a product taken as a whole to entail the making available of the design of a part of that product, it is essential that the appearance of that part is clearly identifiable when the design is made available. However, that does not imply an obligation for designers to make available separately each of the parts of their products in respect of which they seek to benefit from unregistered Community design protection.
In the second place, the Court pointed out that the concept of ‘individual character’, within the meaning of Article 6 of Regulation No 6/2002, governs not the relationship between the design of a product and the designs of its component parts, but rather the relationship between those designs and other earlier designs.
In order for it to be possible to examine whether the appearance of a part of a product or a component part of a complex product satisfies the condition of individual character, it is necessary for that part or component part to constitute a visible section of the product or complex product, clearly defined by particular lines, contours, colours, shapes or texture. That presupposes that the appearance of that part or component part is capable, in itself, of producing an overall impression and cannot be completely lost in the product as a whole.
