A decade after their introduction, approximately three-quarters of a million European Registered Community Designs (RCDs) have been filed, and recent court cases suggest firms regard them as important for competition. This paper reviews design protection in the European Union, discusses this...

The service sector has a dominant role in the developed economies, accounting for about two thirds of employment and GDP (Eurostat, 1999). According to Eurostat, "Services are the only sector of the European economy that has generated jobs in the last two decades." Thus, between 1985 and 1997...