Europeans consider design "very important" for competitiveness

A new European Commission consultation on the links between design and innovation has shown that the majority of respondents, including companies from outside the design sector, consider that design is "very important" for the future competitiveness of the EU economy.

The registered Community design (RCD) was created in 2003 in order to provide access to design protection covering the whole of the EU. Since then OHIM has registered just under 400 000 designs on behalf of companies from all over the world.

The RCD has been popular since the start, showing steady annual growth right up until the current global recession. Figures for designs for the year to September show that we have received 53,000 designs, a drop of 11% compared with the same period in 2008.

 

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