28.1.2012

Official Journal of the European Union

C 25/21

(Case C-198/10) (*)

(First subparagraph of Article 104(3) of the Rules of Procedure - Industrial and commercial property - Directive 98/71/EC - Legal protection of designs - Article 17 - Obligation concerning the cumulation of design protection with copyright protection - National law precluding copyright protection in the case of designs which entered the public domain before its entry into force)

(2012/C 25/35)

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Cassina S.p.A

Defendants: Alivar Srl, Galliani Host Arredamenti Srl

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Corte d’appello di Milano — Interpretation of Articles 17 and 19 of Directive 98/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 on the legal protection of designs — National legislation which transposed the directive into national law by introducing copyright protection for designs — Right of a Member State to extend the conditions for the grant of such protection

Operative part of the order

Article 17 of Directive 98/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 on the legal protection of designs, must be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State which either excludes, either completely or within the limits of prior use, from protection by the law of copyright of that Member State designs which have entered the public domain before the entry into force of that legislation, with regard to all third parties who have previously manufactured or marketed in the national territory products based on those designs before that date.

(*)

Language of the case: Italian

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