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EU Design Act: Designing the future - why the EU Design Act matters for consumer electronics

13 April 2026

The EU Design Act (effective 1 May 2025 with further reforms effective 1 July 2026) has been introduced to strengthen, simplify, and modernize the EU design system and align it with EU trademark rules. This new reform will offer design protection that is fit for the era of digital designs and evolving technologies.

But what changes does the reform bring to your business? We address this question in a series of sector-specific articles featured in our "Designing the Future" series. The series started with the video games sector followed by fashion and furniture, automotive and mobility, and medical devices. In this article, we examine the implications of the reform for consumer electronic goods.

The changes in EU design law go far beyond administrative tweaks – the reform clearly opens the door to protect the very features that shape consumer experience and brand identity and places consumer electronic goods such as smartphones, smartwatches, connected TVs and smart devices among its primary beneficiaries.

Chapter 1 What’s new: What can be protected?

The EU Design Act introduces new opportunities for design protection:

The protection goes digital & dynamic

The revised definition of a product now expressly includes nonphysical items and graphical user interfaces, other screen-based features of electronic goods are formally recognised as protectable designs.

The reform expressly includes “movement, transitions or any other type of animation” within the definition of a design and recognises that animation contributes to appearance.

Key designs to secure

This concerns all types of electronic devices:

Icon rearrangement animation (“wiggle mode”) displayed in home screen editing mode;
Animated application closing transition represented by icon convergence effect;
Dynamic transparency and background blur effects within the graphical user interface;
Animated loading indicator comprising geometric shapes in motion.

Classic shapes still matter

In consumer electronics, competitive identity often begins with shapes, silhouette and structure. The reform opens new avenues of protection by recognising animation such as lighting effects.

The flat, edge-to-edge front and camera layout of a smartphone are more protectable than ever.
Sculpted contours and LED signatures of smart devices now clearly fall within the scope of protection.

Chapter 2 Why it matters for you

While a smartphone may only be replaced every 5-6 years, the global mobile app market is already valued at around €300 billion in 2025, with billions of downloads generating continuous consumer spend and engagement. This trend highlights how compelling app design can drive ongoing economic value beyond the initial device sale.

Design law balances flexibility with a protection term adapted to rapid innovation cycles and a structured, enforceable framework. The reform strengthens that balance by securing clear protection for animated and dynamic features with a possibility to regularly update the same.

Under the modernised regime, various elements of a single electronic product can be combined within a structured multiple EU design application, rather than split across separate filings. For instance, for a smartwatch, a single application may cover the external casing, multiple animated watch faces, screen transition effects, an animated health-tracking gauge, and a distinct strap design, all grouped in one application.

Chapter 3 What cannot be protected?

Features solely dictated by technical functions remain excluded.
Software as such and non-visible elements do not qualify for design protection.
A purely functional gesture or screen movement, with no aesthetic contribution to the overall appearance, falls outside protection.

Chapter 4 How to protect these new designs

The technical standards for representing dynamic and animated designs will be finalized by 1 July 2026.

Article 26 of the EU Design Directive already allows design representations in static, dynamic, or animated representations, using commonly available technologies (drawings, images, videos, computer-generated models). Further formats will be added and video formats (e.g., MP4) are expected to play a central role.

Chapter 5 What we recommend

The reform provides an opportunity to refine your design protection strategy and fully utilize the new options to legally secure the features that shape user experience and brand identity and shield them from unauthorized use and copycats.

We recommend that you

Educate teams: Brief product development teams and patent design teams on the new possibilities for using dynamic and animated reproductions for design protection in the EU.
Strategize: Develop filing strategies for securing an extra layer of design protection in the EU, while new design formats may still not be available in other jurisdictions.
File early: Begin submitting design applications for key visual features that define the look and feel of your consumer electronic goods and think about protecting various elements of a single product.
Signal protected design status: Consider using the new EU registration symbol Ⓓ to raise awareness and deter infringers.

We are happy to assist you!

Authored by Etienne Barjol.