Industrial Design Protection and Ecodesign Innovation: Interplays and Interferences

This paper analyses the interplay between industrial design protection and ecodesign regulation within the European Union’s sustainability framework. It explores how intellectual property rights, particularly design rights, can both support and hinder the transition to a circular economy. The paper conceptualizes design as both a creative practice and a regulatory tool (“regulation by design”). Focusing on the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), the study highlights the growing integration of environmental requirements - such as durability, reparability, and recyclability - into product design and identifies key tensions between design protection and sustainability objectives. These include technological neutrality rules, packaging minimization requirements, restrictions on the destruction of unsold goods, and the right to repair. It concludes that the current framework still tends to favour IP protection and foster a more balanced alignment between innovation incentives and environmental sustainability in EU law.