LEGAL NEWS IN THE SPOTLIGHT | The CJEU on copyright protection for works of applied art

On 4 December 2025, the European Court of Justice (the CJEU) issued a judgment in joined cases C‑580/23 (Mio AB, Mio e-handel AB, Mio Försäljning AB v Galleri Mikael & Thomas Asplund Aktiebolag) and C‑795/23 (konektra GmbH and LN v USM U. Schärer Söhne AG). The ECJ ruled that according to Article 2(a), Article 3(1) and Article 4(1) of Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001, a product of applied art is always to be protected as a “work” by copyright if it reflects the author’s free and creative choices, provided that features dictated solely by technical or functional constraints do not count as original. Furthermore, the CJEU held that, to prove copyright infringement, the original creative elements of the protected work must be reproduced recognizably in the alleged copy. In light of these arguments, the CJEU stated that mere overall similarity in appearance between products is insufficient to establish copyright infringement.

Newsletter n. 113 – December 2025