The development of European design law goes hand in hand with the history of the textile industry. In the 15th century, the French King granted exclusive rights, or privileges, for the fabrication of textiles. A government ordinance penalized the counterfeiting of weaving patterns for the first time in 1711 in Lyon.

In England and Scotland, the first statute concerning the protection for designs was initiated by textile producers in 1787.

In 1876, Germany issued a law concerning the copyright on patterns and models, again mainly as a consequence of requests of the textile industry.

More recently, the drive to harmonize Europe’s design laws led to the European Regulation on Community designs, which came into force in 2002.

The European Community Design Regulation protects only designs that are new and have individual character. The degree of visual difference from pre-known designs, resulting from one-to-one comparisons and examined from the perspective of an informed user, is the only decisive criterion as to whether or not a design can be protected. Differences between two designs which are of minor importance to a casual observer, such as the arrangement of buttons, the shape of a collar or the length of a skirt, may produce a different overall impression in the eye of an informed fashion user.