In Chapter 4, we contribute to the debate of aligning green transition goals with the incentive structures inherent in IP law, with a focus on design law. Bringing together theoretical and practical perspectives on upcycling in design, we review the state of the art in the scholarly literature and analyze findings from our qualitative research, including interviews with Nordic designers who integrate upcycling into their design and business strategies. We examine the economic incentives and disincentives of design upcycling and assess the competitive advantages and disadvantages of shifting from a linear to a circular approach in design. Against this background, we discuss the extent to which the European design law framework aligns with upcycling as a design and business strategy, including the effects of the scope of protection, the definition of infringement, limitations, and the doctrine of exhaustion. We emphasize that undue legal uncertainty arises from the ineffectiveness of limitations and exceptions, and that horizontal problems result from overlaps between IP rights. Taking stock of challenges and opportunities faced by design upcyclers we propose principles from circular economy that may be infused into design law to counterbalance the economic and legal disincentives that design upcyclers are faced with.

There are myriad open questions and challenges for the Unified Patent Court (UPC) system and the unitary patent, which constitute a new layer to the European patent landscape on top of the existing courts and types of patents. One of those is the question of how this new system will interact with utility models, which seems to have mostly escaped academic scrutiny so far. This chapter explores this interaction, focusing predominantly on the consequences of the new unitary patent and the UPC for strategies surrounding patents and utility models, including the division of judicial competence. By considering, amongst other things, the complicated relationship and overlap of these rights, the limited but influential mandate of the UPC, the fragmented landscape for utility models, and the different sources of law governing a unitary patent, this chapter examines how litigation before the UPC may affect (strategies involving) utility models.

Chapter 3 provides a short overview of IP law for those not familiar with it. It introduces the major concepts of patent law, copyright law, trademark law, and design patent law, focusing on internationally agreed upon frameworks and treaties such as the Berne Convention, the Paris Convention, and TRIPS. It also walks readers through fundamental concepts like territoriality, validity, direct and indirect infringement, and remedies.