Clifford Chance
Brompton Bicycle Case: CJEU Decision on Copyright Protection for Functional Designs
The law on copyright protection unfolds
In its recent decision, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has clarified that copyright protection does not extend to purely functional designs (Case C-833/18).
The claimant, Brompton Bicycle Limited ("Brompton"), is a well-known British manufacturer of iconic foldable bicycles which incorporate a hinged frame in their design in order to allow the bicycle to fold (Figure 1). The defendant, Get2Get Chedech ("Get2Get"), a South Korean company, began to market their own foldable bicycle in Belgium (Figure 2).