Opere di disegno industriale tra creatività, neutralità e valore artistico: esercizi (e acrobazie) sulla quadratura del cerchio

The intersection of copyright and design is problematic. Despite the attempt of harmonization at EU level, national applications of EU principles appear confused and contradictory.

This paper will focus on the Italian legal system, although there will be short references to the United Kingdom, where the harmonizing grip of the European Court of Justice unfolds - or at least has unfolded prior to Brexit - emblematically.

After a first illustration of the Italian legislation on the protection of industrial design, which will examine in detail the difficulties related to the intersection of copyright and other forms of protection, we will focus on the conflictual meaning and scope of the criterion of artistic value against the interpretation of the originality threshold for copyright protection suggested by the European Court of Justice. The second part of the essay is dedicated to the analysis of related case law, which offers further and specific food for thought that flows into the final paragraph.