These are exciting times for design connoisseurs in Europe.

The Salone Internazionale del Mobile, the world's largest product design fair, is taking place in Milan this week. Under the motto "Where design evolves", thousands of exhibitors in 16 halls in the Lombard fashion metropolis are attracting tens of thousands of guests to the summit meeting of important designers, architects and enthusiasts for the 62nd time. The trade fair is accompanied by a broad programme of showrooms and installations as part of Milan Design Week.

This year, one of the Salone's main themes is sustainability. In this it is not alone: the European Union is also active again as part of the IP Action Plan in design law. The design reform is centred around the European Green Deal.

In March, the European Parliament adopted a reform of EU design legislation that was pre-agreed with the other institutions and now only needs to be adopted by the Council of the EU member states. The EU Design Directive and the EU Design Regulation are not only to be made more sustainable, but also adapted to current digital developments.

What are the important changes? Firstly, 3D printed and digital products will now also be eligible for design protection. Both legal acts now also expressly provide that designs can also be protected by copyright, provided that the relevant requirements are met. The controversial question of whether and when product design can also enjoy copyright protection has been a hot topic across Europe in recent decades. Here too, furniture design has been in the vanguard of developments: as recently as December, the Federal Court of Justice referred further questions in this context to the European Court of Justice on the basis of the USM Haller furniture design programme.

It should also be noted that the spare parts market is to be liberalised. Car manufacturers in particular had resisted this until the end. Consumers should be able to choose more between competing spare parts, even if they have to fit perfectly into the design of the main product ("must-fit" parts). However, manufacturers or sellers of spare parts can only invoke the exception to design protection if they provide clear information about the origin of their product to enable consumers to make an informed decision. This is intended to promote the repair of products in the interests of sustainability and at the same time safeguard the economic interests of product suppliers.

However, it is striking that the EU is missing the opportunity to adapt design law to the arrival of artificial intelligence in the centre of our society. This is surprising given that the EU's major "AI Regulation" has only just been adopted and a new legal act for copyright and AI is already in the starting blocks. The Salone in Milan is already further along in this respect: the Salone's marketing campaign was partly AI-generated.