Design protection and enforcement via copyright

Milan, 30 November 2026

On 30 November, LES Italia will organize a conference on one of the most topical and widely debated issues in intellectual property law: design protection through copyright, in light of the recent CJEU ruling in the Mio/Konektra case and the recast EU Design Directive.

The programme will feature three roundtable discussions, offering complementary perspectives.

The first session, moderated by Emanuela Bianco (Saglietti Bianco), with Eleonora Rosati (Stockholm University) and Michael Ritscher (MLL Legal Ltd), will focus on the legal and case-law framework.

It will be followed by a comparative discussion examining the approaches adopted in Italy, the Netherlands and Germany. The panel will be moderated by Giovanni Francesco Casucci (GA Alliance), with Giovanni Guglielmetti (BonelliErede), Tobias Cohen Jehoram (De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek) and Dr. Henning Hartwig (Bardehle Pagenberg).

The final session will bring the industry perspective to the forefront. Moderated by Simona Cazzaniga (Studio Legale Sutti), it will feature Ornella Pasta (Flos), Daniele Livi (Fiam), Eloisa Giorgi (Smeg) and Murielle Vincenti (Prada), exploring the practical implications of these issues across the lighting, furniture, household appliances and luxury fashion industries.

A programme combining academic rigour with industrial insight, at a time when the boundary between design and copyright protection is becoming increasingly important.

Attendance is free of charge and open exclusively to LES members, as well as faculty members and students of Politecnico di Milano.

Register for the event

Professionals interested in attending the event may consider joining LES Italia. The membership fee for those joining in the final four months of the year already covers the following year.

For further information: media@les-italy.org