The second edition of European Union Design Law: a Practitioners' Guide, by David Stone, has now been published by Oxford University Press.  The publishers have this to say in their web-blurb:

* Written in an economical and entertaining style, with clear organisation of information for quick reference.
* Detailed and critical analysis of settled law, areas of limited jurisprudence, early decisions which arguably contain errors, and areas where the law must be deduced from the legislative text alone.
* Adopts a practical approach throughout, with guidance on key problems such as how to interpret Community designs, assessing 'overall impression', and identifying the 'informed user'.

New to this Edition:
* All court of Justice and General Court decisions since the publication of the last edition, including Karen Millen, Gautzsch Grosshandel, Beifa, Puma, Tubes Radiatori, El Hogar, Gandia Blasco, Sachi, Biscuits Poult, Group Nivelles, Senz, Cezar, Aic, and Argo.
* New helpful summaries of the state of the law on key issues, such as the informed user, design freedom and overall impression.
* The Apple v Samsung case study has been updated beyond the provisional measures hearings to include all the judgements in the tablet design dispute, including the historic publication order decision in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.
* A new chapter on interpreting a design provides guidance and clarity on dotted lines and other drafting conventions.
* Images throughout, included for the first time, illustrate debates over individual character.

While publishers can be expected routinely to praise their books, the first edition of this work has already earned sufficient plaudits for prospective readers and users to expect great things of its successor. In this they will not be disappointed.  David Stone, a leading practitioner in the European design law field, is no stranger to the MARQUES community, having given selflessly of his time and energy over many years as a stalwart of the Designs Team and as a speaker and workshop moderator in countless events on design registration and infringement. As such, he has an unusual degree of sensitivity to those issues that practitioners and design owners keep getting wrong, not to mention those which they get right without quite realising that they've done so.

This big red book, weighing in at 650 pages, will be not merely a guide for those with problems but a comforting and reassuring presence on their desks.  

Further details of this work can be obtained from the publisher's website here.