Directive 98/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 on the legal protection of designs is a European Union directive in the field of industrial design rights, made under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome.

It sets harmonised standards for eligibility and protection of most types of registered design.

There is also an exception for foreign-registered ships and aeroplanes, based on the principles of maritime sovereignty.

In respect of a given product, they are exhausted when it is sold with the consent of the rightholder (the first-sale doctrine).

The Directive leaves the question of component parts mostly without harmonisation, given the widely varying practices between Member States.