BEDA Members Bring a European Perspective to Design Power in Warsaw
On 22–23 October 2026, the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland hosts the international conference Design Power: Strategy. Identity. Protection. in the Hall Under the Dome at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology in Warsaw. Co-organised with the Ministry, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the two-day programme brings together IP offices, policymakers, researchers and designers to examine how design is protected, supported and turned into economic value. Three BEDA members are part of the programme.
BEDA Members on Stage
Danish Design Center – Christina Melander, Chief Design Officer, delivers the Day One featured presentation Design as a Driver of Sustainable Growth and Prosperity in Europe, positioning design as a strategic lever for Europe’s competitiveness rather than a finishing touch.
SPFP Design Association – Ewa Gołębiowska, Deputy President, moderates Panel 2, Public Support for Design Development, which brings together the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP), the Institute of Creative Industries, the Patent Office and the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology.
PDR – International Centre for Design & Research, Cardiff Metropolitan University – Piotr Świątek, Manager of Design & Innovation Policy, joins the same panel, contributing a European design-policy perspective alongside national agencies and ministries.
The panel addresses a question at the heart of BEDA’s advocacy: design support delivers results when design is explicitly named in policy, programmes and budgets – not left implicit under broader innovation or creative-industry headings.
Read More About the Conference: https://uprp.gov.pl/pl/aktualnosci/wydarzenia[…]googtrans(pl%7Cen)
A Shared Agenda with the EUIPO
The EUIPO plays a central role in the conference, with a video message from Executive Director João Negrão and a featured presentation on new types of designs in EUIPO practice – graphical user interfaces, projections, holograms, and virtual and augmented reality. The timing is significant: the modernised EU design framework, in force since 1 July 2026, opens new possibilities for protecting digital and dynamic designs.
The EUIPO is one of BEDA’s long-standing strategic partners. BEDA takes part in the EUIPO’s User Group meetings, and together we have organised hands-on workshops on design protection alongside the DesignEuropa Awards – in Riga (2024), in Copenhagen with the Danish Design Center (2025), and in Ljubljana (2026). BEDA representatives have also served on the DesignEuropa Awards jury, and in 2026 BEDA, the EUIPO and ECTA co-hosted a webinar on design protection as a business strategy.
Last updated: 22/10/26