New EU regulation reshaping how products can be packaged comes into force in August 2026. For our fashion and food clients, the window to act is narrow — but it is still open.

What Has Changed

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation — the PPWR — applies directly across all Member States from 12 August 2026. It needs no implementation by Italy. It is already law, and enforcement begins in three months.

From 2030, all packaging placed on the EU market must be reduced to the minimum size and weight necessary for its function. Packaging that exists to project premium quality, brand identity, or visual distinction — oversized boxes, decorative layers, shaped vessels — will be prohibited unless the brand owner can rely on a specific legal exemption.

For our clients in fashion and food, this is not a peripheral compliance issue. Distinctive packaging is a core commercial asset. The Regulation puts it directly at risk.

The Exemption — And Why Acting Now Still Makes Sense

The PPWR provides an exemption for packaging protected by a registered trade mark or registered design right, where the minimisation requirement would destroy what makes that packaging distinctive or strip the trade mark of its character.

The cutoff for relying on this exemption is 11 February 2025 — the date the PPWR entered into force. Rights-holders whose registrations pre-date that cutoff are in the strongest position. However, there remains an unresolved question — pending Commission clarification — as to whether a trade mark or design application filed before 11 February 2025, even if not yet granted, is sufficient to qualify. We are monitoring this closely and will advise clients as guidance emerges.

Importantly, the exemption is not self-executing. Brand owners must prepare and maintain technical documentation demonstrating that the minimisation requirement specifically affects the protected element of the packaging. This documentation must be available for inspection by Italian customs and market surveillance authorities from August 2026. We can assist clients in preparing this now.

Where Your Business Stands

Food and beverage clients with registered three-dimensional trade marks — bottles, jars, tins, distinctive vessels — the priority is confirming that existing registrations cover the specific packaging elements currently in use and pre-date the cutoff. Portfolio gaps are fixable, and the pending application question may yet provide additional protection.

Fashion and luxury clients relying on unregistered trade dress — packaging protected by reputation or unfair competition law rather than formal registration — the position is more urgent. Unregistered rights do not qualify for the exemption. There is still time to file for registered trade mark or design protection. While a post-February 2025 filing will not secure the exemption retroactively, it will build a stronger enforcement position for the future and should be pursued regardless.

Clients holding protected geographical indications are in the strongest position: packaging for products bearing a protected geographical indication is fully exempt. No immediate action is required beyond confirming GI status is current and documented.

Our Recommendation

We are advising all fashion and food clients to treat this as a priority matter before August 2026. The steps are straightforward: audit your packaging portfolio, identify gaps, prepare the required technical documentation, and file where registration is still warranted. We are ready to assist with each of these steps and welcome the opportunity to discuss your specific position.

This briefing note is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please contact us to discuss how these developments affect your specific circumstances.