A Community design does not replace national design registrations. A Community design may be invoked against an application/registration filed at a national level.

More generally, a person who has duly filed an application for a design right in or for any State party to the Paris Convention or to WTO shall enjoy, for the purpose of filing a registered Community design in respect of the same design, a right of priority of six (6) months from the date of filing of the first application.

As for EU trademarks, the rule of equivalence of Community filing with national filing is also of application. It implies that an application for a registered Community design which has been allotted a filing date shall, in the member States, be equivalent to a regular national filing, including where appropriate, the priority claimed for said application.