The Regulation, passed by the European Commission, implements the Community Design Regulation adopted by the European Council in December 2001 by giving the EU's Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) the administrative tools it needs to operate the necessary procedures, such as the registration and cancellation of designs and appeals, smoothly and efficiently.Companies will nevertheless continue to have the option of registering designs under national law, if they prefer.Those registering designs will be granted exclusive rights to use the design concerned and to prevent any third party from using it anywhere within the European Union for up to 25 years. The Council Regulation also provided that designs meeting the Regulation's requirements can also benefit from protection from deliberate copying even without prior registration with the Office (Unregistered Community Designs).The only remaining step before the OHIM can begin to register designs is the setting of fees. The date from which the OHIM will accept the first applications for registering Community Designs will be set in November 2002, at the next meeting of its Administrative Board.It is expected that the OHIM will be in a position to receive the first pre-applications at the beginning of 2003, with the first official registrations taking effect from April 2003.