The fashion industry is one of the largest industries in world, yet the priority of creating an adequate protection for the industry can be questioned. Thankfully, the EU introduced the UCDR in the early 21st century, which grants protection for the appearance of a design of it reaches the requirements of novelty and individual character.  The aim of this thesis has been to examine whether the UCDR is adequte for small fashion businesses and designers trying to gain a foothold in the industry. The larger businesses are not of interest as they have the resources to go through court-proceedings. As the UCDR is quite a new protection and the thesis aims to see if it is in fact the best protection for small fashion businesses, a comparison have been made with three national legislations within the EU; France, UK and Sweden. All requirements and aspects of the UCDR and the national legislations have been analysed with the finding that the UCDR, even though the french legislation is more generous in giving out protection, is the best protection for small businesses within the EU. The UCDR ensures that the copyist is caught whilst interpretations are allowed. Nevertheless, it has been found that there is a need for clarification regarding whether a design first disclosed in a third country can gain protection, if it is made available within the EU before the circles specialised operating within the Community become aware of the design. Furthermore, the time it takes to go through litigation exceeds the lifetime of the design which has been allegedly infringed. This makes the UCDR:s deterrent effect lower, although not non-existent. At the end of the thesis, suggestions have been made as to how these issues can and/or should be solved, and a basis for a future discussion have been made.