76The factor relating to the designer’s freedom in developing the design at issue cannot on its own determine the assessment of the individual character of a design, but it may serve to moderate that assessment (see, to that effect, judgments of 10 September 2015, Handbags, T‑525/13, EU:T:2015:617, paragraph 35, and of 4 July 2017, Electronic wristband, T‑90/16, not published, EU:T:2017:464, paragraph 38). In fact, its influence on individual character varies according to a rule of inverse proportionality. Thus, the greater the designer’s freedom, the less likely it is that minor differences between the designs at issue will be sufficient to produce a different overall impression on an informed user. Conversely, the more the designer’s freedom is restricted, the more likely it is that minor differences between the designs at issue will be sufficient to produce a different overall impression on an informed user. In other words, if the designer enjoys a high degree of freedom in developing a design, that reinforces the conclusion that the designs which do not have significant differences produce the same overall impression on an informed user and, accordingly, the contested design does not display an individual character. Conversely, if the designer has a low degree of freedom, that reinforces the conclusion that the sufficiently marked differences between the designs produce a dissimilar overall impression on the informed user and, accordingly, the contested design displays an individual character (see, to that effect, judgments of 9 September 2011, Internal combustion engine, T‑10/08, EU:T:2011:446, paragraph 33; of 13 November 2012, Radiators for heating, T‑83/11 and T‑84/11, EU:T:2012:592, paragraph 45; and of 21 June 2018, Foot mat, T‑227/16, not published, EU:T:2018:370, paragraph 54).
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