In the Community Design System of the European Union, there is a disclosure exception system regarding the obscure disclosure of prior designs. The purpose of the EU's disclosure exception system is to prevent a situation in which European designs are invalidated by exceptional designs that are difficult for the public to find. However, in the European Union, the application of this regulation is very passive compared to the original purpose. In particular, in the application of this regulation, there are great difficulties in the interpretation of “the sector concerned.” By interpreting “the sector concerned” as a prior design field rather than a registered design field, the conclusion in a specific case often goes against common sense. This interpretation by the European Union is due to the special effect of the community design right, which extends the scope of protection of the community design to articles in other fields. However, since the scope of protection of registered designs in countries other than Europe does not extend to other fields of article, there is little possibility of such controversy. On the other hand, in Korea, if the content of the design has been released from secret, it is recognized as publicly known design. Accordingly, there is a very high possibility that the novelty of the design will be denied due to the existence of the prior design. In our case as well, it is necessary to seriously consider the introduction of a disclosure exception that excludes the loss of novelty for prior designs that are difficult to access by the public.