Designers could face stronger checks on rival registrations and have a cheaper route to challenge copying under plans to change the UK’s design protection system.
The government has published its response to a consultation on the rules, setting out proposed changes that range from targeted checks on applications to clearer protection for animated designs. It also wants to give businesses more time to prepare a product before revealing its design.
The changes are not yet in force. The government says it will introduce legislation for measures that need it when parliamentary time allows, while some proposals require further work. The consultation received 90 responses from designers, businesses, legal professionals and other interested groups.
Checking applications
One of the central proposals is to give the Intellectual Property Office powers to search and examine some design applications for novelty and individual character. Individual character concerns whether a design creates a different overall impression from designs already made public.
The government says the targeted checks are intended to address misuse of the registration system. Consultation respondents described cases in which someone registered a design they had not created, including instances involving another seller’s images. Registrations can then be used in attempts to have competing products removed from online marketplaces.
The checks would apply to a proportion of applications rather than automatically to every filing. Guidance is expected to help determine when an examiner should conduct a search. The government says it wants to address problematic applications while retaining a system valued for its speed and low cost.
A separate rule aimed specifically at applications made in bad faith remains undecided. Officials plan more work on what behaviour should count and what evidence would be needed before deciding whether to pursue legislation.
A possible route for smaller disputes
Ministers also want to widen access to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court’s small claims track for straightforward, lower-value registered design disputes. Such cases currently go through the Patents Court or the enterprise court’s multi-track procedure.
The existing small claims track already handles some other intellectual property disputes and has a £10,000 limit on compensation claims. The government will work with designers, legal professionals and business groups on how registered design cases could be included. That work has not yet settled the detailed arrangements.
The distinction matters for a designer weighing up a dispute: a lower-value procedure may make some cases more accessible, but the announcement does not mean every case will be suitable for it or that enforcement is free.
More time before a design is revealed
Another proposed change would introduce a statutory deferment period of up to 30 months. Applicants could file while delaying registration and publication of the design as they prepare for a launch. Current practice allows a deferment of up to 12 months.
The government intends the longer period to bring the UK closer to the European Union and the international Hague design system. It also plans to publish limited information about deferred applications, including the applicant’s details and filing date, while keeping the design itself confidential.
Respondents raised a potential trade-off: keeping a design confidential for longer can help its creator prepare for market, but it can make it harder for other businesses to know what has been filed. The government says safeguards for third parties will be part of the changes.
Digital and unregistered designs
The proposals also address work that moves or changes on screen. Ministers intend to clarify that designs involving animation, movement or transitions can qualify for registered protection, and the Intellectual Property Office plans to introduce moving-image filing options.
For designs protected without registration, the government plans to simplify parts of the framework while retaining the breadth of existing protection. It intends to legislate so that a supplementary unregistered design can arise after a qualifying disclosure anywhere in the world, rather than requiring designers to choose a launch location around the current UK rules.
That proposal concerns UK protection; it does not establish identical rights in every other jurisdiction. The government has also ruled out creating new criminal offences for infringement of unregistered designs, saying it had not received sufficiently robust evidence that such offences would be a balanced and proportionate remedy.
Rules for computer-generated designs will remain in place for now. The government says it will continue to monitor the use of artificial intelligence and discuss developments with industry and international partners. For businesses considering an application or a dispute, the immediate position remains the existing law until any changes are made.
Featured image: AI-generated illustration.
