Designs

A registered design protects one or more aspects of the appearance of your product, including its shape, pattern, configuration or ornamentation, giving you exclusive rights which safeguard the key product aesthetics and consumer appeal. Unregistered design rights also offer some protection, but registering a design makes it far easier to enforce rights and stop competitors from copying.

The visual appearance of a product can be just as important as its function. A distinctive design helps a product stand out from all the other products out there in the same market. When that happens, customers see your product and recognise it comes from your business because of its appearance.

When competitors notice that consumers are choosing your rival product because they are drawn to its visual appeal, you become vulnerable to copying and then losing customers to cheaper (and maybe inferior) alternatives.

So how do you protect against this? You do so by registering your designs and asserting any unregistered design rights. Businesses that know and do this have a far better chance of dominating a competitive space. With the necessary rights in place, competitors will have a much harder time copying you.

In the UK, there are two types of protection: unregistered design rights and registered designs. An unregistered right arises automatically but is limited in scope and duration and proving copying can be difficult. A registered design, by contrast, gives its owner an exclusive property right governed by the appearance of the design. This can last for up to 25 years, provided renewal fees are paid every five years.

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Design FAQs

Design rights are often understood less than patents or trade marks, yet they play a crucial role in protecting the visual identity of products. Here are some common questions about registered and unregistered designs in the UK.

Design Basics
Design Disputes
Your Next Steps

What does a design right actually protect?

Design rights cover the visual appearance of a product. Think of the product features such as its shape, lines, contours, textures, patterns and ornamentation. They protect how something looks, not how it works.

What is the difference between unregistered and registered design rights?

Unregistered rights arise automatically when a design is created but are limited and harder to enforce. Registered designs give clearer, stronger protection for up to 25 years and are easier and cheaper to enforce against copying.

Can packaging or logos be protected by design rights?

Yes. Packaging, patterns and graphic symbols can qualify for registered design protection if they are new and distinctive. Trade mark protection may also apply in some cases.

How quickly can I register a design in the UK?

The registration process is usually very fast, which makes it attractive. A straightforward UK design application can be granted within weeks if there are no issues.

How long does design protection last?

Unregistered design rights can last for up to 15 years. Registered designs last for 5 years initially and can then be renewed at 5-yearly intervals to a maximum of 25 years.

How much does it cost to register a design?

The official UKIPO fees for design registration are modest. Multiple designs can often be filed in one application, making design registration a relatively affordable form of IP protection. For an outline of the costs to prepare and file a UK design application contact SH&P for a full breakdown. You may be surprised how cheap it is.

What counts as design infringement?

Infringement can occur if someone uses without your consent a design that is the same as, or very similar to, your protected design. For registered designs, you do not have to prove copying. Similarity alone can be enough.

How can I prove someone has copied my unregistered design?

You would first need to show evidence that you have a design right, including evidence showing when your design was first created (or if created by someone else that the design right vests with you). Dated drawings, design files are prototypes models are key examples of proof of unregistered design ownership. Then, it would need to be established that the alleged infringer has copied your design.

What should I do if I think my design is being copied?

The first step is to gather evidence and seek professional advice because it can be a complex area of law. Depending on the matter in hand, options may include sending a warning letter, negotiating a settlement or pursuing legal action. An SH&P attorney can provide all the necessary guidance.

Can I challenge someone else’s registered design?

Yes. If you believe a registered design is not genuinely new or distinctive, you can apply to have it cancelled (invalidated) from the register.

Are design disputes always handled in court?

Not necessarily. Many disputes are settled through negotiation or mediation before reaching court. The best approach depends on the commercial value of the design and the scale of infringement.

Does my UK design protection apply abroad?

No. Design rights are territorial. To protect your design overseas, you must register it in other countries or use multi-territorial systems such as the Hague Agreement.

How do I apply for a registered design in the UK?

You file an application with the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) that includes images or drawings showing the design clearly. If accepted, protection can be granted quickly. It is essential to get this right. If you fail to identify the essential feature or do not disclose sufficient information with the drawings then the registration may end up being of little value.

Do I need to have launched the product before applying?

No – in fact, it is best to apply before you disclose the design publicly. Early filing secures your rights and can avoid problems later.

Can I protect more than one design at the same time?

Yes. The UKIPO allows multiple designs in one application. This can be a cost-effective way to protect a collection of related products under the umbrella of a single design registration.

Do I need a professional to help with design registration?

There is nothing to stop you going it alone, but it is easy to make mistakes if you do. A specialist attorney can help present your design clearly, choose the correct scope of protection and advise on multiple design options. A poorly specified design registration that does not isolate in detail the key design features may be useless if you need to rely on it later when trying to stop an infringer.

How do design rights fit with patents and trade marks?

Design rights protect appearance, patents protect technical function and trade marks protect brand identity. Together, they form a comprehensive IP strategy.

What should I think about before filing abroad?

Consider where your main markets, manufacturing bases and competitors are. International design protection can be sought country by country, or via systems that cover multiple territories.

How can SH&P help me with designs?

We offer a full range of services to help you protect and enforce your design rights, as follows:

Design searches.
Advising on the availability for use of new designs and their registrability.
Registering designs.
Applying for and obtaining registration in the UK, EU and overseas.
Design portfolio management.
Maintaining and renewing registrations.
Assessing and evaluating the scope of clients’ design portfolios.
Conflict advice
Advice on design infringement and validity, both registered and unregistered.
Drafting assignments and licences and applying to record ownership changes and third party interests.
Due diligence work.
Assistance and advice on acquiring and disposing of designs as part of business acquisitions.

Essential design reading

UK Design Rights – A Simple Guide

The essentials of UK design rights, including what they protect, how to register designs and the benefits of securing formal protection.

Protect Your Product: UK Registered Designs Explained

Learn how by registering a design you can protect your business’s creativity and stop competitors from stealing your best design ideas.

Design strategy

Advice on best protection for products, planning filings and managing disclosure to preserve validity of registered design rights.

Clearance & assessment

Reviewing existing designs to identify conflicts, assessing distinctiveness and evaluating filing strength ahead of investment.

Registration work

Preparing accurate design representations and managing filings and formalities through to registration in the UK and abroad.

Enforcement & defence

Acting in disputes involving registered and unregistered designs, managing infringement actions, takedowns and cancellations.

Design transactions

Handling assignments, licences and other design-related agreements, as well as recording transactions with IP offices.

Registered designs are organised according to the internationally recognised ‘Locarno’ classification, established under the Locarno Agreement of 1968 and maintained by the World Intellectual Property Organization. This classification system provides a harmonised structure used by more than 60 countries worldwide, although it should be noted that some jurisdictions apply additional requirements or interpret certain classes differently, so local advice is often necessary.

The system divides products into 32 classes. Each of these represents a broad category of goods, such as for example Class 2 covers clothing and haberdashery, Class 6 covers furnishings and Class 12 covers means of transport. Each class is further broken down into granular subclasses, allowing a registered design applicant to correctly identify the classification for a particular design.

Accurate classification is essential because it defines the precise scope of protection for a design registration and therefore make it easier to enforce a design registration against infringers as and when the need arises. It is common practice (and good practice) for businesses to cover multiple designs and classes where the design in question may span more than one product (e.g. furniture and lighting). Further, covering multiple classes allows a business to future-proof (to a certain extent) and negate the need for additional filings later as the product line expands.

If a design registration is misclassified this can lead to an inability to identify the registration when conducting a search. For example, if a competitor is looking to register its own designs and having conducted a search it fails to establish the existence of an earlier identical design, then it will likely proceed to register its own design and sell the product in the marketplace. Although the owner of the earlier right can then take the appropriate enforcement action, doing so would require expending its time and resources that proper classification should have avoided.

The Locarno system is updated regularly as technology advances, including in areas such as digital interfaces, packaging innovations and sustainable product design. These updates ensure that the classification remains relevant as the times change with rapid technical progress and changing fashions and culture.

Design Registration for Chocolate ‘Snap Bar Mould’ Held Invalid

This design case confirms that features which are dictated solely by functional purposes cannot be protected through registration.

➡️ Protect

Registering a design protects the aesthetic visual appearance of a product, be that its shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation. It is important to protect all the relevant features of the product that are considered to be novel and which have no 'functional' element to them.

➡️ Enforce

The owner of a design registration has a clear legal basis to act against unauthorised copying. Unlike unregistered rights (UDR), enforcement does not require proof of ownership. Infringement is held to occur if a later design reproduces the same overall impression as an earlier protected design.

➡️ Prosper

Registered designs are valuable commercial assets. By deterring and preventing cheap imitations, a product with an original design will stand out in the marketplace and can be priced accordingly. Strong design portfolios can enhance company valuation, attract investors and open licensing opportunities.

How SH&P do things differently

Selecting the right law firm for design registration is an important decision and should be based on the experience, expertise and responsiveness that a law firm can provide you with. Never base that decision on cost alone. Our history dates back to 1915 and for over more than a century we have earned a reputation as a leading UK intellectual property practice. We are trusted by UK and global brands, as well as international law firms requiring local representation.

Effective design protection begins with our understanding of your products, markets and objectives. We take time to learn more about how your business operates so that we can help you secure and enforce the rights that matter most. Many of our client relationships have grown into long-standing partnerships built on trust and value. If you like what you read and think that our design expertise is exactly what your business needs then we would be delighted to talk to you.