Registered Designs

A registered design protects the appearance of a product, part of a product, pattern or ornamentation applied to a product.  The owner of a registered design is provided with an exclusive right to make, import, and deal in products of the design and stop third parties from doing these activities.
For a design to be registrable it must be materially different from any other published earlier design for the same article. If you have already published your design an application may still be valid in the UK if filed within 12 months of publication.

Registered design protection covering the UK may be obtained either via a UK Registered design application. Similar protection can be obtained in most industrialised countries. UK designs last for a period of up to 25 years, with renewal fees due every 5 years. Our attorneys can advise on the appropriate format of a design registration application including the contours, images, shading, and particular features of a design, and protection of other jurisdictions, nationally or through the collective Hague System.

We also assist with post-grant issues, acquisitions, commercialisation and licensing, infringement and revocation.

Unregistered Design Right

In the UK an automatic right exists for designs providing protection for a period of 10 years from the date the design was made available to the public. Unregistered Design Right protects the shape or configuration of articles, it is not an exclusive right but rather a right to prevent copying by others. The design must be original and is must not be common place at the time of its creation. As the protection afforded to an unregistered design differs from that of a registered design it can co-exist, adding to the portfolio of rights.

Our team understand the vital importance of obtaining and maintaining a broad Intellectual Property portfolio that fits with the long-term business strategy and are happy to advise on how unregistered rights such as UDR, copyright and trade secrets can form part of this portfolio.