– Registered Designs Act 1949 to 1961, as amended by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the Regulatory Reform (Registered Designs) Order 2006.
– Registered Designs Rules 2006 and the Registered Designs (Fees) Rules 2006.

– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since January 24, 1965.
– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since April 26, 1970.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1995.
– Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs, since October 21, 2003.
– Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs, Geneva Act, since June 13, 2018.

Territories covered by a United Kingdom Design Registration: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man.

Territories to which the protection accorded by a U.K. design registration extends:

(a) Automatic extension without the necessity of local registration: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Falkland Islands, Fiji, Gambia, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guyana, Isle of Man, Kiribati, Montserrat, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Helena, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands,Tanzania (Tanganyika and Zanzibar – note that new legislation is in preparation) and Uganda.

(b) By local re-registration of U.K. design: Guernsey (at any time during the life of the corresponding U.K. registration), Jersey (within three years of registration in the U.K.), Malta (within four months of filing the application for registration in the U.K.), and Tuvalu.

See also Section V. “Copyright and Design Rights“.

Applicant: the person (this term includes herein a body corporate or firm) or persons owning the design. The owner is the author of the design or a person who has legally acquired rights from the author, most notably the author’s employer (provided the design was created in the course of employment). The owner of a commissioned design is also the author of the design. 

Applicants not living in the United Kingdom: must give an address for service in the United Kingdom, Gibraltar or the Channel Islands.

Kinds of designs: a design may result in the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colors, shape, texture, materials, of the product or its ornamentation. The design is registered irrespective of the article or articles to which it could be applied. However, it is necessary to indicate the nature of the product to which the design would normally be applied for administrative purposes.

Novelty: to be registered, a design must be new and have individual character. New means that it must not be the same as any design, which has already been made available to the public. However, a disclosure is not novelty destroying if it could not reasonably have become known before the relevant date in the normal course of business to persons carrying on business in the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area and specializing in the sector concerned. Individual character means that the overall impression it produces on an informed user of the design must differ from the overall impression produced on such a user by any design, which has already been made available to the public. In assessing individual character, the degree of freedom of the designer in creating the design is taken into account. A twelve-month grace period is available for filing a valid application following disclosure of the design by the designer, or his successor in title.

Priority: a Convention application must be filed within six months of the date of the first application in a Convention country; a certified copy of the representation of the design of said first application must be filed within three months of the date of filing of the Convention application and if the certificate or any other document relating to said first application is in a language other than English or Welsh, it is necessary also to file a sworn translation into English or Welsh.

Exceptions to protection: any method or principle of construction; features of shape or configuration, which are dictated solely by the function which the article has to perform, or essential to mechanical interoperability or interconnection with another product. However, protection for designs which allow for multiple assembly or connection of mutually interchangeable products within a modular system is permitted. Protection of internal features of a product, which are not visible to the end user in normal use is not provided. Also excluded are designs contrary to public policy or accepted principles of morality.

Series applications: multiple designs may be included in a single application, provided they are in common ownership. The individual designs are treated separately once registered.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Full details of applicant. Authorization of agent (not legalized) is only required in case of appointment of a new agent subsequent to filing;
2. Representation of the design (can include photographs). A filing date can be obtained by filing a specimen, if necessary, and filing a formal representation later. A description or disclaimer of specific features can be included;
3. Priority document (for Convention applications). The requirement is for a copy of the representation of the design that was subject of the Convention application, due within three months of filing the application. This copy should be a certified copy, or should be verified to the satisfaction of the Registrar. If the certified copy is not in English or Welsh, this should preferably be accompanied by an English or Welsh translation, as the Registrar may direct the applicant to provide a translation. If the resident agent is satisfied that the representation shows a design which is identical to that already filed as an earlier Convention application, a form DC-1 can be filed as verification;
4. Request for deferment of publication (if desired).

Electronic filing: available.

Examination: there is no novelty search or examination of “individual character” requirement. Examination will consider: (1) formalities, for example, to ascertain that the representations adequately disclose the design; (2) whether the design is one dictated solely by technical function; (3) whether the design is contrary to public order or morality; and (4) whether the design incorporates or resembles certain restricted emblems. If objections are raised the applicant is given the chance to reply. The application may be rejected, and if this is the case, the applicant may apply for a Hearing within two months as otherwise he will be deemed to have withdrawn his application; at the Hearing the applicant can appeal against the decision of the Registrar. Individual designs can be separated and made subject of a separate application with the benefit of the original filing date, if filed within a prescribed period.

Amendment of application: amendments, which do not significantly alter the design from what was shown in the application as filed, may be made without loss of filing date. Amendments, which do alter a design, may be filed, in which case the office will record that the date of filing the amendment shall be used as the date on which to judge “individual character” against the state of the art. Disclaimers can be entered.

Opposition: there is no provision for opposition before registration of a design. However, there are provisions for post-registration invalidation proceedings at the UKIPO.

Provisional registration: is not possible.

Registration of a design follows as a matter of routine if the application documents are in order: particulars relating to the registered design are recorded in a register of designs kept at the Designs Registry; for registration purposes, an application, which due to delay by the applicant is not in order for registration after twelve months, may be deemed withdrawn. The effective date of registration is the date of filing the application, or the priority date if any.

Corrections: may be made of any error in the application documents, in the design representations, and in the register of designs, on payment of a fee.

Publication: designs will be available to public inspection immediately after they are registered, and will be published as soon as possible after registration (grant). The publication includes the representations and other information such as disclaimers included in the application. Designs not proceeding to registration will not be open to public inspection. The applicant can request, when filing the application, that publication be deferred. The applicant is required to give consent for publication and pay an additional fee, within a period of one year of the application date.

Delivery of document: a certificate of registration of the design is issued immediately after the design is registered; if there are no formal objections to the application, the certificate should be issued within a few weeks of the application date. The certificate is issued in paper format.

Beginning of protection: a design is registered as of the date of application for registration, or, in the case of a Convention application from the priority date, but no proceedings shall be taken in respect of any infringement committed before the date of issue of the certificate of registration of the design. Registration gives the proprietor the exclusive right to use the design and any design which does not produce on the “informed user” a different overall impression (subject to any disclaimers included in the application and/or any partial declaration of invalidity made by the Registrar).

Duration – extension: a registered design subsists for an initial period of five years from the effective date of registration (filing or priority date). This period is renewable for four further periods, each of five years, making twenty-five years in all. No further extension of the term is possible.

Renewal: application for renewal should be made before expiry of the current period of protection, that is the first renewal, is due within the six months before the end of the fifth year, the second renewal before the end of the tenth year and so on; an extension of time of up to six months can be obtained for payment of a renewal fee, on payment of a fine calculated on a monthly basis.

Restoration: a Registered Design which lapses due to unintentional failure to pay a renewal fee can be restored on an application for restoration made to the Registrar within twelve months of the expiry due to failure to renew.

Marking: is not compulsory but is most desirable as non-marking may result in loss of damages in an infringement action; the word “registered” or any abbreviation thereof, must be accompanied by the registration number, as otherwise it would be of no value.

Working: is not compulsory, but insufficient working may lead to the grant of a compulsory license.

Licenses: any person becoming entitled to any interest in a registered design should apply for registration of notice of his interest in the register of designs; if his interest is not so registered, the document from which such interest derived shall not be admitted in any court as evidence of title or interest, unless the court otherwise directs.

Assignments: should be registered for the same reasons as licenses; the entire interest, or a share in the entire interest in a registered design can be assigned; a consideration, which may be financial or otherwise, must be included in an assignment.

Change of name or address: must be registered. Can be effected by providing evidence from an official extract illustrating the change. A scanned copy is sufficient and there is no need for notarization or legalization.

Appeals against any decision of the Registrar shall lie to the Appeal Tribunal, which is constituted by a High Court Judge.

Notice of registration: is published in the Designs Journal.

Cancellation: the registered proprietor may request the cancellation of the registered design.

Declaration of invalidity: third parties may apply for a declaration of invalidity, using any of the grounds on which the Registrar could have refused to register the design (such as lack of novelty in the design or where the design falls within the exceptions to protection). Additional grounds of invalidity are available to third parties where the design conflicts with earlier rights in their name, where entitlement is questioned, and so forth. An appeal can be made by the proprietor against a decision by the Registrar to cancel the design. The proprietor also has an opportunity to apply for modification of the design (for example by partial disclaimer, in the event that the Registrar finds partial invalidity in response to an application for a declaration of invalidity).

Information as to the existence of a registered design can be obtained on an application made to the Registrar, the application being accompanied by such information as will enable the Registrar to identify the design to enable him to make a search, and by a prescribed fee; the applicant will be advised if the design is registered, and if so, in respect of what articles, whether the period of the copyright has been renewed, the date of registration, and the name and address of the registered proprietor. Searches by registration number, proprietor, product or class can be performed online.

Provisions for “Crown Use” of registered designs upon various terms are provided.