UK signs Riyadh Design Law Treaty – A step towards international harmonisation

On 11 July, the UK government signed the Riyadh Design Law Treaty (RDLT), marking an important step towards international harmonisation of application processes for industrial design protection.

What’s in the Treaty?

The Treaty includes several commitments towards streamlining procedures before local intellectual property offices, provides more flexibility to applicants, and establishes a framework for the further development of design law.

Measures for streamlining procedures before local intellectual property offices include a closed list of indications and elements that may be required in an application, the ability to include several designs in a single design application, and a limitation to the number of requirements that must be fulfilled for a design to be accorded a filing date.

To facilitate protection, the Treaty provides a mandatory and harmonised grace period of 12 months following a designer’s first disclosure of the design, during which their own disclosure will not be detrimental to the novelty or individual character of a design registration. The Treaty also allows applicants to control the publication of the design by intellectual property offices, requiring offices to allow the applicant to delay publication by a minimum of six months.

The Treaty also provides relief measures for when things go wrong, including measures to prevent applicants from losing their rights, and providing them with the ability to add or correct a priority claim or restore a priority right.

Finally, the treaty establishes a set of implementing regulations and an Assembly with the power to amend the implementing regulations in the future. This creates a framework for further development of design law, paving the way towards even greater harmonisation.

What will the Treaty mean for Designers?

The Treaty is not yet in force, and is still in the process of obtaining signatories and ratification, so there is no change for now. Nonetheless, the UK’s signing of the treaty marks an important step towards its implementation.

Looking ahead to potential future benefits, for those with experience of UK and European design practice, there may not be much that sounds new about the Treaty, and this is largely true. Many of the Treaty’s provisions are already a part of UK and European law, so the greatest effect is likely to be that designers may find it easier to protect their designs abroad.

What next?

The provisions of the Treaty will come into force three months after 15 countries have deposited their instrument of accession with WIPO. There are currently 20 signatories, in various stages of accession.

While the Treaty appears on course to come into effect in the not-so-distant future, many important jurisdictions where design practice differs notably from that of the UK and Europe are yet to sign up, including the US and China. It remains to be seen how far and wide the effects of this Treaty will be felt. Nonetheless, as the largest economy to throw its weight behind the Treaty so far, the UK’s signature represents an important step forwards.

If you have any questions about the RDLT, or about design protection more generally, please contact your usual GJE attorney, or email gje@gje.com.