UK design law reform consultation: the government’s response

The UK government has today published its response to the consultation on changes to the UK designs framework. This follows several years of work considering whether the UK designs system remains fit for purpose and where there could be improvements. Changes to UK design law are likely to take time because of the legislative process, but the response indicates what users of the system can expect and sets the tone on how UK designs will look going forwards.

Matters considered

For registered designs, the consultation considered greater scrutiny of applications, including search and examination, alongside bad faith applications, observations and oppositions, and changes to the deferred publication system. The consultation also examined the treatment of graphical user interfaces (GUIs), animated designs, computer-generated designs, and digital designs in general.

On unregistered designs, the consultation considered simplifying the multiple UK rights, their overlap with copyright, and the effect of the UK leaving the EU on obtaining protection in both the UK and EU.

Finally, the consultation considered enforcement, including criminal sanctions for design infringement and access to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) Small Claims Track for registered design claims.

Decisions made

Search and examination will be introduced for selected registered designs, primarily to catch bad faith filings. Further investigation will be carried out to inform specific bad faith provisions.

The intention is also to increase the deferral period to 30 months to match EU designs and the International Hague Design system maximum. Other proposals would align the UK with the recently reformed EU designs system by making animated designs easier to register, allowing animation and 3D file formats, and clarifying which digital designs can be validly filed.

For UK unregistered designs, qualification requirements and terms will be harmonised to a degree. A short grace period for disclosures will be considered for future legislative change. The statutory overlap with UK copyright will be unchanged, leaving its further development to litigation.

No criminal offence will be introduced for unregistered design infringement. The cost-capped IP court, IPEC, will also allow “straightforward, lower value” registered design disputes into its Small Claims Track.

Overall, there are few surprises, but selective search and examination remains a significant change. Its impact will depend on guidance governing its application and whether it is eventually extended to all registered design applications. Other reforms should simplify the system or align it with EU registered designs.

Next steps

Since the stated aims require changes to UK design laws, it is unlikely that changes will come into force sooner than 2029. In the meantime, we can expect the UK government and the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) to carry out further investigation where more evidence and detail were considered to be needed.

For design owners, the take-home message is that there are no immediate changes. While there will be a change in how registered designs are handled by the UKIPO, at this stage, it appears most designs will have a similar or smoother registration process once the updated laws are put in place. There will also be greater alignment between the various UK unregistered design rights.

If you would like to discuss how the proposed changes could affect your designs or wider IP strategy, please contact your usual GJE attorney or email gje@gje.com.