| UK Registered Design | UK Unregistered Design Right (UDR) | |
| How to Get it | You need to file an application at the UK IPO and pay a fee. If accepted, your application is registered | UDR arises automatically as soon as the design is created |
| When to take action | Ideally, file before you disclose your design since if you want to protect the design outside the EU this will protect your rights.
However, there is a 12 month “grace period” allowed for the designer to disclose their design but still obtain UK registration |
None needed, since UDR arises automatically. However dated copies of all design documents should be kept safely |
| What criteria does the design need to have to qualify? | Novel : must differ from earlier designs by more than immaterial details
Individual Character : must create a different overall impression relative to any earlier design |
Novel : must differ from earlier designs by more than immaterial details
Not commonplace |
| What sort of design is covered? | Any feature of shape, configuration, lines, contour, colour, texture, material or ornamentation for the whole or part of an article | The shape or configuration of the whole or part of an article
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| Any exceptions? | 1) Features dictated solely by function
2) Complex products and spare parts |
1) Surface decoration
2) Method or principle of construction 3) Feature to match another article |
| How long does it last? | Up to 25 years
(Initially 5 years, but extendable in 5 year periods upon payment of a fee) |
Up to 15 years from the end pf the calendar year in which the design was first recorded in a document or made, but limited to 10 years from the first sale of the product, if earlier.
The last 5 years of the UDR is “licence of right” so anybody can ask for a licence on reasonable terms. |
| What protection does it give? | Exclusive use to make, use, sell, import or export an article embodying the design in the UK
Would cover independent design which is identical or only different in trivial details |
Right to prevent unauthorised copying of the design in the UK, and also unauthorised dealing of the design in the UK whether the dealer knows that the design is an infringement |
