What are design rights?
Design rights protect the appearance of a product or a part of it, most commonly its shape and ornamentation. The notion of “product” covers any industrial or handicraft item, including packaging, get-up, logos, typefaces and even animated sequences, graphical user interfaces and other non-physical products.
Designs in the UK and the EU can be protected by both registered and unregistered design rights. A registered design must be novel and must possess individual character. An unregistered design must be original and not commonplace. Neither registered nor unregistered designs can be solely dictated by the product's technical function.
Unregistered rights in the UK and the EU are automatically conferred. In the EU unregistered design rights last three years after the design has been made available to the public. In the UK unregistered design rights last 3, 10, or 15 years depending on a number of different variables. Unregistered rights allow you to stop someone from copying your design without your permission.
Designs registered with the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) or the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) can last 25 years, provided they are renewed every five years.
Different jurisdictions have different requirements for desigrights applications, but in the UK and EU it’s possible to file multiple drawings or photographs covering both the whole design and each element. Line drawings are quite common. Photographs incorporate and protect more detail such as colour and texture. The representation regime to EU Designs will change in 2026, likely allowing other forms of representations as well, such as 3D files. The question of which form of representations is best in a particular case has to be answered on a case-by-case basis.
Designs are relatively cheap and quick to register compared to patents, with official fees totalling hundreds rather than thousands of pounds or euros. Applications take as little as a week to be processed in the EU or a month or two in the UK. The EUIPO also has a grant scheme for SMEs which provides €1,500 for designs.
Unlike patents and trade marks there is no substantive examination of the validity of a design in the UK and EU, in particular no assessment as to whether the design is novel or has individual character. Whilst this reduces costs of registration and speeds up the process, it does mean that the validity of a design registration will be put to the test only in an enforcement situation, or in case an invalidity application is filed against the registration.
© 2026 Mewburn Ellis
