UK Registered Design Law Reform – Key Points Of Consultation
The UKIPO’s new consultation to reform the UK’s design law framework marks a significant development in an area of IP law that hasn’t changed much for many years. One of its key aims is to tackle anticompetitive / bad faith behaviour on ecommerce platforms whereby dishonest rights holders exploit asymmetric takedown policies to remove competitors’ listings, while innocent parties struggle to reinstate legitimate products.
UKIPO research indicates that around 9% of registered designs are invalid. Partly, this is an inevitable consequence of the current registration system which is made quick/cheap by dispensing with any novelty searching (something that ceased in 2006). It would not be surprising if that figure (and the surrounding problems) continues to increase without further action to address instances of unethical conduct. Options proposed in the consultation include selective searching triggered by certain red flags; and a two-stage system which would require a detailed search and examination to be performed before a design registration could be enforced (NB: such a system already exists in Australia). However, both options would involve diverging from the strong alignment with current EU design practice which has continues post-Brexit.
Other aspects of the consultation cover:
- Deferred Registration: formalising and extending the option to delay registration and publication of a design for up to 18 months.
- Digital Designs: modernising the designs framework to reflect advances in digital technology, e.g. by allowing protection of animated designs.
- AI-Generated Designs: clarifying the UKIPO’s position on the protection of designs generated by Artificial Intelligence.
- Criminal Sanctions: extending the criminal sanctions for the unauthorised copying of registered designs to unregistered designs.
- Simplifying Rights: streamlining the complex patchwork of overlapping design rights, possibly by abolishing the existing unregistered design right (UKUDR)
- Improving Enforcement: permitting registered design cases to be heard in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) small claims track.
The full consultation document is available here and responses to any part of it can be submitted here. If you have any experiences or views to share which are relevant to the consultation, we’d love to hear from you.
To discuss any matter relating to registered designs, please contact Steven McIlroy.
Steven McIlroy, Director, Patents & Designs
E. steven@cameronintellectualproperty.com
T. 0141 375 7575
Categories: Registered Designs, Uncategorized