UK Sets Out Design Law Overhaul: Substantive Examination, 30-Month Deferment and a Cheaper Court Route

By Ozan Attas

Photo: ThMilherou / Pixabay

The United Kingdom announced on 4 November 2026 a package of changes to its design protection system, following a consultation that closed in November 2025. The government says the aim is protection that is both stronger and easier to use for the country's design sector, which it puts at around 80,000 businesses contributing £137 billion to the economy in 2023.

Several measures need legislation before they take effect, and no start date has been given. But the direction is now clear.

Examination returns to the registry

The headline change is that the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) will gain powers to check whether a design is new and has individual character before it is registered. At present the UK registers designs largely without looking at prior designs, which makes registration quick but leaves room for filings that copy existing products.

Respondents to the consultation described the cost of dealing with such filings, with businesses reporting figures from about £10,000 to more than £50,000 to challenge or defend against abusive registrations. The government also intends to legislate so the IPO can refuse applications filed in bad faith, after further work on how bad faith should be defined and proved.

A cheaper way to enforce

Owners of registered designs will be able to use the Small Claims Track of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, where claims of up to £10,000 can be heard with lower costs and simpler procedure. Until now this route has been closed to registered designs, so small owners often had no proportionate option.

Deferment and moving designs

Applicants will be able to defer publication for up to 30 months, matching the period used in the EU and under the Hague System. Longer deferment helps companies keep a new product confidential until launch while still securing an early filing date.

The reforms also confirm that animated designs, such as graphical interfaces and transitions, can be protected, and that applicants may file moving image files to show them. This follows the EU's own move to accept video and 3D files earlier this year.

Simpler unregistered rights

The UK currently has several overlapping unregistered design rights. The government plans to simplify them. Supplementary unregistered design protection will be available whatever the place of first disclosure, ending the problem that a design first shown outside the UK could lose protection there.

Other process changes include a single report setting out all objections, standard response deadlines, and wider powers for the registrar to correct errors. The government decided to keep the existing framework for computer-generated designs for now and not to introduce criminal penalties for copying unregistered designs.

What Indonesian filers should note

Indonesia is not a member of the Hague System, so an Indonesian company that wants UK design protection generally files directly with the UK IPO through a local representative, or claims priority from its DJKI filing within six months. Once examination begins, applicants should expect objections based on earlier designs, which makes a prior art search before filing more worthwhile. The 30-month deferment will be useful for fashion, furniture and consumer goods businesses planning product launches in the UK.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Designers to get stronger and simpler protection in major reforms (4 Nov 2026)