UK Unregistered Design Right

The UK unregistered design right was introduced in 1989 as a way of replacing copyright as the main way in which industrial articles receive automatic protection in the United Kingdom.

The protection is available for all articles, subject to the following exceptions:

1. The design must be original in the sense that it is:
   
   a) not commonplace in the design field in question at the time of its creation;
   
   and
   
   b) not copied from an earlier work.
   
   
2. No protection is available for methods or principles of construction. This wording is taken from the law relating to Registered Designs (see above) and has come to mean, in effect, that protection is available only for the appearance of an article, and not for the way it functions.
   
   
3. No protection is available for any "must fit" features of an article - see above under "Registrability" for the meaning of this term.
   
   
4. No protection is available for those features of an article whose shape is dependent upon the appearance of another article with which it (the first article) is intended to form an integral part. This is the so-called 'must match' exception, and is intended to cover, amongst other things, spare parts – see above, under Registered Designs.
   
   
5. No protection is available for surface decoration. Thus, this excludes most wallpaper or textile articles - use registered design or copyright instead.
   

Note that protection is not dependent on any aesthetic considerations. In other words purely utilitarian articles such as a spanner or an oil pump will receive protection, provided they do not fall within any of the exceptions noted above.

Design right is not a monopoly right like a registered design, but is akin to copyright in that it is only a right to prevent copying. However, unlike copyright, it is not necessary to be able to produce original drawings of the article (although for convenience it would help) in order to support a claim to the existence of the unregistered design right. The right manifests itself in any material form, such as in a drawing, or a model, or even in the article itself as sold.

The duration of protection is 10 years from the end of the year in which first sale of the article anywhere in the world takes place. During the final 5 years of this period licences of right are available. Thus, the period of exclusive protection is a dramatically short 5 years only. The 10 year period is also subject to a maximum term of 15 years from the date upon which the design is first made; in other words, if a design is not marketed until, for example, 8 years after it is made, then the maximum period of protection would be 15-8 = 7 years, the last 5 years of which would be subject to licences of right. There are no provisions for registering design right protection at the Patent Office. Protection is thus automatic.

For registered designs, design right and copyright, contact Chris Boydell or
Sarah Perkins in our London office, or David Marles in our Bristol office.