Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Design right definition

What does Design right mean? In practice, design right describes the legal protection for the appearance or shape of products and parts. In the UK (England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), it is a statutory right: the unregistered design right under Part III of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. It arises automatically for original designs of the shape or configuration (excluding surface decoration), lasts for the earlier of 10 years from first marketing or 15 years from creation (with a licence of right in the final five years), and requires a qualifying designer or first marketing in a qualifying country. The UK...

UK and EU design rights pre‑ and post‑Brexit: comparative table covering registered, unregistered and Hague designations, re‑registered, SUD/CUD rights and EU reform terminology

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Practice notes

Design Rights before and after Brexit

The aim of this Practice Note is to provide a concise overview of the different UK design rights available both before and after Brexit. In brief, the UK’s departure from the EU means that, from IP completion day (11.00 pm on 31 December 2020), the UK stopped being subject to the EU design framework, which at that time covered registered Community designs (RCDs) and unregistered Community designs (UCDs). The UK is excluded from the territorial scope of those unitary rights (and from international design registrations designating the EU) and is no longer bound by Regulation (EC) 6/2002. Consequently, the UK implemented arrangements under which the proprietor of an RCD or a UCD on IP completion day automatically became the owner of an equivalent UK design right. Designs safeguarded as RCDs were cloned into a new UK right called the re-registered design (or the re-registered international design). Designs protected as UCDs continued in the UK as a ‘continuing unregistered design’ (CUD) for the balance of their three-year term. In effect, EU unitary design protection no longer covers the UK, but holders then obtained comparable UK rights reflecting mirrored or continuing protection and the three-year term...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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