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UK design law consultation: proposed reforms on search and examination, deferred publication, GUIs/animation, unregistered designs simplification, IPEC small claims, AI-generated designs, copyright overlap, and post-Brexit alignment

Published on: 19 September 2025

Published by a LexisNexis IP expert
Legal News
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Article summary

What challenges is the consultation seeking to solve?

The consultation aims to update the UK design protection regime, streamline the framework for unregistered designs, and enhance the procedures for enforcing and evidencing the validity of registered designs as a whole.

What are the key proposals that people are being asked to comment on?

Search and examination

At present, the rules provide no route for the registrar to conduct a prior art search during examination or object where a design lacks novelty. Inevitably, this results in a portion of UK design registrations being invalid, and it is believed that at least some were lodged in bad faith or for anti-competitive ends. The consultation proposes either granting the registrar authority to run searches, or creating a partial registration model under which unsearched designs would be unenforceable. A partial registration regime, in practice, would be the strongest tool to deter invalid filings. That said, it may create uncertainty and could negate the advantages for those harmed by anti-competitive applications overall...

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