Design disputes

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis

What do design rights protect?

Design rights protect the appearance of the whole or part of a product/article in three-dimensional form and, in some cases, two-dimensional design features such as surface decoration and texture.

Design rights in the UK

The design rights currently available in the UK are as follows:

  1. •

    UK registered designs (including re-registered designs and re-registered international designs)

  2. •

    UK unregistered design right (also known as ‘design right’)

  3. •

    supplementary unregistered design right (SUD)

UK registered designs are governed by the Registered Designs Act 1949 (RDA 1949). Re-registered designs and re-registered international designs effectively operate in the same way as UK registered designs and are also governed by RDA 1949.

UK unregistered designs are governed by sections 213–264 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

SUDs are governed by Assimilated Regulation (EU) 6/2002 and amendments to the Community Design Regulations 2005, SI 2005/2339.

For further detail on the nature of the design rights available in the UK (and the differences between them), refer to: Design transactions and management—overview.

Impact of Brexit

The UK is no

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

Existing user? Sign-in TAKE A FREE TRIAL
Powered by Lexis+®
Latest IP News

Commission opens consultation on new EU Design Implementing Regulation

The European Commission has launched a consultation on a draft Implementing Regulation to replace Commission Implementing Regulation (EC) No 2245/2002 on European Union designs. The new regulation aims to align with Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) following changes made by Regulation (EU) 2024/2822. The regulation will specify requirements for registered EU design applications and related requests. Commission adoption is planned for the first quarter of 2026. The consultation period runs from 2 July 2025 to 30 July 2025.

Copyright, AI training and fair use—two US judgments consider

Law360: Ruling on the fairness of training generative artificial intelligence with copyrighted works without permission, two federal judges faced the same question—can machines replace human creators?

Supreme Court clarifies trade mark post-sale confusion (Iconix v Dream Pairs)

IP analysis: The Supreme Court has held that post-sale confusion can amount to an actionable infringement and is not confined to being assessed in a subsequent transactional context. It also rejected the argument that extraneous post-sale circumstances cannot be taken into account when assessing similarity between a trade mark and sign. While rejecting these arguments on errors of law, the Supreme Court nevertheless upheld the appeal, finding the Court of Appeal had been wrong in assessing the trial judge’s conclusion as irrational, and were not justified in substituting their own different views on similarity and likelihood of confusion. The decision cements the status of post-sale confusion as an actionable infringement, and delivers a reminder of the remit of appellate courts and the circumstances in which multifactorial assessments of the trial judge should be reevaluated. Written by Nick Smee, partner at Browne Jacobson LLP.

IP weekly highlights—3 July 2025

Welcome to this week’s edition of the IP weekly highlights: a hand-picked summary of news analysis, updates and new content from the world of IP. These highlights focus on the key rights of copyright and associated rights, database rights, trade marks and passing off, designs, and patents as well as covering issues relating to confidential information, know-how R&D and IP disputes all mainly from a UK and European perspective.

View IP by content type :  
News
Practice notes
Precedents
Q&As

Popular documents

Late payment penalties—inheritance tax

Late payment penalties—inheritance taxWhile interest often accrues on overdue tax, the late payment of certain taxes may also attract a penalty. For information on the interest accruing on overdue tax, see Practice Notes: IHT—payment deadlines on death—Interest on IHT and Interest on late paid

If a beneficiary signs a deed of disclaimer of their share of an estate and the estate pays their legal

If a beneficiary signs a deed of disclaimer of their share of an estate and the estate pays their legal fees, will that count as a PET against their estate?A disclaimer is the refusal of a gift prior to acceptance. The refusal of the gift must take place before the beneficiary accepts any benefit

Contributory negligence in personal injury claims

Contributory negligence in personal injury claimsContributory negligence is a partial defence which can lead to a discount in damages.Other defences may also be relevant. See Practice Notes: Did the claimant consent to the risk of injury? and Was the claimant involved in an illegal activity?If a

Can shares in a limited company that have not been paid-up at all be cancelled?

Can shares in a limited company that have not been paid-up at all be cancelled?A limited company having a share capital may not alter that share capital, except in the ways listed in section 617 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006). Shares in a company cannot simply be cancelled without following an
Late payment penalties—inheritance tax

Late payment penalties—inheritance tax

Late payment penalties—inheritance taxWhile interest often accrues on overdue tax, the late payment of certain taxes may also attract a penalty. For information on the interest accruing on overdue tax, see Practice Notes: IHT—payment deadlines on death—Interest on IHT and Interest on late paid

If a beneficiary signs a deed of disclaimer of their share of an estate and the estate pays their legal

If a beneficiary signs a deed of disclaimer of their share of an estate and the estate pays their legal

If a beneficiary signs a deed of disclaimer of their share of an estate and the estate pays their legal fees, will that count as a PET against their estate?A disclaimer is the refusal of a gift prior to acceptance. The refusal of the gift must take place before the beneficiary accepts any benefit

Contributory negligence in personal injury claims

Contributory negligence in personal injury claims

Contributory negligence in personal injury claimsContributory negligence is a partial defence which can lead to a discount in damages.Other defences may also be relevant. See Practice Notes: Did the claimant consent to the risk of injury? and Was the claimant involved in an illegal activity?If a

Can shares in a limited company that have not been paid-up at all be cancelled?

Can shares in a limited company that have not been paid-up at all be cancelled?

Can shares in a limited company that have not been paid-up at all be cancelled?A limited company having a share capital may not alter that share capital, except in the ways listed in section 617 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006). Shares in a company cannot simply be cancelled without following an