UK Design Rights - Where Are We Now?

Introduction

Design rights in Europe and the UK have always been confusing to many.

Community registered and unregistered designs, and UK registered and unregistered designs, have different terms of protection, qualification criteria and scope.

The place of first publication has a bearing on subsistence of rights, and this has become more complex with the UK leaving the EU.

In fact, the government is introducing yet another design right for the UK, post-Brexit, called a ‘supplementary unregistered design’. Businesses will need to consider carefully where to first make designs available, and whether to apply for registration or rely on unregistered rights.

Recent copyright case law in the CJEU (Cofemel and Brompton Bicycle) also supports the existence of copyright protection for industrial 3D designs to a greater extent than previously applied, adding a further dimension for consideration, although the extent of its influence on English courts remains uncertain.

Businesses who require protection for their designs in both the UK and the EU may need to review and change their practices to ensure their designs are sufficiently protected.

This new webinar aimed at IP practitioners will untangle these threads and explain where we are now.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• The essential characteristics of UK and community registered and unregistered design rights and the new UK supplementary unregistered design
• How these different rights compare to each other and how they sit alongside each other in parallel, as well as what has changed with the UK’s departure from the EU
• The potential effect of the place of first publication on the subsistence of design rights
• How copyright can also be deployed to protect 3-dimensional industrial designs

This webinar was recorded on 26th January 2021