UK IPO launches design protection system consultation in response to challenges from digital world, AI and post-Brexit situation

The UK’s Intellectual Property Office has just launched a major review of the UK’s system for protecting designs and creators. This system has not been updated since limited changes were made in 2016.

The IPO says there are two main reasons to conduct this latest review: firstly, the impact of the increased use of digital technology (and Artificial Intelligence) and, secondly, Brexit and the UK’s subsequent departure from the European Union.

In her introduction to the Open Consultation document, Feryal Clark MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for AI and Digital Government, says:

“The UK’s design sector is a powerhouse of innovation and creativity, contributing £97.4 billion to our economy in 2019 – equivalent to 4.9% of total GVA. Behind these impressive numbers are 80,665 design businesses, the vast majority being microbusinesses with fewer than nine employees. Effective intellectual property (IP) protection is essential for these businesses to thrive and continue driving economic growth.”

She adds that many of these businesses say current IP protections are a “complex patchwork that many find difficult to navigate, particularly small businesses that form the backbone of the sector.”

The consultation, she concludes, “sets out proposals to create a designs system fit for the future – one that is simpler, more effective, and better able to support UK creativity and innovation in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.”

The consultation document can be found here. In it, the IPO asks interested parties for their views on a wide range of issues with the overarching aim of improving the UK designs system.

Key issues are:

• proposals to improve the registered designs system

• proposals to simplify the unregistered designs system

• options to address changes in how disclosures of supplementary unregistered designs are recognised following the UK’s departure from the EU

• enforcement issues, including a call for evidence in relation criminal sanctions for design infringement, and inclusion of registered designs in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court small claims track

• a number of smaller changes which will simplify and streamline the design protection system for users

This review is mainly aimed at eliciting opinions on the UK’s system for protecting both registered and unregistered designs; however, as the design protection system does overlap with other protection, notably copyright, the consultation document does include a section on the overlap, and whether there could be a simplification of the various protections.

Currently, the document points out, designs in the UK can be protected in several different ways:

• UK registered designs

• International registered designs

• UK unregistered design right (“design right”

• Supplementary unregistered designs (SUD)

• Copyright (if relevant requirements are met)

Interestingly, this consultation document also touches on the significant challenge to UK designers from unauthorised use of their creations either as input for AI model training, or as products for sale on international e-commerce sites.

To address this, it is asking for responses on enforcement issues, including a call for evidence in relation to criminal sanctions for design infringement, and inclusion of registered designs in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court Small Claims Track (IPEC SCT).

The main IPEC court can be used for claims over IP rights that exceed £10,000 but not more than £500,000. The IPEC SCT court has simpler procedures where IP claims with values of £10,000 or less can be heard.

Interested parties should check the consultation document here. The deadline for responses is 27 November 2025.