UK registered designs hold strong
Records from the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) have shown a rise in registered design filings despite COVID-19 overshadowing the events of 2020. Similarly, international design applications through the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs have remained strong. However, the devil is in the detail and there are signs of a drop-off in the Hague System in 2020.
UK designs
Design registrations protect the appearance of a product. For a design application to be registered in the UK, it is examined by the IPO. The IPO’s monthly statistics reveal a continued increase in UK design applications in 2020 compared to 2019.
While a registered design needs to satisfy the requirements of novelty and individual character to be valid, these are not examined by the IPO. Therefore, if the initial application addresses all the formal requirements at filing, further objections are rare.
This predictable process of registering designs in the UK might explain why designs have remained strong in 2020. Quick registration can be obtained while costs remain predictable.
The rise in UK design registrations
The increase in UK design registrations is not limited to 2020. The UK saw large growth in design registrations from 2015 to 2018: they increased more than threefold in this period. The numbers have remained at those high levels since.
The increase may be attributed to uncertainty of EU-registered Community designs following the Brexit vote in 2016. For several years, the IPO maintained its position that Community designs would be cloned into UK designs upon the departure of the UK from the EU. However, this reassurance has not seen a decrease in UK design registrations over this period.
Since January 1, 2021, an EU registered Community design has no longer covered the UK and a separate design application is now required. Therefore, it is expected that design applications in the UK will continue to rise further.
International designs
The Hague System is an international option to apply for and register a design. This system allows protection in many countries via a single application. The Hague System has been available for many decades, but it has gained popularity in recent years as the number of member countries increases.
The Hague System is coordinated through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). WIPO has announced that in 2020 there was a small reduction in the number of design applications filed through the Hague System compared to the previous year.
However, WIPO contrasts this to a larger percentage drop in global gross domestic product due to COVID-19 and its continued impact, suggesting that applicants still consider design registrations a central part of their IP arsenal.
The detail behind the international applications
Hague System applications through WIPO are down only slightly, suggesting that, like design registrations in the UK, Hague System applications are showing a similar resilience. In fact, larger declines in year-on-year applications have been experienced previously.
Perhaps more telling are the number of individual designs in each application. A single design application filed through the Hague System can contain up to 100 individual designs—each allowing several representations of that design. However, 2020 has seen this drop significantly, with fewer individual designs being contained in each application. This has resulted in a 15% reduction in the total number of designs filed through the Hague System—the first drop since 2006.
