Government consultation on possible reform to UK design law – have your say!

The questions of the survey are fairly wide-ranging, and notably include questions on whether substantive examination should be introduced as part of the UK design registration process. Other topics of consultation concern the existing criminal sanctions relating to UK design right enforcement; dynamic type (animated), and graphical user interface (GUI), design registrations; as well as questions which allude to the existing unregistered design right provisions in the UK.

Noting its wide-reaching nature, the issuance of this consultation now provides a fantastic opportunity for those already making use of registered and unregistered design rights in the UK to have their say on whether these rights are currently fit for purpose, and if not then how they could be improved to work more effectively. Equally, for those entities that are not yet making substantial use of design rights in the UK, the consultation at least now provides a welcome opportunity for these entities to provide input on how these rights might be modified to better cover their design related activities.