Industrial Designs and Models Protection
Justice Agency for Intellectual Property – JAIP Services – Industrial Designs and Models Protection
Registering a design helps protect the appearance of a product, such as its shape or pattern.
Registering your design makes it easier to prove:
That the design is legally yours
The design belongs to you “This will help you if someone tries to copy or use your design without your permission.”
Before registering a design, check that it provides the right protection for your intellectual property.
A design registration lasts for 5 years. You must renew your design registration every 5 years to keep it protected – up to a maximum of 25 years.
What you can register
Your design must be new.
A design can include one or more of the following:
Physical fit
Composition (or how different parts of the design are arranged together)
Decoration or colour
Pattern
What you can’t register
You can’t register:
Offensive material, for example swear words or pornographic images
Designs that use national flags that you don’t have permission to use
Designs that use official emblems or distinctive marks, for example the Olympic rings or coats of arms
The function of the design, for example a chair that folds up more quickly than others of the same type
How much does it cost
Design registration costs between £100 and £250 per design.
The application process
You can apply online or by post.
You must share detailed illustrations of your designs with us, including any notes to describe exactly what you are registering.
You will receive a decision on your application within 3 weeks.
Before you apply
Search the following design registers to see if anyone else has registered your design:
UK registered designs
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
You can ask the Justice Intellectual Property Agency to search for registered designs on your behalf. This costs £195. (Send an email to jaip@thejustice.org.uk to request it.
Get professional help and advice
You can get free advice on registering a design from:
Registration and publication
Dealing with international IP offices
Arab Intellectual Property Agency community
You can get professional help from patent and trademark lawyers. For a set fee.
Prepare your application
You must prepare detailed illustrations of your design.
You can include up to 12 illustrations if you are applying via the online application. If you need to include more than 12 illustrations, you must apply by post or email instead.
If you need to include more than one view of the design, for example a top-down view and a side view, these must be shown as separate illustrations.
If you are applying by post, the illustrations must be on plain A4 paper.
Illustration Rules
Your illustrations must:
Show the design as it appears to the eye, using photographs, line drawings, computer-aided design (CAD) or rendered CAD
Be of the same type as the image (e.g. all line drawings or all photographs)
Show the design on a plain background
Include the full pattern and show how it repeats, if you want to record a surface pattern
Include only things necessary to demonstrate your design (e.g. do not include your hand or anything unrelated to your design)
Be clear (e.g. if you use photographs, they should be in focus)
Do not contain details hidden by shadows or reflections
Do not contain text, measurements or other technical information
If your illustrations include color or tone variations, they will be considered elements of your design unless you say otherwise.
If your illustrations include things you don’t want to register
You must show or explain:
Which parts of the illustration you want to register as a design – this is called a ‘restriction’
Which parts of the illustration you don’t want to register as a design – this is called a ‘disclaimer’
You can do this by ‘shading’ or circling parts of the illustration, or by adding a line of text.
Example 1
You want to register a design for some table legs. Your illustrations show the whole table. Highlight the legs (for example, by selecting them) to make it clear that they are the only part of the table you want to register.
Example 2
You want to register a design for a bicycle. The bicycle in the illustrations is pink. Add a note saying that you are registering the shape of the bicycle, not the colour, to protect your right to use any colour.
Example 3
You want to register a design for a teapot. The illustrations show a pattern but your design is about the shape of the teapot. Add a note saying that the pattern is not part of the design.
Submit your request
- You must have illustrations of your design before you can apply for design registration.
- If you do not want to register your design as soon as possible, you can “defer” your application for up to 12 months. Your design will not be protected as a registered design while your application is deferred.
- The amount you pay is based on the number of designs you register, not the number of illustrations you include.
| Number of designs | Online registration fees |
| One | 100 pounds |
| Up to 10 | 140 pounds |
| Up to 20 | 180 pounds |
| Up to 30 | 225 pounds |
| Up to 40 | 265 pounds |
| Up to 50 | 295 pounds |
Apply now
After submission
The Arab Intellectual Property Agency will review your application.
If there are no problems, your design will be registered – usually within 3 weeks.
The general supervisor will let you know if there are any problems. You will have at least 2 months to resolve them. It may take longer depending on the type of problem.
If you defer your registration
If you defer your registration when you submit your application, you have up to 12 months to register it before we cancel your application.
When a Patent is Granted
If your patent is granted:
Your application will be published in its final form
A certificate will be sent to you
You will be responsible for renewing your patents and defending your intellectual property rights if they are copied or stolen.
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