International EU protected designs
Changes for businesses and holders of international EU protected designs.
Creation of the re-registered international design
International design registrations protected in the EU under the Hague Agreement no longer have effect in the UK.
To address this, we have created UK designs, referred to as re-registered international designs, from each international (EU) design that held protected status immediately before 1 January 2021.
These UK rights are identical to the re-registered designs created from registered community designs (RCD). They are independent UK rights, and so may be challenged, assigned, licensed or renewed separately from the original international (EU) design.
Like UK rights being created from RCDs, re-registered international designs created from protected international (EU) designs have been created at no cost to the holder.
Numbering of re-registered international design
The number allocated to the re-registered international design consists of the full IR (EU) number prefixed with the digit ‘8’. This provides users with a means of identifying re-registered rights created from protected international (EU) designs and distinguishing them from existing UK registered designs.
| International (EU) registration number (as shown on WIPO databases) | International (EU) registration number (as shown on EUIPO’s DesignView database | Re-registered UK design number (as it will be shown on the IPO’s register and online search platform) |
|---|---|---|
| DM/069 640 | D069640-0001 (in this example, the four-digit sequence ‘0001’ denotes a single design) | 80696400001000 |
| DM/069 629 | D069629-0001 (in this example, the four-digit sequence ‘0001’ denotes the first design in a multiple application) | 80696290001000 |
| DM/069 629 | D069629-0002 (in this example, the four-digit sequence ‘0002’ denotes the second design in a multiple application) | 80696290002000 |
Pending applications
If you held a pending international (EU) design on 1 January 2021, you were able to register a UK design in the nine months after the end of the transition period. This was up to and including 30 September 2021. You were also able to retain the earlier filing date of the pending international (EU) right.
We have only created re-registered international designs from international (EU) designs that were protected immediately before 1 January 2021.
Automatic creation of UK re-registered international designs did not apply to those international rights that, at 1 January 2021, had not yet been subject to a statement of protection issued by the EUIPO.
The holder of any such ‘pending’ international (EU) design could claim the earlier registration date assigned to the corresponding International Registration by WIPO.
They could do this when applying for UK registered design protection in respect of the same design within nine months after the end of the transition period.
Claiming an earlier filing date
If you sought protection in the EU through an application for an international (EU) design registration, you could also claim the earlier registration date (and any priority date) for a corresponding UK registered design application.
This was applicable where that application had been published by WIPO, but the period in which the EUIPO must notify WIPO of refusal had not yet expired.
These applications were treated as a UK registered design application and were examined under UK law. The standard UK fee structure applied. Further information on registered design fees is available. International (EU) designs that have been subject to a notice of refusal issued by the EUIPO prior to 1 January 2021 could not be used for the purposes of claiming an earlier date when filing a corresponding UK application.
Opt-out of holding a re-registered international design
If you do not wish to hold the new right, you may opt-out of holding it.
Owners of protected international (EU) registered designs may opt-out of holding a re-registered international design. They can do this through the same opt-out mechanism provided for holders of RCDs and EU trade marks.
If you wish to opt-out, you will need to submit a short notice providing the number of the protected international (EU) registered design together with details of any persons with an interest in the right.
Once received and actioned, the effect of such an opt-out is that the re-registered international design is treated as if it had never been applied for or registered under UK law.
Renewals and restoration
For the purposes of future renewal, the re-registered international design retained the existing renewal date of the corresponding international registration.
As with re-registered designs created from RCDs, we will send renewal reminder notices to holders of re-registered international designs which are due to expire at any point after the six-month period following 1 January 2021.
New approaches were introduced to accommodate re-registered international designs that expired within the six-month period following 1 January 2021.
Changes were also introduced for international registrations that expired within the six months prior to 1 January 2021 and which were still in their late renewal period.
Designs which expired after 1 January 2021
The same procedure for renewal and late renewal of registered designs under the Registered Designs Act and the Registered Designs Rules applied to re-registered international designs.
We sent you a reminder renewal notice on the actual day of expiry (or as soon as is practicable after that date). This notice informed you that the re-registered international design had expired, and that we provided you with a further six-month period, running from the date of the notice, in which the right may be renewed.
Where the re-registered international design expired within six months after 1 January 2021, the usual additional renewal fee was not payable.
In addition to the new reminder notice being sent on or soon after the day of expiry, those with re-registered international designs that expire within the fourth, fifth and sixth months after 1 January 2021 also received the conventional advance reminder notice in the usual manner.
Where the re-registered international design was not renewed, it was removed from the register, but may be restored at a later date in accordance with existing UK law.
You should note that where an international registration’s renewal date fell after 1 January 2021, early payment of the renewal fee at WIPO, on a date prior to 1 January 2021, had no effect in respect of the re-registered international design.
Any re-registered design with a renewal date falling at any time after 1 January 2021 was subject to a UK renewal action right and fee. This was regardless of whether a renewal action was taken on the corresponding international registration before 1 January 2021.
Designs which expired before 1 January 2021
We also created a re-registered international design from any International Registration that:
- had expired in the six months prior to 1 January 2021
- had not been subject to a late renewal action at WIPO by 1 January 2021
- was still within its six-month late renewal period
These re-registered international designs held an ‘expired’ status. Their continued effect in the UK was dependent upon late renewal of the corresponding international registration at WIPO.
Where that registration was subject to late renewal, and the holder informed the IPO about such action, the late renewal of the international registration had effect on the expired re-registered international design.
This means that the re-registered design was renewed as a result of the international registration’s late renewal.
In this scenario, you were not required to pay any renewal fees in respect of your first (UK) renewal of the re-registered international design.
If the expired international registration was not late renewed at WIPO, then the re-registered design (which was created on 1 January 2021 in the UK) was removed from the UK register on expiry of the corresponding international registration’s late renewal period. It was then treated as if it had never been applied for or registered under UK law.
Deferred publication
Where publication of the international registration was deferred at WIPO
Under the new law, an international registration that is deferred on 1 January 2021 will be treated as being equivalent to a pending application.
This means that a holder could have preserved the earlier filing and priority dates in the UK by filing an equivalent UK registered design application within nine months after the end of the transition period, this being up to and including 30 September 2021. The publication of an international registration designating the EU may be deferred for up to 30 months.
Applying for the UK registered design to be deferred
There is currently no framework in UK legislation creating the right to defer publication of a registered design. As a matter of practice, the IPO permits applicants to defer publication of their design by up to 12 months.
Deferment of a UK registered design application claiming the earlier date of a deferred international registration is limited to a maximum of 12-months from the date of UK filing. This cannot exceed the maximum thirty-month period permitted for the corresponding international (EU) design.
Our approach to calculating deferment periods for UK applications corresponding to deferred international registrations is identical to that taken in respect of deferred RCD applications. This approach is described in more detail in the corresponding section of this guidance relating to RCDs.
Priority claims
A priority date claimed under the Paris Convention that has been recorded against the corresponding international registration has been inherited by the re-registered international design.
Accordingly, where proceedings involve a re-registered international design with a priority claim inherited from the corresponding international registration, the date of that priority claim has effect.