Register a design

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1. Overview

A design registration 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
  • when you created it

This will help if anyone tries to copy or use your design without your permission.

Before registering a design, check it is the right protection for your intellectual property.

A design registration lasts 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.

The design of something can include one or more of the following:

  • physical shape
  • configuration (or how different parts of a design are arranged together)
  • decoration or colour
  • pattern

What you cannot register

You cannot register:

  • offensive material, for example swear words or pornographic images
  • designs making use of national flags you do not have permission to use
  • designs making use of official emblems or hallmarks, for example the Olympic rings or coats of arms
  • the functionality of a design, for example a chair that folds down more quickly than others of the same kind

What it costs

Registering a design costs from £50 for one design to £150 for up to 50.

The application process

You can apply online or by post.

You must send the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) detailed illustrations of your designs, including any notes to describe exactly what you are registering.

You’ll get a decision on your application within 3 weeks.

View a timeline of the process

2. Before you apply

Search the following design registers to check if anyone else has registered your design:

You can ask the Intellectual Property Office to search UK registered designs for you. This costs £24.

Get professional help and advice

You can get free advice about registering a design from:

You can get professional help from patent attorneys and trade mark attorneys. You will have to pay for their services.

3. Prepare your application

You must prepare detailed illustrations of your design.

You can include up to 12 illustrations if you’re applying online. If you need to include more than 12 illustrations, you must apply by post instead.

If you need to include more than one view of the design, for example a top down and side view, you must show this as separate illustrations.

If you’re applying by post, your illustrations must be on plain A4 paper.

Rules for illustrations

Your illustrations should:

  • show the design as it appears to the eye, using photographs, line drawings, computer-aided design (CAD) or rendered CAD
  • be the same type of image (for example, all line drawings or all photographs)
  • show the design against a plain background
  • include the complete pattern and show how it repeats, if you want to register a surface pattern
  • only include objects necessary to demonstrate your design (for example, do not include your hand, or an object unrelated to your design)
  • be clear (for example, if you use photographs they must be in focus)
  • have no details hidden by shadows or reflections
  • not contain text, measurements or other technical information

If your illustrations include colour or tonal contrasts, these will be considered elements of your design unless you say otherwise.

If your illustrations include things you do not want to register

You must show or explain:

  • which parts of an illustration you want to register as a design - this is called a ‘limitation’
  • the parts of an illustration you do not want to register as a design - this is called a ‘disclaimer’

You can do this by ‘greying out’ 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 outlining them) to make it clear they are the only part of the table you want to register.

Example 2

You want to register a design for a bike. The bike in your illustrations is pink. Add a note that you’re registering the shape of the bike, 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 relates to the teapot’s shape. Add a note explaining that the pattern is not part of the design.

4. Send your application

You must have illustrations of your design before you can apply to register a design.

If you do not want your design to be registered 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.

How much you pay depends on the number of designs you are registering, not the number of illustrations you include.

Number of designs Online filing fee
One £50
Up to 10 £70
Up to 20 £90
Up to 30 £110
Up to 40 £130
Up to 50 £150

Apply online

If you cannot apply online

Fill in an application form and send it to the address on the form.

Include your illustrations and the fee. It costs more than applying online.

Number of designs Paper filing fee
One £60
Each additional design £40

5. After you apply

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) will examine your application.

If there are no issues your design will be registered - usually within 3 weeks.

The IPO will let you know if there are any problems. You’ll have at least 2 months to resolve them. You may get longer depending on the type of problem.

If you deferred your registration

If you deferred your registration when you applied, you have up to 12 months to register it before the IPO will cancel your application.

To register it, send a deferred design registration form and the £40 fee for each design.

6. When your design is registered

Once your design is registered it will be published in the journal of registered designs. Anyone will be able to view your design.

You can display your registration number on your design.

You must renew your design registration every 5 years to keep it protected, for up to 25 years in total.

You can license, sell or mortgage your design.

If your application is rejected

The Intellectual Property Office will let you know if your application is rejected and let you know why.

You can request a hearing if you:

  • think your application has been dealt with unfairly
  • disagree with the decision about your design