Designs protection abroad

Registering your design in the UK does not protect it abroad.

If you want to register your design in countries other than the UK, there are a number of ways in which you can do so.

  • You can apply for a Registered Community Design (RCD) covering the whole of the European Union ('EU').
  • You can apply directly to most major countries of the world External Link by making a separate application to each country in which you want protection.
  • You can use the Hague System to apply to a number of different countries or territories at the same time, through a single application.

Using unregistered design rights

You may also be able to rely on automatic copyright and unregistered design rights in the countries concerned, eg. the Unregistered Community Design External Link right (UCD) which covers the whole of the EU.

Claiming a priority date

If you are applying for a design in another country within 6 months of applying for the same design in the UK, or if you are applying in the UK within 6 months of filing elsewhere in the world, you may be able to have the date on which you applied for the earlier design accepted as the date on which you filed the later application. Priority dates may only be granted in relation to countries which have signed up to the Paris Convention or which are Members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Using the Hague System

The Hague System External Link for the International Registration of Industrial Designs allows you to simultaneously apply for a design in many different countries or territories, through a single application to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). An application under the Hague System will cover the UK if the EU is selected.