Modernisation of the UK Design System

As from 1 October 2006, the UK Design System has been extensively changed, to correspond to the OHIM Community Design System.  The three major changes are:

a)         no search or prior art examination now takes place;

b)         deferment of publication is now possible for all designs (not just certain classes of designs as in the past);

c)         "multiple design" applications are now possible, in which several designs are filed in the same application, taking advantage of reduced fees.

The "headline" fee rates are unchanged, but the possibility of multiple design applications reduces the overall cost of the filing for larger applicants.  The termination of search and prior art examination will, in practice, make little difference since the UK Designs Registry has not performed systematic searches for a number of years.