The term of design protection varies widely between different types of protection and different countries.

Unregistered design protection in the UK protects your design for 10 years after it was first sold or 15 years after it was created – whichever expires last. Unregistered design protection in the EU protects your design for 3 years after it was first made available to the public.

A registered design in the UK is valid for five years from the date of filing and can be renewed every five years up to a maximum of 25 years. An EU registered design is the same.

The maximum turn of registered design protection in other countries varies but is typically from 10 to 25 years.

Wilson Gunn can advise on all aspects of intellectual property protection. Please get in touch to speak to a member of our team about design protection.