Despite disappointment with the current Government’s postponement of a long-promised Designs Consultation (the Consultation), Anti Copying in Design (ACID) welcomes this new additional survey and urges all those within the design sector to respond to this short call for further intel.

PLEASE FIND A LINK TO THE SURVEY HERE

In line with the IPO mission, the UK designs protection system should help people grow the economy through investment in innovation and creativity. The IPO operates and maintains a clear and accessible intellectual property (IP) system in the UK, which encourages innovation and helps the economy and society to benefit from knowledge and ideas. They help people get the right type of protection for their creation or invention.

This falls in line with ensuring the designs system is fit for purpose for the future and supports designs businesses of all sizes and will provide another opportunity to ensure the IPO have the basics right and are guided by the right principles before the Consultation this year. 

The IPO has identified five key principles which it thinks should underpin the system and wants to know if designers agree on these fundamental building blocks. The five principles are:

1. Cost – the system should offer value for money.
2. Validity – the system should provide an appropriate level of clarity about the existence of IP rights.
3. Speed – design protection should be quick to obtain and enforce.
4. Choice – the system should provide options.
5. Simplicity – the system should be as easy to use as possible.

Additionally, it reassesses the legal definition of “design” to address concerns about digital and AI-generated creations, aligning with industry evolution.

While overlapping with past surveys, the 2025 survey introduces new topics: the role of AI in design protection, sustainability, and challenges faced by small businesses. However, it neglects key design sectors, including architecture, textile, jewellery, packaging, healthcare, media set, AR/VR, and typography design.

It explores recurring themes, including awareness and use of design rights, registration costs and barriers, enforcement challenges, Brexit’s impact on international protection, and potential reforms like digital registration and enhanced enforcement.

Prior to the Consultation, the latest UK Intellectual Property Office’s (IPO) 2025 Designs Survey will further help to build on previous consultations, such as the 2022 Calls for Views and Designs Questionnaire

In summary, while the 2025 survey maintains a focus on longstanding design protection issues, it introduces new areas. However, gaps in sector representation highlight the need for continued advocacy to ensure the UK’s design protection framework reflects the diverse and evolving creative industries and its sub sectors.

This new survey to hit the decks, hot on the heels of the Copyright & AI Consultation which shook the creative industries and other copyright content creators. ACID represented the views of designers who rely on copyright in 2D content creation. For context, the Copyright & AI Consultation closed on 25^th February and a link to ACID’s submission is here.

PLEASE FIND A FURTHER LINK TO THE SURVEY HERE

Please add you name to our ACID IP Charter here