In response to commentary following my presentation at the Westminster Forum on the Future of the UK’s Intellectual Property, I reiterate the case for making the intentional infringement of unregistered designs a criminal offence, aligned with protections for registered design and copyright infringement. The purpose is simple: to create a meaningful deterrent against the growing problem of design theft. No one can dispute that.
Subsequent criticism from representatives of large overseas headquartered commercial interests and professional bodies relied on subjective opinion rather than evidence. One argument characterised copying as inadvertent observation at trade events. This does not reflect the reality of design-led practice, which is hardly surprising as these commercial interests do not represent designers. Designers do not work this way. ACID’s research shows that 90% of copying experienced by designers is blatant and deliberate, not accidental.
Claims that criminal sanctions would have a “chilling effect” on innovation have also been made repeatedly, yet when challenged previously, even policymakers acknowledged that no supporting evidence had been provided. By contrast, ACID has submitted ten years of quantitative and qualitative evidence demonstrating the scale, intent, and economic harm of deliberate infringement of an unregistered design.
Intentional copying is not benign competition; it is an abuse of creative and commercial investment and, in effect, a conspiracy to deprive and defraud creators of their legal and economic rights.
Civil remedies alone are often ineffective. Bad actors may treat damages as a cost of doing business, especially where rights holders lack resources to litigate. Targeted criminal sanctions, applied only to intentional acts and carefully defined to ensure proportionality, would send a clear message: design theft is not merely a commercial dispute, but unacceptable conduct.
Design drives differentiation across industries. Protecting it properly strengthens ethical competition, investor confidence, and long-term innovation, especially for those who create, not copy, for a living.
If you believe in integrity in design, please sign the ACID IP Charter, it supports our campaigning and strengthens our combined voice.
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