IPO survey on priorities to shape UK system for protecting designs

On 1 April 2025, Matthew Ridley, with support of the Designs & Copyright Committee, of which he is Chair, submitted CIPA’s response to the IPO’s ‘Survey on priorities to shape UK system for protecting designs’. The significant questions with CIPA’s comments (in blue) are published below.

Overview from the IPO:

On 25 February 2025, the UK Intellectual Property Office (‘IPO’) published a survey aimed at designers, design businesses, legal professionals and anyone interested in design. The aim was to explore the principles which should shape the future of the UK designs system.

The designs sector is an economically important one and contributed £97.4 billion GVA to the UK economy in 2019, equivalent to 4.9% total GVA. In 2021 there were 80,665 design businesses in the UK of which 92% were microbusinesses (<9 employees).

The UK designs protection system should help people grow the economy through investment in innovation and creativity. The IPO is reviewing the UK designs framework to make sure it is fit for the future and supports designs businesses of all sizes. A call for views on designs and call for views on designs: Government response were published in 2022.

Ahead of a formal consultation later in the year, the IPO wants to understand more about users’ priorities for the system.

Read more here.

Date published: 20 August 2025