The Government has announced that it hopes that the new designs fees for UK registered designs - which are on the whole dramatically lower than the current ones - will come into effect on 1 October 2016. Highlights of the new fees are set out below.
Summary of new application fees if filed online
| Old fee | New fee (online) | |
| Application containing only one design | £60 | £50 |
| Application containing up to 10 designs | £420 | £70 |
| Application containing up to 20 designs | £820 | £90 |
| Every 10 additional designs in same application | £400 | £20 |
| Application containing up to 100 designs | £4,020 | £250 |
Summary of new renewal fees
| Old fee | New fee (online) | |
| First renewal fee (at end of year 5) | £130 | £70 |
| Second renewal fee (at end of year 10) | £210 | £90 |
| Third renewal fee (at end of year 15) | £310 | £110 |
| Final renewal fee (at end of year 20) | £450 | £140 |
| Total renewal fees for 25 years of right | £1,100 | £410 |
The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has warned, however, that it will continue to send out renewal reminders for existing designs in advance of the renewal date and, if the renewal is paid early, the current fee levels will apply. Therefore, it may be sensible to wait until nearer the renewal date to make the most of the lower fee levels. The UKIPO has published a leaflet about this.
The same will, of course, apply for filing designs. Provided it works from a disclosure point of view, it might be worth holding off if you are thinking of filing a design just before the fee changes, given how dramatic the cost savings will be.
It is hoped that the new design fee regime will encourage designers to consider multiple design protection for single products, which will allow better protection for novel sub-designs.
See full government response to the consultation here.
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