Unregistered Community Designs: A Secret Weapon In Design Protection?

An unregistered community design is established merely by the disclosure of a design and triggers protection for three years from the date of disclosure. This informal right was created to satisfy the demands of the industry and creatives for a design protection right providing broad-ranging territorial protection and safety for short-lived products without an elaborate and costly registration procedure.

Our Legal Insight delves into the particularities of the unregistered community design and its relationship to its big brother – the registered community design. We take a closer look at the uncertainties, but also consider how the designer can utilise this informal right.

Registered design vs. unregistered design