Dragons' Den - How Easy Would It Actually Be To Copy The Glawning Design?

I will admit I'm a bit late catching up on last week's episode of Dragons' Den. I've watched the show for years (usually as a double bill on a Thursday before The Apprentice) and since becoming an attorney, my ears always prick up when they start discussing IP protection.

Over the last 18 months I've expanded my designs practice, so I was interested to hear the discussion around registered design protection for the Glawning product on last week's episode. In particular, the comment that one of the Dragons could "pick up the phone to China and have them in [their] warehouse in 12 weeks" caught my attention.

Whilst it is true that they could do this, whether this Dragon could get away with selling them is another matter. Glawning have a number of registered designs in the UK in relation to their campervan awning product and, whilst some of these are narrower in the sense that they are limited by the specific materials shown in the design images, the business does