If you sell a product whose look matters, design protection is a three-way decision: a design patent in the United States, a registered EU design for the 27 member states of the European Union, and a UK registered design for Great Britain. They protect similar things, but they get there in very different ways, and the differences change what you should file and when.
Here is the comparison, and the traps we see most often.
The Short Version
| Aspect | US design patent | EU registered design | UK registered design |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it protects | The ornamental design of an article of manufacture | The appearance of a product or part of it, including graphical interfaces, animations, and typefaces | The appearance of the whole or part of a product |
| Term | 15 years from grant, no renewals | Up to 25 years, renewed every 5 years | Up to 25 years, renewed every 5 years |
| Examination | Full examination for novelty and obviousness | Formalities only; novelty and individual character tested if challenged | Formalities only; validity tested if challenged |
| Time to right | Typically 18 to 24 months to grant | Often a few weeks | Usually a few weeks |
| Grace period for your own disclosure | 12 months | 12 months | 12 months |
| Territory | United States | All EU member states, as one unitary right | Great Britain |
| Unregistered cover | None | Yes, short term, from first disclosure in the EU | Yes, with different scope and term |
| Several designs in one application | No, one per application | Yes, up to 50 | Yes |
| Deferred publication | Not available | Up to 30 months | Available, for a shorter period |
| Cost shape | Filing, search, examination, and issue fees; no renewals | One application fee plus a fee for each further design; renewals step up at each 5-year block | One application fee, cheaper per design when filed together; renewals step up at each 5-year block |
Government fees change, and design fees in the European Union and the United Kingdom were restructured recently. Check the current schedule on the office's own fee page before you budget, or ask us for the Total.
The Grace Period, Stated Properly
This is where most published comparisons get it wrong, so it is worth being precise. All three systems give you twelve months, but they are not the same twelve months.
- United States: the law gives a twelve-month grace period for a disclosure made by the inventor, or by someone who got the design from the inventor. Your own crowdfunding page or trade-show reveal does not automatically sink a United States filing made within a year of it.
- European Union: twelve months for disclosures made by the designer or the design's owner, or by someone acting on their information.
- United Kingdom: twelve months, on the same basis.
Two caveats that matter more than the headline. First, a grace period protects you from your own disclosure, not from someone else's independent earlier disclosure. If a competitor published something similar first, the grace period does not help. Second, plenty of other countries give no grace period at all, so if China, Japan, or Korea are on your roadmap, the safe rule is still to file before you go public.
United States Design Patent
The United States route buys you an examined right. The examiner searches prior art and tests novelty and non-obviousness, which takes time but leaves you with something that stands up better when challenged, and that marketplace takedown teams recognize.
What you do:
- Prepare exacting drawings. Consistent views, black-and-white line drawings in most cases, broken lines for anything you are not claiming. The drawings are the claim, so this step is the whole ballgame.
- File the application with a specification, a single claim, and the drawings.
- Expect examination to run roughly 18 to 24 months. Office actions are common, usually about drawing consistency or the scope of what is claimed.
- Pay the issue fee on allowance. The patent runs 15 years from grant with no renewal fees.
Design applications are not published before grant, so the design stays confidential while it is pending. There is no deferral mechanism because there is nothing to defer.
Choose it when your main enforcement risk is in the United States market, you can file before any public disclosure, and you can live with the wait.
EU Registered Design
The EU design reform took effect in stages. From 1 May 2025 the right is called a registered EU design rather than a registered Community design, the definition of a product expressly covers graphical interfaces, animations, and typefaces (though not software as such), and the spare-parts rules were liberalized. A further phase of procedural change follows, so check the EUIPO site for current status.
What you do:
- File online. One multiple application can cover up to 50 designs, which is the cheapest way to protect a family of variants.
- Formalities are checked, usually within a couple of weeks, and registration follows if there are no defects.
- You can defer publication for up to 30 months from filing or priority, which keeps the design confidential while you finish the launch plan.
- Renew every five years, up to 25 years.
There is no substantive examination. Novelty and individual character are only tested if someone attacks the registration. That makes the European Union route fast and cheap to get, and means the testing happens in invalidity proceedings if it ever comes to that.
There is also an unregistered EU design right, which arises automatically on first disclosure in the European Union and runs for a short period. It is narrower than registration, since it only protects against copying, but it is useful for short-cycle products such as fashion drops.
UK Registered Design
Since Brexit, an EU design no longer covers the United Kingdom. EU designs that were registered before the end of the transition period were cloned onto the United Kingdom register automatically, and the window for re-filing pending EU applications in the United Kingdom has closed. For anything new, you file separately in the United Kingdom, or cover the United Kingdom in an international application through the Hague System.
The United Kingdom works much like the European Union: formalities only, fast registration, protection for up to 25 years with renewals every five years, and the ability to file several designs in one application. Deferment of publication is available, for a shorter period than the European Union allows, so confirm the current limit before you plan a launch around it.
The United Kingdom also has unregistered design rights, with different scope and term from the European Union version. They are worth knowing about, but they are not a substitute for registration when you need long-term exclusivity.
The Hague Route
If you want the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, the Hague System lets you file one international application and cover all three, along with other members. It harmonizes the formalities and gives you one record to manage, though each office still applies its own law, and the United States still examines. It is particularly useful for product families and interface suites where you are filing the same set of designs in several places. See our Hague Agreement design filing strategy guide for how to structure one.
Common Mistakes
- Confusing function with ornament. In the United States, a design patent protects only the ornamental aspects. Features dictated by how the product works get refused or narrowed.
- Assuming an EU design covers the United Kingdom. It has not since Brexit, and this is still the most expensive assumption we see.
- Skipping deferral. If you file in the European Union or the United Kingdom without deferring publication, your next product is on a public register before you announce it. For seasonal or staged launches, that leaks the roadmap.
- Weak evidence in an invalidity fight. Undated or ambiguous images are routinely disregarded. Capture dated, high-resolution, multi-view records of your own first disclosure, and when you are attacking someone else's design, make sure your prior art clearly shows every relevant feature.
- Underestimating design freedom arguments. In crowded categories such as kitchenware or accessories, a tribunal will accept that small differences are enough to create a different overall impression, which cuts both ways. Build in more visual distance than feels necessary.
- Leaving variants on the table. The European Union and the United Kingdom let you file many designs in one application. Teams routinely file the hero design only, then pay full price later for the variants that turn out to matter.
- Claiming software as such in the European Union. Interfaces, animations, and typefaces are protectable. The underlying functionality is not.
Which to File First
- United States market first, exam strength matters more than speed: start with the United States design patent, then add the European Union and the United Kingdom, using Hague to keep publication timing aligned.
- European launch, speed matters: file the EU design with all the variants, file in the United Kingdom in parallel, and get the United States application in before any disclosure aimed at the United States.
- Fast product cycles, fashion and accessories: rely on the unregistered rights tactically for the long tail, and register the hero designs that will still be selling in three years.
- Interface-heavy products: lean on the European Union's definition of a product, mirror it in the United Kingdom, and pair it with United States design patents on the physical shell where there is one.
Designs also work best alongside other rights. A distinctive product shape may support trade dress in the United States as well, and a utility patent may cover how it works. Where you own several, coordinate the forums and the timing before you enforce, so you do not end up with inconsistent findings. The Unified Patent Court, live since 1 June 2023, does not handle designs, but it will handle the patent half of a hybrid dispute.
