The UK Government will not make intentional infringement of unregistered designs a crime, a decision ACID says leaves most designers without a deterrent.
The decision
The UK Government has ruled out creating criminal offences for infringing unregistered designs. The decision is part of its response to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) consultation on changes to the UK designs framework, published on 4 November 2026.
The consultation, which closed in November 2025, included a call for evidence on criminal sanctions. The Government said views differed, but that it had not received sufficiently robust evidence that new offences would be a balanced and proportionate remedy. Intentionally copying a registered design remains a criminal offence under the Intellectual Property Act 2014.
Other changes for sellers
The same package gives the IPO powers to check whether a design is genuinely new before registering it. The Government said some registrations are used to send takedown notices to online marketplaces, with affected businesses reporting costs of £10,000 to more than £50,000 to resolve them.
Under the plans:
- registered design disputes would be heard in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court Small Claims Track, where claims are capped at £10,000
- unregistered design rules would be simplified
- supplementary unregistered design protection would apply when a design is first disclosed anywhere in the world.
Legislation will follow when parliamentary time allows.
ACID’s response
Anti Copying in Design (ACID), which campaigned for the 2014 offence for registered designs, said the Government has created a two-tier system. ACID says most UK designers rely on unregistered design rights, which last a maximum of 15 years, compared with life plus 70 years for copyright. It said the IPO told a stakeholder meeting the evidence submitted was not robust enough.
Dids Macdonald OBE, ACID’s Chair and Co-founder, said: “Britain’s designers have been failed by Government.”
Nick Kounoupias, ACID’s Chief Counsel, said ACID “will continue to campaign for effective, proportionate, and accessible IP protection for all designers, whether their designs are registered or unregistered.”
The IP Federation, which represents businesses, welcomed the confirmation that criminal sanctions will not be introduced.
According to the Design Council, the UK design economy contributed £136.7bn in gross value added in 2023.
Share