Fashion Forward
How New EU and UK Design Reforms Are Reshaping Fashion Protection
The fashion industry is one of the world’s biggest sectors, but it is facing fundamental changes driven by technology. In response, recent and pending reforms in the EU and UK aim to simplify and strengthen design protection for designers. James Nurton reports.
The fashion industry is undergoing significant change. The use of digital tools and the emergence of new markets are empowering many designers, but they also have to face challenges arising from the growth of online platforms, the power of influencers, and the threat of AI-generated content.
At this year’s Annual Meeting, a session titled Fashion Forward: Harnessing EU and UK Design Reforms to Protect Innovation (Wednesday, May 6, 10:30 am–11:30 am), will address these challenges and explore how recent and pending reforms in the EU and UK are impacting designers in the fashion industry.
“10 years ago, we had catalogs—lots of catalogs,” says Pierre Massot, Founder at Arenaire Avocats (France), who is taking part in the session.
“Today, even for luxury brands, it’s Instagram, Instagram, Instagram.” That shift to social media and user-generated content has made life much more complicated for brands and for designers to demonstrate in France the real value of promotional investment and combat free-riding, he adds.
Challenges for Designers
The challenge is compounded by the fact that design law is complicated, says Sarah Wright, Co-Head of Intellectual Property at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP (UK), another speaker on the panel.
“It’s hard for a small business or an up-and-coming fashion designer to be able to understand the complexity of this system,” she says, adding: “It just doesn’t get properly taught in design courses, so you’re not enabling people or giving them the tools to be able to do their job properly.”
In practice, she says, this means that designers risk their designs being copied without being able to take action. In addition, they are often unaware of issues around using third-party manufacturers and distributors, especially internationally.
The session will also feature David Leigh Pemberton, Head of Government Affairs at British Fashion Council (UK), and Augusto Drumond, Principal Legal Counsel—Intellectual Property at Amazon EU (Luxembourg). It will be moderated by Sally Britton, Partner at Mishcon de Reya (UK), who says the speakers aim to provide practical tips for designers in the EU and UK, particularly those put off by the complexity and costs of the design system.
“People either have a complete understanding of the entire process and what it involves, or it’s way too complex and they don’t engage with it,” argues Ms. Britton.
The irony, she adds, is that once it’s understood, the design system is accessible, inexpensive, and powerful for designers, and could be used much more widely: “We should be seeing an explosion of design filings, but that’s not what we’re seeing at the moment.”
However, recent reforms in the EU and proposed changes in the UK may improve protection for fashion designers.
"We should be seeing an explosion of design filings, but that’s not what we’re seeing at the moment."
- Sally Britton | Mishcon de Reya (UK)
EU Changes
The EU design reform package, comprising a Regulation and a Directive, was adopted in 2024 to modernize the design protection framework, enhance legal certainty, reduce complexity, and expand accessibility. The Regulation makes changes to the EU design system in two phases.
Phase 1 of the amendments applied from May 1, 2025. These included the adoption of the term Registered EU Design (REUD) instead of Registered Community Design (RCD), the broadening of the definition of “design” to encompass animated designs, and the expansion of the definition of “product” to include non-physical items.
Phase 1 also extended the scope of the exclusive rights conferred by a design to 3D printing, introduced limitations relating to (1) identification and referencing and (2) comment, critique, or parody, and implemented a repair clause with a transitional period. It introduced a design notice comprising the letter D in a circle, as well as making changes to the filing and examination process, entitlement, and fees.
Phase 2 of the amendments apply from July 1, 2026, and include amendments brought about by secondary legislation. These alter various procedural aspects of the system and clarify certain existing practices.
“The reform is not a revolution but it’s a good evolution,” says Mr. Massot. “Now it’s clear you can file designs for interfaces, for smartphones and also for animated designs, intangible products – in short, everything that embodies modernity, but the main conditions of protection are unchanged.”
The expansion of the definitions of design and product, and the extension of protection against 3D printing, are particularly important for fashion designers.
"One of the reasons the design system in the UK is complicated is because you have all these different rights with different characteristics. But from a litigation perspective, that gives you options."
- Sarah Wright | CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP (UK)
UK Reforms Under Discussion
The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) launched a consultation on designs in September 2025. The design sector contributed £97.4 billion to the UK economy in 2019, driven by 80,665 businesses (the vast majority of them with fewer than nine employees), but many businesses say the design system “is a complex patchwork that many find difficult to navigate, particularly small businesses that form the backbone of the sector,” according to the UKIPO.
The consultation covered design validity, simplifying the design regime, unregistered designs, emerging forms of design, computer-generated designs, and the enforcement framework. It closed on November 27, 2025, but the results and recommendations have not yet been published.
INTA submitted comments on the consultation on November 24, 2025, stating:
"From a user’s perspective, it would be highly desirable for designs practice in the UK to be kept as consistent as possible with the position in the EU. Taking into account that companies are frequently operating both in the EU and UK, it would be highly beneficial for the legal protection to be aligned. We trust that the proposed initiatives would contribute to align the EU-UK positions."
In most respects, INTA favors maintaining the status quo. However, the Association welcomes the introduction of a deferment provision and considers it desirable to adopt a 30-month deferment period consistent with the EU system.
Practical Implications
While the outcome of the consultation is not yet known, the panel will discuss some of the possible changes.
“The UKIPO has set out different options, and some of them are definitely more attractive than others. We’ll explore the pros and cons of these options and—importantly—the practical implications, because I think sometimes that gets missed,” says Ms. Wright.
A key decision the UK government will have to make will be balancing simplicity and flexibility.
“One of the reasons the design system in the UK is complicated is because you have all these different rights with different characteristics,” says Ms. Wright. “But from a litigation perspective, that gives you options.”
“I would err on maximum protection rather than maximum simplification, because it’s very hard for a designer to know which design is going to be copied and how it is going to be copied. If you have maximum protection, then when it does happen you’ve got a right that you can point to,” she says.
“What we want is protection, options, and greater education—without losing rights along the way,” adds Ms. Britton.
One priority area is the protection of animations, including graphical user interfaces. While the European Union Intellectual Property Office now accepts designs for animations, the UKIPO does not—meaning applicants can get different outcomes for the same design. The strict UK approach is being reviewed, and revised guidance is expected soon (likely before the outcome of the consultation).
In its submission to the UKIPO consultation, INTA strongly welcomed any legislative changes to make clear that animations and transitional designs can be registered and to allow different file formats and additional description.
"We’re in this fuzzy situation, because we don’t know, if you want to invoke this unregistered design protection, do you have to disclose your design in the EU first? You need to plan ahead to safeguard your rights."
- Pierre Massot | Arenaire Avocats (France)
Protecting Unregistered Designs
While registered designs have a significant role to play in the fashion industry, unregistered designs are at least as important for many companies, as they provide a simple means of protection against copies of new designs.
“Unregistered designs are so important for fashion in France and elsewhere, because it’s not possible to file design applications for all your designs,” says Mr. Massot: “Unregistered design rights are one of the best ways to protect those types of designs.”
However, he says the new regulation has unexpectedly recreated the uncertainty about whether first disclosure of the design must be in the EU.
“We’re now in this fuzzy situation, because we don’t know, if you want to invoke this unregistered design protection, do you have to disclose your design in the EU first? This is crucial for companies in the fashion sector (and other sectors) because you can have a show in Asia or the UK and risk not having an unregistered design in Europe. It’s crazy.”
Mr. Massot expects questions to be referred to the Court of Justice of the EU, but in the meantime, companies have to make difficult decisions—such as planning simultaneous disclosure in different jurisdictions—to ensure that their designs are protected.
Unregistered designs are also addressed in the UKIPO consultation, given that the UK ended up with a complicated system of overlapping rights following Brexit. In its submission, INTA welcomed initiatives to simplify protection by abolishing the UK unregistered design right and retaining the Supplementary Unregistered Design (SUD).
Fashion Forward
The global apparel market was valued at $1.84 trillion, accounted for 1.63 percent of global GDP, and employed 430 million people in 2025, according to a report by Uniform Market. The report also found that people are buying 60 percent more clothes than they did a couple of decades ago.
If this growth is to continue, effective design protection is essential.
Join this session to hear from leading practitioners about the latest developments in fashion design, the expected further changes, and how the law is keeping up with technological change.
