Designs law is a collection of legal rights that can protect the design and appearance of products. In the UK, it comprises:

●    copyright as it applies to infringement by making products;

●    design right under Part III of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA), an anti-copying right that lasts up to ten years from when products are first made;

●    registered designs covering the UK, which may be obtained from the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO), and registered designs covering the whole of the EU, which may be obtained from the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). Registered designs provide a monopoly over making products with the same appearance as the design that has been registered, but design registrations are only valid if they are new and of distinctive character.

Designs law is not about any literary, musical, etc content recorded on a product—that will be protected by copyright in the straightforward way, as set out in Chapter 2. Similarly, the under­lying technological ideas may be protected by a patent.