Filling in the application form

First page

Please read the following guidance listed below which will help you fill out your application form.

Section 1

You don't have to provide a reference, but if you do we will use it whenever we contact you.

Section 2

Say how many different designs you are applying for in this application if there is more than one.

Remember that you will need to pay for each design. See the "Designs Ready Reckoner" sheet attached to help you to calculate the total fee payable. In the case of a multiple application, you also need to tell us how many designs in the application are to be published immediately. For example, if this is a multiple application of three designs and you want all three to proceed to publication and registration as soon as possible, state "3". If however this is a multiple application of three designs and you want to defer the publication of one of the designs then state "2".

Section 3

This section must contain the details of the owner of the design. So only give your own details if you are either the owner or a joint owner with another person or company. Do not automatically name yourself as the designer if you are applying in the name of a company. If you are applying as a partnership, the name of the partnership must be provided. It would be helpful if the names of all the partners are listed also, but this is not essential. If your address is outside the UK, you must provide an address either within the European Economic Area or the Channel Islands as your contact address in section 4. You will only have an ADP number (which means Automatic Data Processing) if you have previously applied to us to register a design, but if you do not know it then leave this space blank.

Section 4

If you appoint someone (for example, a patent attorney or a trade mark attorney) to deal with your application, give details here. If, as the applicant your address at section 3 is outside the UK, you must provide a contact address within the European Economic Area or the Channel Islands. We will send all our letters to this contact address (which we call an "address for service"). If you leave this section blank, we will write to you at the address given in section 3 as long as it is within the UK or elsewhere in the European Economic Area or the Channel Islands. You can change or appoint an agent or change a contact address at any time after making your application by sending us Form DF1A (74Kb).

Section 5

Before working out how much your application will cost, you will need to count the total number of designs and decide if you want to defer publication of any or all of the designs that you include. Please complete the "Designs Ready Reckoner" sheet attached. If you have requested deferment of publication of any design within your application, you must send us a Form DF2C (75Kb) requesting publication within 12 months of the date of application. Otherwise your design will not be registered.

When you send us Form DF2C to ask us to publish each design, you will need to pay the £20 publication fee for each design as well as a deferral fee of £20 for each design. So, for example, a single design on which you defer publication will eventually cost you £80 (£40 for the application, £20 for the publication and £20 for the deferral) instead of £60. And any other design in a multiple application on which you defer publication will eventually cost you £60 (£20 for the application, £20 for the publication and £20 for the deferral) instead of £60. And any other design in a multiple application on which you defer publication will eventually cost you £60 (£20 for the application, £20 for the publication and £20 for the deferral) instead of £40. You can choose to defer publication of any design for up to 12 months from the date of the application. This period cannot be extended. On all designs where you have not requested deferred publication we will publish these as soon as possible, once the application is in order.

Section 6

You or your agent must sign and date the form.

Section 7

It will help us to sort out any queries more quickly if you can provide the name and daytime phone number of someone we can contact. You can also provide your e mail address if you would like us to contact you in this way. In this section you should also say the total number of sheets of paper that make up this form so that we can account for everything. You do not have to attach samples of the products which show your design, as lined drawings, photographs or computer generated images should be perfectly adequate. But if you are unable to clearly show the design with paper illustrations then you may attach a sample of each design and say how many are attached, providing they are no bigger that A4.

Second page

You should use this sheet to give information that is special to the single design or to each design in a multiple application. So, you should copy the sheet as many times as you need. You should identify the number of designs in the illustrations, and say at the top of the second page which design each sheet refers to.

Section A

This must be the same applicant as in section 3. You cannot include designs owned by other people with this application.

Section B

Say the product that you have designed, or which product or products the design is normally applied to, for example a watch or a teapot. If the design is surface decoration, say the products that the decoration is most likely to be applied to e.g. textiles, wallpaper or clothing. And if the design is the shape of something, say the product or products that the shape is applied to e.g. a table or a vase. Please avoid long descriptions. We want to know which products the design is applied to or used for so that we can accurately classify the design for our public search database. This is so that when anyone searches our website for designs of various products they will see your design registration in the product types where you are most likely to use it. We will restrict the classifications of each design to a maximum of four different product types, and may change the product descriptions that you give to ensure correct classification. These product classifications will not restrict the design registration in any way at all. It is the design itself that will be protected, regardless of which products you say are the most likely to be used.

Section C

Your illustrations should show enough different views of the design so that there is no doubt about exactly what you want to register. So tell us how many views of the design you have included.

Section D

Designs of a repeating surface pattern (RSP) should show the complete pattern and be surrounded by enough of the repeat to fully illustrate the entire pattern. So if you are, for example, applying for the design of wallpaper or textile materials that are intended to cover a large area, make sure that your design illustration covers more than the whole pattern, and say "RSP" in section D. Otherwise we will treat the design exactly as it appears in the illustrations, without any repeat.

Section E

You may give a brief description of any design features that you feel may not be adequately shown in the illustrations, such as lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and materials used.

Section F

In some cases you may want to protect the design that is applied to only part of a product. In these cases, you must clearly identify the design features on the part or parts of the product you want to protect. You can do this by (i) colouring the part or parts in question, (ii) drawing the part or parts in question in solid lines and the other parts in dotted lines, or, (iii) carefully circling the part or parts in red ink. You must do this on all the views of the product in your illustrations. You should then include a "partial disclaimer" in section F worded something like "The features of the design for which protection is sought are the [lines, contours, colours, shape, texture or materials as appropriate] of the part or parts of the product shaded in blue in the illustrations". Limitations and disclaimers will restrict the scope of the registered design.

Section G

If you wish you may defer publication and therefore registration of the design for up to 12 months. The period for deferment cannot be extended. If you do not want us to proceed to publication and registration as soon as possible, please say "No" and make sure that you have filled in a "Designs Ready Reckoner" sheet to pay only the application fee at this stage. You will need to fill in a Form DF2C and pay us the publication fee and an extra fee for deferral when you want to have the design published. You must not forget to do this as the design application will be automatically deemed abandoned after 12 months and you will not then gain a registration at all. See the notes at section 5 for more information about the fees you must send with a Form DF2C.

Section H

If you are claiming priority from an earlier design application made in another country, provide details in this section. You must apply within 6 months of your earlier application.

Section I

Only fill in this section if you are not the person or company named in the priority application in section H.

Third page

You should use this sheet for illustrations of your design. If you need to copy the sheet to show the different views of the design then please do so, and show the continuation of the design number, for example, design number 4 continued out of a total of 7.

Your illustrations should show enough of the design so that there is no doubt about exactly what you want to register. If your design is for the shape of a product, the best views are often those which show the product in perspective. Perspective views show how the design looks from different angles and can reveal important details that do not always show up in a single sided view. Your illustrations can be drawings or photographs or, (in cases where the design is on a flat surface) samples. They should be presented on A4 size paper. Use only one side of the sheet of paper and, where possible, show the product in an upright position. You should label each different view in your set of illustrations, for example "front view" "view of one side" and so on. If colour is meant to form part of the design features then you should show the exact colour or colours in the illustrations or sample of the design. If colour is not meant to form part of the design features, or, if you want to protect the design in any colour, you can disclaim the colour by adding words such as "No claim is made for the colour or colours shown".

If you are having difficulty in showing your design on paper, then you may send us samples of the designs that are not harmful or perishable and which can be held by hand. We regret that we cannot return such samples. If you wish to make an application by using samples of products instead of paper illustrations then you should say so in a covering letter, or phone our Information Centre on 0300 300 2000 and ask to meet with a Designs Examiner who will help you fill out your application form.