Page 18 - The Katten Kattwalk - Fall 2025 - Issue 30
P. 18
LONDON LEGAL LENS
Major Changes to
UK Design Law Under
Consultation, Including
AI-Generated Designs
By Nathan Smith and Anita Hodea
he UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) used. The UK government’s preferred position is
has launched a major consultation on to remove this option unless clear evidence shows
modernising the United Kingdom’s design it encourages significant investment in generative
Tprotection system (Design Consultation) — AI. This would align the United Kingdom with other
a move that could lead to the most significant major jurisdictions, such as the United States and the
transformation of design law in decades. The European Union, which do not protect designs solely
proposed reforms affect the United Kingdom’s £100 generated by AI.
billion design sector, which supports around 80,000 The outcome of the Design Consultation will be
businesses and nearly two million jobs, including particularly relevant for fashion brands that are
those in fashion, and are aimed at strengthening the increasingly incorporating AI and other technologies
United Kingdom’s position as a global leader in design into their creative processes, which is transforming
and innovation. how designers work and how collections are
AI-Generated Designs developed. Businesses will need to carefully assess
how to leverage AI tools while effectively managing
A central question for the Design Consultation is the commercialization and protection of their design
whether designs created without a human author, assets.
such as those generated entirely by artificial
intelligence (AI), should continue to qualify for Broader Reforms Under Consideration
protection. Current UK law, under the Copyright, The Design Consultation sets out reforms to simplify,
Designs and Patents Act 1988, allows protection strengthen and future-proof design protection. Key
for computer-generated designs without human proposals include:
authorship, but this provision appears to be rarely
18 katten.com/fashionlaw
