A practical guide to the UKIPO's clarified registration practice

In brief

The UKIPO has issued a Design Practice Notice, clarifying its approach to registering digital designs – including animated designs, graphic icons, and graphical user interfaces (GUIs). The Notice is in response to growing demand, as well as uncertainty caused by existing guidance that had not kept pace with evolving technology and filing practice.
The Notice sets out key practical requirements for design applicants on what they should and should not include in their application to secure protection for their digital and animated designs, and highlights where examiner objections may be triggered.
Differences between UK and other jurisdictions' filing rules (particularly given the EU's ongoing overhaul of its design law framework) mean that designers seeking protection beyond the UK must carefully co-ordinate their international filing strategy and plan across all target jurisdictions from the outset.

What is the UKIPO Notice about?

On 21 April 2026, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) issued a Designs Practice Notice (DPN 01/26) relating to digital designs, which applies with immediate effect. The Notice revises and clarifies the UKIPO's approach to registering designs that are graphic symbols and icons, graphical user interfaces (GUIs), and animated or dynamic designs. It replaces previous guidance on these types of designs.

There have been an increasing number of applications for digital designs, but guidance has not kept pace with evolving technologies and design filing practice. For example, in the absence of support for animated file formats, there has been uncertainty as to how animated designs should be represented. Applicants who have filed multiple static views of an animated design (without indicating that the design is animated) have faced objections that each view constitutes a separate design.

The UKIPO is considering, in the future, introducing animated file formats as part of its digital transformation programme. However, in the short term, the guidance in the Notice provides clarity to designers looking to file these types of designs.

What are digital designs and can they be registered?

A digital design refers to the visual appearance of a product displayed on a screen, including computer icons, screen saver graphics, animated designs, the visual layout of software interfaces (GUIs) and web pages. The growing prevalence of digital interfaces across virtually every sector means that a wide range of businesses now have a commercial interest in protecting the visual appearance of their digital products.

These digital designs can be registered as designs in the UK, provided they meet the requirements of the Registered Designs Act 1949 (including novelty and individual character). As design protection corresponds to a product's appearance only, registering the visual characteristics of a digital design will not protect any aspect of its functionality.

The representation of the digital design must convey an overall impression that is clear to both the Registrar and to third parties, and that overall impression must be for a single, unitary design. A person inspecting the register must be able to work out clearly, easily and unambiguously what the overall impression of the design is. This is more difficult for designs comprising animation or other forms of movement, particularly as current filing requirements require the design to be represented using static representations.

Digital designs are particularly valuable in certain sectors. For example, the gaming industry has long been at the forefront in this area, given the importance of in-game icons, animated loading screens, characters, gaming interfaces, and other GUI elements which are key to the player experience and brand identity of popular titles. These are frequently copied or imitated by rivals or copycats, making registered design protection a valuable tool in preserving product value.

Beyond gaming, sectors like financial services (with digital wallet dashboards), healthcare (with health management applications), automotive (with in-car infotainment systems) and media (with streaming platform navigation panes), among others, are increasingly investing in digital designs to improve user experience and differentiate themselves from competitors.

What does the UKIPO Notice say?

Animated designs

Static graphic symbols and icons fall within the definition of a design and may be registered. However, where applicants file multiple views of an icon intending to convey the different stages of an animation, without making clear that the design is animated, the UKIPO will object on the basis that the application contains more than one design. The applicant must provide additional information to indicate that the subject of protection is an animated design, the various stages of which are conveyed within each representation.

Graphic symbols and icons that contain animation or movement will usually be acceptable, so long as the overall impression can be ascertained clearly, easily and unambiguously from the representations filed. Applicants should use a separate view (up to a maximum of 12 are allowed in the UK) for each step of the animation, and make clear in the indication of the product that the design is an animation (e.g. by stating "animated graphic user interface" or "animated graphic icon" in the application form).

Applicants should use as many views as possible (up to the limit of 12) to provide detail on the progression of the animation. The views should show clearly how the animation progresses through its various stages, and it must be clear to the examiner, and to somebody viewing the register, that the application relates to a single animation.

This highlights wider considerations around the impact of local requirements and the maximum number of representations. For example, until recently, the maximum number of representations permissible in the EU was seven (this limit has now been removed from the EU Design Regulation, with a new limit expected to be set by secondary legislation at EU level on 1 July 2026). This could impact UK designers who wish to claim priority from a UK application for an animated design, as they may need to reduce the number of their representations, impacting not only the scope of their protection, but potentially their ability to claim priority from the earlier UK design.

Careful thought should therefore be given to international filing strategy from the outset, ideally before the UK application is filed, so that the chosen representations work as effectively as possible across all target jurisdictions.

GUIs

The same considerations regarding a clear and unambiguous overall impression for a single, unitary design apply to GUIs. Where separate screens are linked only by the ability of a user to navigate from one to the next (particularly where the appearance varies depending on user input such as button selection) an examiner will consider the representations to show different and distinct GUIs rather than a single design, and will require each design to be filed separately. Applicants should therefore consider seeking separate protection for each such screen.

Disclaimers

Applicants may include a disclaimer to clarify which elements of their design are within or outside the scope of protection sought. Where disclaimers are filed, the scope of the design will be limited to (1) the overall impression created by the combination of the static representations and (2) the disclaimer (for example, to make clear that protection is sought for a specific transition between static views or for a specific sequence). However, where a detailed level of interpretation is required to assess the design, an application may fall foul of the requirement to create a clear and unambiguous overall impression. If a lengthy or complex disclaimer is needed to precisely understand the scope of design protection, the examiner may raise an objection.

Where a disclaimer is filed to overcome an objection by the UKIPO, the examiner will assess whether it significantly alters the design. If it does, the application will need to be re-dated to the date on which the design was modified by the disclaimer. Applicants should provide sufficient representations and if necessary, a disclaimer, from the outset.

What is the position in the EU?

The EU has recently undergone its most significant overhaul of design law since 2002, introducing substantial amendments to the EU Design Regulation 2024/2822 (EUDR) and the accompanying EU Design Directive 2024/2823, to bring the legislation up to speed with modern-day design practices and requirements (see our article discussing the EU changes: Revamping designs: Changes to the EU design framework). The amended Regulation has been in effect since 1 May 2025 (with secondary legislation expected to be introduced on 1 July 2026) and Member States have been given until 9 December 2027 to transpose the Directive into national law.

For digital designs, in particular, the EU reforms are significant. The definition of a "design" has been broadened to include animation, movement and transition, while the definition of "product" has also been revised to explicitly include non-physical items, thereby clarifying and emphasising that products include graphic works, logos, user interfaces and other non-physical forms. This gives the EU framework considerably greater statutory clarity than the UK currently has (despite the latest guidance).

Under the new EU framework, a design can be represented not only by static images, but also by dynamic and animated images, using drawings, photographs, videos, computer imaging or computer modelling. This will be introduced by the forthcoming secondary legislation in July 2026. The EUIPO indicated in a recent webinar on the reforms that a video clip would be one way of reproducing animated icons or GUIs, but the technical procedures for filing these types of formats are not yet available. In the interim, the EUIPO explains that an animated design could be depicted as a series of still frames in the order that they appear – essentially the same "flip-book" approach currently required by the UKIPO.

While the seven representation limit has been removed from EU legislation, in practice this still applies until secondary legislation is introduced on 1 July 2026 to determine the maximum number of representations permissible. Designers still need to adhere to the current limit until this is determined.

For UK-based designers with interests in the EU, the practical takeaway is that the EU framework is evolving rapidly and in broadly the same direction as the UKIPO's updated practice. However, differences in representation limits, filing procedures, and the varying pace of implementation mean that EU and UK filing strategies must be planned in parallel and carefully co-ordinated, rather than treated as interchangeable.

What practical steps should designers take?

When filing for protection of their digital designs in the UK, designers should:

Plan international filing strategy at the outset: if protection beyond the UK is required, consider the representation limits and filing requirements of all target jurisdictions. Designing filing strategies around the most restrictive jurisdiction's requirements at the outset – whilst ensuring the UK application remains clear and compliant – will achieve the best position to claim priority successfully and obtain consistent, enforceable protection in desired territories.
File animated designs as separate views: subject to any international requirements, use the full suite of 12 separate representations available in the UK, each depicting a distinct stage of the animation, in order to convey the sequence clearly.
Describe the product accurately: state in the application form that the design is an "animated graphic icon" or "animated graphical user interface" to avoid the examiner treating each view as a separate, static design.
Consider disclaimers proactively: if the animation sequence is not entirely self-explanatory from the representations alone, include a concise, plain-language disclaimer explaining how the transition works. Avoid complex or lengthy disclaimers, which risk triggering objections.
Protect each GUI screen separately: where a GUI involves multiple screens that vary with user interaction, file separate applications for each distinct screen rather than attempting to cover them in a single application.

For more information on the UKIPO's Design Notice and other design protection queries, please get in touch with our Designs team.