Business Legal Services
Design Rights
Protect and enforce your design right with the help of our experienced lawyers.
What would be the impact if your new product design was copied as soon as it was launched? Often, when design infringement goes unchecked, it can quickly make a product no longer commercially viable. Whether you decide to use a registered design as a standalone form of protection or used in conjunction with other types of intellectual property rights, they are an extremely powerful way to protect the visual appearance of your product.
Our design rights lawyers will work alongside you to help you navigate common obstacles related to design rights, from registration, exploitation to enforcement.
Experts in intellectual property law
Our team can assist you across all areas of design rights, including:
How we help designers
Our design rights lawyers help you protect, enforce and defend the appearance of your products. We advise you on registered and unregistered design rights, including issues relating to the shape, configuration and overall look of a product, and support you where your designs have been copied or you are facing allegations of infringement.
Protecting the appearance of your product
You’ve invested time, energy, and creativity to design something unique. Unless you register your design, a competitor could copy your design or use it without your permission. Our support extends beyond the registration of a design. We will help you identify the most appropriate registration route for your design based on your businesses requirements, whether that is with the UK IPO, EUIPO, WIPO or through a national registration. We will also help you secure priority for your designs and can protect your designs through the use of NDAs and confidentiality agreements.
Resolving design disputes
Given the high volume of designs being created, it’s almost inevitable that at some point in time you will face infringement issues. Whether you own a design right that has been copied or you have been accused of infringement, our solicitors will use their experience to help you resolve a dispute in a way that will cause minimum disruption to your business. Throughout the process we will be transparent about costs and the likelihood of success, allowing you to make informed decisions on how to resolve the dispute.
Developing strategies to help you profit from your designs
Working alongside the commercial law team we can conduct IP audits to help you identify valuable designs in your business. Once you have registered your designs, we will help you develop a strategy that not only highlights the strengths of your designs but one that also connects you with businesses that are interested in purchasing or licensing your design.
How we do things differently
Flexible pricing plans: Keeping costs under control is particularly important for designers who produce large volumes of designs and file registrations on a regular basis. Our subscription pricing model allows you to receive design right support from senior lawyers for a fraction of the cost of traditional law firms.
Full-service law firm: We work closely with our commercial law team to draft agreements that allow you to make the most of any opportunities that come your way. We will identify and manage risks, whilst giving your teams the flexibility they need to benefit financially from your designs.
Finding the right legal partner
Why work with Harper James
Choose a legal partner you can trust: we’ll help protect your goals, your business and your people so you can move forward with confidence and focus on growing your business.
Affordable, transparent and predictable pricing
Clear itemised invoices, subscription plans with up to 50% discount, and fixed fee products help you plan and manage legal spend – with no nasty surprises.
Proven track record and measurable results
We’ve supported over 8,000 businesses since 2014, with an ‘Excellent’ rating on Trustpilot and a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 60+ from monthly client surveys.
Straight-talking, responsive advice
We’re here to make things easier, not add complexity. That means fast response times, practical expert legal advice delivered in plain English, and dedicated client service and account management support.
Risk and compliance assured
We’re an SRA regulated firm, but more importantly, we build quality, data, and compliance best practice into everything we do.
Appointing a legal partner is a big decision. That’s why we’re open about our values, culture and model, so you can see what makes us tick. And because a productive partnership starts with understanding, we always begin with a conversation – listening to your goals, pressures and plans, then tailoring our support to fit.
Testimonials
What our clients say
Why choose our design lawyers
Our design rights solicitors bring a wealth of experience in developing successful IP strategies, managing IP exploitation, and resolving disputes.
We are experts in identifying, protecting, and enforcing clients’ rights across extensive intellectual property portfolios, both in the UK and abroad. Our international experience means that we can advise you on the most appropriate registration routes for your designs and navigate the nuances of international design law. This experience is particularly valuable, especially now that many infringements taken place online, often by businesses operating outside of the UK.
Our team consists of professionals recruited from the top 100 UK law firms or large international businesses. We have advised clients as both external consultants and as in house counsel. This experience allows us to communicate in a way that is clear, pragmatic, and focused on helping you achieve your commercial goals. For more information about our team, click here:
Top ranked SME focused firm
"Harper James is a one-stop shop for anything legal. It has excellent breadth, with experience on a large number of deals and multiple departments for different legal areas."
Chambers and Partners 2026
Pricing and service plans
Legal support designed
to fit your business needs
Our three transparent service plans are designed to give you the widest possible access to high-quality legal advice, whatever the size and nature of your business:
Engage
Flexible access to senior solicitors at highly competitive rates
An alternative to our subscription plans, offering access to full service legal expertise on a project-by-project basis.
Enable
Purpose built legal support for start-ups and smaller businesses
Monthly subscription plan for £239 per month, with £159 monthly credit and access to all legal services at 50% discount on our Standard Rates.
Extend
Comprehensive legal partnership for established businesses
Fully account managed and scalable annual subscription plan with support from a curated team of partners and senior solicitors, with up to 33% discount on our Standard Rates.
