EU design registration
A registered EU design protects the appearance of a product, such as its shape or surface pattern, rather than its name or function, across all 27 member states through one application. You have 12 months from first public disclosure to file without your own launch destroying the design's novelty, and registration typically takes two to four weeks.
What are the EUIPO design fees in 2026?
EUIPO charges €350 to register and publish one EU design and €125 for each further design in the same application, under Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2024/2822, in force since 1 May 2025. There is no lower rate from the eleventh design any more.
| EUIPO fee | Our fee | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 design | €350 | €480 | €830 |
| Each additional design, same application | €125 | quoted | |
| Deferred publication, first design | €40 | ||
| Deferred publication, each additional design | €20 | ||
| Prior design search with opinion | €400 |
Since the EU design reform of 1 May 2025 the official fee is a single amount covering registration and publication, replacing the two separate fees that existed before.
Filing several designs in one application is much cheaper per design, which matters if you have a product range or several variants of the same item.
EU design, one design
- EUIPO official fee€350
- Our service fee€480
- EU SME Fund, 75% of the official fee-€263
Total€830
You pay the full amount at filing. The €263 comes back afterwards, and only if the voucher was granted before the application was filed.
EUIPO official fee, €350. Our service fee, €480. Total, €830. EU SME Fund, 75% of the official fee, €263, reimbursed after filing.
What qualifies
The design must be new and have individual character. New means no identical design has been made available to the public. Individual character means it produces a different overall impression on an informed user than what already exists.
Registrable: furniture, packaging, jewellery, textiles, tools, toys, footwear, vehicle parts, graphic user interfaces, icons, typefaces.
Not registrable: features dictated solely by technical function, and features that must be reproduced exactly to connect to another product so it can perform its function.
The 12-month grace period
You have twelve months from first public disclosure to file. Within that window your own disclosure does not destroy the novelty of your own design.
This exists so you can test the market before committing to a filing. It also means a product launched more than twelve months ago cannot be registered, because your own launch is now prior art against you.
If you launched recently, file now. The date of first disclosure is the one that matters, not the date you decided to protect it.
How long it takes
Two to four weeks, which is much faster than a trademark. EUIPO does not examine designs for novelty or individual character. It checks that the application is formally correct and that the design is not contrary to public policy, then registers it.
Nobody checks whether your design is actually new. That question only gets asked if somebody later applies to invalidate the registration, which is why a prior design search before filing is worth the €400.
How long protection lasts
Five years from the filing date, renewable in five-year blocks up to 25 years. EUIPO's renewal fee rises at each renewal, under the same Annex I.
| Renewal | Years covered | EUIPO fee per design |
|---|---|---|
| First | 6 to 10 | €150 |
| Second | 11 to 15 | €250 |
| Third | 16 to 20 | €400 |
| Fourth | 21 to 25 | €700 |
Paying in the six months after the deadline adds 25% to the renewal fee.
Deferred publication
You can ask EUIPO to keep the design unpublished for up to 30 months from filing, for €40 for the first design. This is useful when the product has not launched and you do not want competitors seeing it on the register.
Unregistered design right
An unregistered EU design right arises automatically on first disclosure in the EU and lasts three years. It only protects against deliberate copying, and you have to prove the copying happened.
A registration protects against any design giving the same overall impression, whether copied or independently created, and you do not have to prove anything about the other side's state of mind. It is a much stronger right.
EU funding covers 75%
The EUIPO SME Fund reimburses 75% of the official fee for EU SMEs, taking a single design to about €570. The voucher has to be granted before you file.