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The UK group of AIPPI organises talks and research events concerning intellectual property throughout the year. Our events count for CPD under the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Bar Standards Board and IPReg requirements.

Most events provide drinks afterwards and the opportunity to meet the speakers and other attendees.

Attendance at our events is free for members and new applicants for membership.

For new membership applications or to enquire about our events,
please see the contact page.

Previous events

23 July 2025

Copyright Protection for Designs in the UK After Brexit

Wiggin LLP 22 Percy Street #Met Building London W1T 2BU
Speakers: Lionel Bently, Professor of Intellectual Property Law (Herchel Smith), Cambridge

Copyright Protection for Designs in the UK After Brexit – Are the Courts Rowing in Different Directions?

AIPPI UK is delighted to announce the return of Professor Lionel Bently for the latest instalment dealing with the thorny topic of copyright protection for designs in the UK. He has kindly previously discussed the repeal of section 52, and then the implications of Cofemel. This instalment will consider where we are post-Brexit: how did we get here, where are we now, and where might we be going.

In the long awaited WaterRower decision, the court held the elegant design of a rowing machine to be “original” within the applicable EU standard, but not a “work of artistic craftsmanship” (the pleaded category), finding that the concept of ‘artistry’ could not be read out of the statute under the well-known Marleasing doctrine. Meanwhile, in the Aga Rangemaster case, the judgment implied that the section 51 exception under the CDPA might have to be limited in the light of EU law, particularly Cofemel. The Aga case is under appeal but WaterRower is not.

The 2018 EU Withdrawal Act appeared to leave the law pretty much in stasis, though that left much for the UK courts still to settle. Then came REUL 2023 (the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act) which abolished the application of the Marleasing doctrine, while leaving in place the requirement that lower courts follow assimilated EU case-law (though appellate courts may choose to deviate from EU law where it is causing injustice or impeding the proper development of the law). The 2023 Act seems to point towards a level of transitional complexity, with potentially different conclusions for works created prior to the end of 2023 and those created more recently.