S T A T U T O R Y  I N S T R U M E N T S  
2014 No. 2330 (C. 100) 
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 
The Intellectual Property Act 2014 (Commencement No . 3 and 
Transitional Provisions) Order 2014 
Made - - - - 28th August 2014 
The Secretary of State makes the following Order in  exercise of powers conferred by sections 
23(1)(b), 24(1) and 24(2) of the Intellectual Prope rty Act 2014( a). 
Citation and interpretation 
1.  This Order may be cited as the Intellectual Proper ty Act 2014 (Commencement No. 3 and 
Transitional Provisions) Order 2014. 
2.  In this Order— 
“the Act” means the Intellectual Property Act 2014;  and 
“the commencement date” means 1st October 2014. 
Provisions of the Act coming into force on the comm encement date 
3.  The day appointed for the coming into force of the  provisions of the Act specified in the 
Schedule is the commencement date. 
Transitional provision regarding ownership of desig n 
4.  Section 6(1) of the Act does not apply to— 
(a)  any design created before the commencement date, or  
(b)  any design created on or after the commencement dat e in pursuance of a commission 
(irrespective of whether the design was commissione d before, on or after the 
commencement date) provided that— 
(i)  the designer and the commissioner of the design hav e entered into a contract relating 
to the commission of the design, and 
(ii)  the contract was entered into before the commenceme nt date. 
Transitional provision regarding marking products w ith internet links 
5.  Section 15 of the Act does not apply in respect of  the infringement of a patent referred to in 
section 62(1) of the Patents Act 1977( b) where the infringement occurred before the 
commencement date. 
                                                                                                                                            
(a) 2014 c.18. 
(b) 1977 c.37; section 62(1) is amended by section 15 (1) of the Act (section 15(1) is brought into force  by this Order).  2 Transitional provision regarding the patent opinion s service 
6.  Section 16(4) of the Act applies where a request f or an opinion is made under section 74A(1) 
of the Patents Act 1977( a) on or after the commencement date. 
Transitional provision regarding sharing informatio n with overseas patent offices 
7.  Section 18 of the Act does not apply in respect of  an application for a patent under the Patents 
Act 1977 whose date of filing is before the commenc ement date. 
Transitional provision regarding payment of Europea n patent (UK) renewal fees following 
restoration 
8. —(1) Paragraph 6 of the Schedule to the Act applies  where, under the European Patent 
Convention, a European patent (UK) is restored on o r after the commencement date. 
(2)  In this article, “European Patent Convention” and “ European patent (UK)” have the 
meanings given to those terms in section 130(1) of the Patents Act 1977( b). 
 
 
 
 Baroness Neville-Rolfe  
 Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Busines s, Innovation and Skills 
28th August 2014 Department for Business, Innovatio n and Skills 
 
                                                                                                                                            
(a) 1977 c.37; section 74A was inserted by section 13 (1) of the Patents Act 2004 (c.16) and is amended b y section 16(1) of the 
Act (section 16(1) is brought into force by this Or der). 
(b) 1977 c.37; there are amendments to section 130(1)  which are not relevant to this Order.  3  SCHEDULE Article 3 
PROVISIONS COMING INTO FORCE ON THE COMMENCEMENT 
DATE 
Unregistered Design Right 
Section 1 (meaning of “design” and “original”) 
Section 2 (ownership of design) 
Section 3 (qualification criteria) 
Section 4 (infringement: exceptions) 
 
Registered Community Design 
Section 5 (infringement: exception) 
 
Registered Designs 
Section 6 (ownership of design and application for registration) 
Section 7 (right of prior use) 
Section 8 (accession to the Hague Agreement) 
Section 9(1) (the register: changes of ownership) 
Section 10(1) (legal proceedings) 
Section 11 (opinions service) 
Section 12 (use of directions by the registrar) 
Section 13 (offence of unauthorised copying etc. of  design in course of business) 
Section 14 (offences committed by partnerships) 
 
Patents 
Section 15 (infringement: marking product with inte rnet link) 
Section 16 (opinions service) 
Section 17 (Unified Patent Court) 
Section 18 (sharing information with overseas paten t offices) 
Section 19 and the Schedule (minor amendments to th e Patents Act 1977) 
 
Miscellaneous 
Section 20 (freedom of information: exemption for r esearch) 
Section 21 (reporting duty) 
  4 EXPLANATORY NOTE 
(This note is not part of the Order) 
This Order is the third commencement order made und er the Intellectual Property Act 2014 (c.18) 
(“the Act”). It brings into force on 1st October 20 14 sections 1 to 8, 9(1), 10(1) and 11 to 21 of the  
Act and the Schedule to the Act. 
Sections 1 to 4 of the Act amend the Copyright, Des igns and Patents Act 1988 (c.48) in relation to 
the UK unregistered design right. In particular, pr ovision is made in relation to the definition of 
unregistered design right, the initial ownership of  unregistered designs, qualification criteria for 
unregistered designs and exceptions to infringement  of unregistered design right. 
Section 5 of the Act amends the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 in relation to designs 
registered at the European Union’s design registry (the Office for Harmonization in the Internal 
Market) whose registrations also cover the UK and, in particular, makes provision in relation to 
exceptions to infringement of UK copyright associat ed with such designs. 
Sections 6 to 14 of the Act amend the Registered De signs Act 1949 (c.88) in relation to UK 
registered designs. In particular, provision is mad e in relation to the initial ownership of designs, 
the identity of the applicant for the registration of a design, third party rights, UK entry to the 
Hague System for the International Registration for  Industrial Designs, changes in ownership and 
the register of designs, remedies for innocent infr ingement, the new opinions service, use of 
directions by the registrar, the offence of unautho rised copying and offences committed by 
partnerships. With respect to the Hague System and the opinions service, these provisions will 
have full effect when secondary legislation is made  under the respective powers introduced by 
sections 8 and 11 of the Act. 
Sections 15 to 19 of the Act and the Schedule to th e Act amend the Patents Act 1977 (c.37) in 
relation to patents. In particular, provision is ma de in relation to the recovery of damages for 
patent infringement, the patent opinions service, t he Unified Patent Court, sharing information 
with overseas patent offices, patent applications i n or for World Trade Organisation members, 
third party rights, the adjustment of time periods to the anniversary date model, representatives of 
the Attorney General in proceedings, recipients of confidential disclosures in disputes as to Crown 
use, the correction of a typographical error and fe es payable in respect of European patents (UK) 
that were revoked but subsequently restored. 
Section 20 of the Act amends the Freedom of Informa tion Act 2000 (c.36) to provide an 
exemption for information obtained in the course of , or derived from, a programme of research 
where a report of the research is to be published. 
Section 21 of the Act requires the Secretary of Sta te to present to Parliament each year a report 
that sets out how, in the Secretary of State’s opin ion, the activities of the Patent Office have 
supported innovation and growth in the UK. 
Articles 4 to 8 of this Order set out transitional provisions regarding sections 6(1) (ownership of 
UK registered design), 15 (patent infringement: mar king products with internet links), 16(4) 
(patent opinions service) and 18 (sharing informati on with overseas patent offices) of the Act and 
paragraph 6 of the Schedule (fees payable in respec t of restored European patents (UK)) to the 
Act. 
  5 NOTE AS TO EARLIER COMMENCEMENT ORDERS 
(This note is not part of the Order) 
The following provisions of the Intellectual Proper ty Act 2014 have been brought into force by 
commencement orders made before the date of this Or der: 
 
Provision Date of Commencement S.I. No. 
Section 10(2) (partially) 15th July 2014 2014/1715 (C.74) 
Section 23 1st August 2014 2014/2069 (C.94) 
   
 
  
  
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http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2014/2330