A registered design application should be filed before the design has been made available to the public anywhere in the world.
However, in the UK and Europe and some other counties, any disclosure by the designer during a 12-month grace period preceding the filing of an application is not considered to make the design available to the public and so an application may still be filed if the design has been disclosed and the grace period has not expired.
However, it should be noted that the grace period only applies to disclosures made by the designer. If a third party discloses the same or similar design, which they have created independently, prior to the designer’s application date, then this disclosure could invalidate any design protection even if it is made during the grace period.
Therefore, our advice is to file an application as soon as possible and, preferably, before disclosing the design to the public.