Registering a model of an existing item as a protected design in UK
<p>The UK maintains a database of "registered designs", and by registering your design  here (in my basic understanding) this affords some degree of legal protection against others copying your design, or making a similar design.</p>

<p>In this case however (<a href="https://www.registered-design.service.gov.uk/find/6043482" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.registered-design.service.gov.uk/find/6043482</a>), someone has registered a design that's a model of a locomotive. Since the design is deliberately a rather faithful, scaled down copy of the original, what implications does this have if I, or someone else wanted to make a model of this same locomotive? It would, by definition, have to be incredibly similar to the design shown, maybe even identical in many aspects. Certainly an average member of the public wouldn't likely be able to tell the difference.</p>

<p>Does this mean that I'm effectively barred from making a model of this same locomotive (which seems ludicrous), or would the circumstances here mean that the registered design is invalid?</p>

<p>You would technically be banned from making a design that looked too similar to that, yes.</p>

<p>However, you could file an application for invalidity since the design may not be "novel". 
<a href="https://mewburn.com/resource/uk-registered-designs-the-basics/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://mewburn.com/resource/uk-registered-designs-the-basics/</a></p>

united-kingdom intellectual-property