How to look for records of... Intellectual property: registered designs 1839-1991

1. Why use this guide?

Among The National Archives’ most visually captivating collections is its stunning array of almost three million designs used for textiles, glasswork, metalwork, ceramics, furniture, wallpaper and other decorative arts and manufactured objects. We hold copies of these designs in the form of drawings, paintings, photographs and product samples, sent to the Designs Registry, part of the Board of Trade, to be registered for copyright protection between 1839 and 1991.

This guide explains how you can locate individual images or samples of these designs, known as ‘representations’, within our collection. There is also advice on how to find other details about each design, including the identity of the copyright owners or ‘proprietors’ – usually the manufacturer or retailer rather than the designer.

As registration was not compulsory, there are many commercially produced designs which you will not find in our records.

See our other intellectual property guides for advice on trade marks, patents and copyright.

For advice on modern-day registrations contact the Intellectual Property Office.

2. What, why and how designs were registered

Until 1839 there had been copyright protection in the UK for some textiles, but most areas of the decorative arts, such as glass, metalwork, ceramics and wallpapers, had no copyright protection at all. This changed with the 1839 Designs Registration Act which provided protection for all ‘ornamental’ designs.

From 1839, to apply for copyright protection you had to submit your design to the newly created Designs Registry, part of the Board of Trade and later to fall under the jurisdiction of the Patent Office. Registration protected the decorative elements of the design from being copied and manufactured without permission. Details of how an item worked – the mechanics of the design – were protected separately, by patents of invention (though patents did slip into the registered design records sometimes).

Today designs are registered with the Intellectual Property Office.

Although the system used for registering designs continued to change as subsequent Acts of Parliament extended and amended design copyright law, from 1842 the process always involved two basic record types: representations and registers.

3. Record types: representations and registers

When a design was submitted for copyright protection, details were added to two different types of records: design registers and representation books.

3.1 Representations

Representations were drawings, paintings, photographs or samples of the design, such as wallpaper or textiles, submitted at the time of registration. We hold representations for around 2,950,000 designs.

The representations were pasted into large bound volumes, and later stored in archival boxes, and have a registered design number stamped on them. The same number is recorded in the register so that you can cross refer between the two record types.

3.2 Registers

In the registers were recorded:

• the registered design number
• the name and address of the copyright owner, or ‘proprietor’ (usually the manufacturer or retailer rather than the designer)
• the date of registration
• sometimes a description of the design (for example ‘printed fabric’ or ‘dinner plate’)

At The National Archives, these registers and representations have been split into various record series, each one determined by the most recent Act of Parliament in place when they were registered.

4. How to locate records: search methods

This section outlines the different search methods you can use to locate registered design records but for advice on which of these methods you can use for a particular period or set of years, see sections 5 to 11.

A search for a representation or register entry for any design begins in our online catalogue. The search methods that you can use depends very much on the date the design was registered and the parliamentary act applicable to its registration. However, if you do not know which date or act apply to a particular design, all is not lost – for some designs from some years you can search using other details you may know about them.

Successful searches will produce catalogue references (which for registered designs always begin with ‘BT’). Once you have found a catalogue reference for a representation or register that you would like to see you will need either to visit us, so that you can see the original in person, or request a copy to be sent to you (£).

Although vast numbers of registered design records survive, there are instances of registration numbers without corresponding records, and of numbers that were not used.

4.1 Searching by item type or details of owner

Following a series of projects at The National Archives to enhance catalogue descriptions, some of the online catalogue listings for representations and registers contain more detail than others. Where listings have been enhanced the extra details include:

• Description of item (for example, lamp, letter weight or belt)
• Name of proprietor
• Address of proprietor
• Design number

You can search for individual designs using these details for the following design types and their respective record series:

• Designs registered between 1839 and 1842, in BT 42 (see section 5 for more detail)
• ‘Ornamental’ designs registered between 1842 and 1883, in BT 43 (see section 6 for more detail)
• ‘Useful’ designs registered between 1843 and 1884, in BT 45 (see section 8 for more detail)
• Provisional ornamental designs registered between 3 January 1851 and 24 November 1876) and between 11 December 1876 and 27 December 1883, in BT 47 (see section 9 for more detail)
• Designs registered in 1884 and between 28 December 1893 and 9 January 1895, in BT 51

In some instances, you can also search by proprietor using the indexes to proprietors which were created as part of the original records but you will need to visit us to use them. See the tables in sections 5 to 11 for details of which records come with indexes.

4.2 Searching by registered design number

Objects whose design has been registered should have a design number marked on them. However, in the case of wallpaper and textiles, usually used in sections, the design number is unlikely to be visible. If you know or can find a registered design number you should be able to find the respective register entry or representation in our collection, though it will be easier for some than for others.

When searching with a design number, it makes sense to start a search in BT 43 and, if your design is a ‘useful’ design (see section 8) in BT 45, as the designs in these series appear in our catalogue in individual detail, each with its respective design number. This is also true, though to a lesser extent, of BT 42, BT 47 and BT 51, of which only a small proportion has been catalogued in individual design detail. If searching in these series proves fruitless, you’ll need to consult the tables in sections 5 and 8 to 11 and follow the step by step instructions here below:

Search instructions

Let’s suppose we are looking for the representation of a glass vase with design number 52300. If you did not know the date that the design was registered, and in some instances even if you did,  you would need to follow these steps:

• Using the tables in sections 5 and 9 to 11 of this guide, locate the design number range within which the number falls  (numbers were reused so you will need to consult all the tables as your number may appear in more than one table). In section 11 the range 518644–548919 includes our number, 523000.
• Ensure the number range applies to the right kind of classification for the object. As the table in section 11 indicates, the only classification details we have for the respective design number range is ‘non-textile designs’. So our glass vase fits with this classification.
• Use the table to establish which catalogue references to search within. The table in section 11 indicates that, for representations we should be looking between BT 52/1 and BT 52/55 for our design number range.
• Click on the respective catalogue reference links in the table. For 523000 we need to click on BT 52/1–55.
• Browse through the BT numbers until you get to one for the more specific design number range which includes your number. For 523000 you will need to browse to BT 52/12 (which covers design numbers 522919–523306).
• Click on the catalogue reference for the respective catalogue description page which includes your number and follow the on-screen instructions for your ordering and viewing options. This is the catalogue description page for BT 52/12.

• If you are viewing a representations book or register here at The National Archives in Kew you will need to page through the book until you arrive at the page for your design number.

4.3 Searching using a diamond mark (ornamental designs from 1842 to 1883 only)

Diamond marks were printed, engraved or otherwise marked on an object to authenticate its copyright registration and add a layer of protection against fraud. Diamond marks were only in use between 1842 and 1883 and only for objects registered under the terms of the 1842 Ornamental Designs Act.

If the object you are interested in has a diamond mark, you can use the mark to track down the registered design number and therefore the records themselves – see section 7 for more detail.

4.4 Searching in the Official Journal of the Patent Office at the British Library

The British Library holds copies of the Official Journal of the Patent Office, published weekly since the mid-19th century. The journal’s ‘Designs’ section lists registered designs by date of registration, class, design number, and proprietor, providing the address of the proprietor too. It may prove particularly useful when in search of a design registered after 1884 (from which point our own catalogue is short on descriptive detail).

5. Designs registered between 1839 and 1842

These records are for designs registered under the 1839 Copyright of Designs Act.

The act classified objects either as ‘paper hangings’ – in other words, wallpaper – or anything ‘other than paper hangings’, which included all other objects, from chandeliers to telescopes.

There were no registers during this short period, but two sets of representations, one of which had a certificate attached which included registration details (see image on the right). To find a specific representation, search in BT 42 with one or more of the following as your keywords:

• description of object – for example ‘hat’ or ‘vase’
• name of proprietor (person registering the item for copyright, usually the manufacturer or retailer and only sometimes the designer)
• address of proprietor
• registered design number

If the search proves fruitless, follow the search instructions in section 4.2.

7. Diamond marks, 1842-1883

Diamond marks were brought into use with the 1842 Ornamental Designs Act. They were no longer used once the 1842 Act was replaced by the 1883 Act (see section 8).

7.1 What were diamond marks?

Diamond marks were printed, engraved or otherwise marked on an object – for example, on the underside of china or the reverse of printed fabric. The mark was in the shape of a diamond with numbers and letters at specific points to represent the type of material used and the date of registration. However, in the case of wallpaper and textiles, usually used in sections, the diamond mark is not always visible and sometimes it may not be possible to locate it.

Diamond marks demonstrated that a design was registered, that it was designed in Britain and added a layer of protection against fraud. Between 1842 and 1883 they were issued with the registration number when a design was registered by the Patent Office, but only for designs registered under the terms of the 1842 Ornamental Designs Act.

7.2 How to interpret diamond marks

If the object you are interested in has a diamond mark, you should be able to date the design and therefore the object itself. The fact that a design has a diamond mark at all tells you that it dates from between 1842 and 1883.

Roman numeral codes

The mark at the top of the diamond was a number (usually in Roman numerals, though in the example above it appears as an ordinary Arabic numeral) representing the material the item was made from, as follows:

I Metal
II Wood
III Glass
IV Ceramic
V Wallpaper
VI Carpets
VII–XIII Textiles of various kinds, including dress and furnishing fabrics

Letter and number codes

The number codes on a diamond mark represent the day of registration and the letter codes represent the year or month the design was registered.

Use Appendix 1 to interpret month codes and Appendix 2 to interpret year codes.