On 8 July 2026 the EUIPO added Ukraine’s design data to DesignView, which now holds over 24.7 million industrial designs from 78 partner offices. Together with WIPO’s Global Design Database, it is the free starting point for any WIPO industrial design search before you launch a product or file a design. Here is how to use them, and where they fall short.
Update (October 2026): according to the draft report of the Hague Union Assembly, Ukraine also told the July 2026 WIPO Assemblies that it had signed an IP data exchange agreement with WIPO that will support the future availability of Ukrainian design data in the Global Design Database. WIPO, document H/A/46/2 Prov. (14 August 2026).
Key takeaways
- DesignView (EUIPO) covers over 24.7 million designs from 78 offices; WIPO’s Global Design Database covers Hague international registrations and 43 national or regional collections.
- Use both: their coverage overlaps but is not identical, and each office updates its data at its own pace.
- The EUIPO does not examine novelty or individual character, so a clean register is not proof that your design is free to use or to register.
- Prior art is not limited to registers: any disclosure that EU specialist circles could reasonably know about can destroy novelty.
What changed in DesignView?
In its news of 16 July 2026, the EUIPO reported that Ukraine’s design data was integrated into DesignView on 8 July 2026 through the EU-funded EU4IP project. The Office calls it the world’s largest free online design database.
WIPO’s database is growing too. On 2 July 2026 it added Norway’s collection of about 33,000 designs, bringing to 43 the number of national and regional offices whose data is available, on top of the Hague international collection.
DesignView or the WIPO Global Design Database?
| Feature | DesignView (EUIPO) | Global Design Database (WIPO) |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | EUIPO, with partner IP offices | WIPO |
| Content | The EUIPO’s register of EU designs plus the registries of partner national offices | Hague international registrations plus participating national and regional collections |
| Size (July 2026) | Over 24.7 million designs, 78 offices | 43 national or regional offices plus the Hague collection |
| What WIPO and the EUIPO say about it | Shows designs applied for or registered nationally that can threaten your application | Hague data updated weekly; national data when each office sends it; reports of up to 100 records |
| Cost | Free | Free |
The Global Design Database lets you search by keywords, names, classification, dates, country and priority, according to its FAQs. Its terms of use warn that data accuracy is not guaranteed and that results are not a legal opinion.
How to run a WIPO industrial design search step by step
- Define the product and its Locarno class. The Locarno Classification is the international system for classifying products in design registrations. The 15th edition has applied since 1 January 2025, and WIPO has announced that the 16th edition will enter into force on 1 January 2027.
- Search by class and product name in both databases, then filter by the offices of the markets where you will sell.
- Review the images, not just the data. The grid view in the Global Design Database shows mostly images, which helps you compare overall impression quickly.
- Check the status of each relevant design in the national or EU register: databases can lag behind.
- Look beyond registers: catalogues, online marketplaces, trade fairs and social media can all contain earlier designs.
What free design searches cannot tell you
The EUIPO’s examination page states that the Office does not check whether a design is new or has individual character. So registration proves nothing about validity, yours or anyone else’s.
Under Regulation (EU) 2026/715, a design is new if no identical design has been made available to the public (Article 6), and it has individual character if it produces a different overall impression on the informed user (Article 7). Article 8 treats almost any disclosure as prior art: publication, exhibition or use in trade, unless it could not reasonably have become known to specialist circles operating in the EU. Your own disclosures within the 12 months before filing are disregarded.
The EUIPO’s availability guidance adds that overall impression is a qualitative assessment made case by case.
What this means for your business
- Search before you finalise the design, not after tooling or launch.
- Cover every market on your roadmap. Where a country in Europe, Latin America or Africa does not feed the two databases, search its national register through a local correspondent.
- If you find a close earlier design, decide early whether to modify, negotiate, file anyway or challenge it.
If you need the search and the filing strategy handled together, our industrial design clearance and registration team can run it across the EU, Latin America and Africa.
When to commission a professional design search
- High tooling or launch costs. Conflicts found after production cost far more to fix.
- Crowded sectors such as consumer electronics, furniture or packaging, where small differences decide overall impression.
- Markets outside the two databases, which need national searches and local reading of results.
- Combined risks: if the shape also works as a brand, our trademark team can check marks in the same review.
Frequently asked questions
Is the WIPO Global Design Database free?
Yes. WIPO provides free access to Hague international registrations and to the collections of participating national and regional offices, which numbered 43 after Norway was added on 2 July 2026. A free account lets you save searches, and reports can include up to 100 records.
Do DesignView and the Global Design Database contain the same designs?
Not entirely. DesignView, run by the EUIPO, gathers EU designs and the registers of 78 partner offices; WIPO’s database centres on the Hague collection and 43 national or regional offices. Coverage overlaps, but update cycles and countries differ, so a sound clearance search uses both and then checks official registers.
If my search finds nothing, can I register and launch safely?
Not necessarily. The EUIPO does not examine novelty, and prior art includes unregistered disclosures such as catalogues, websites or trade fair displays. A clean database result lowers the risk but does not remove it. For valuable products, a professional search and opinion on overall impression is the safer basis.
Can IP Global Guard run a design clearance search for my company?
Yes. We search DesignView, the Global Design Database and national registers, review the closest results for overall impression and recommend whether to file, adapt or negotiate. For countries outside our direct reach, we coordinate local correspondents across Europe, Latin America and Africa from a single point of contact.
Clear your design with IP Global Guard
IP Global Guard, the IP services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, handles design searches, filings and portfolios with one strategy and one billing relationship across more than 25 jurisdictions; see our coverage in Europe, Latin America and Africa.
Send us images of the design, the product it will be used on and the countries where you plan to sell. We will run the search, flag the risks and propose the filing route. Request a design clearance search.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and reflects the position on its publication date.
Sources
- EUIPO, EUIPO strengthens global partnerships during Geneva meetings week (16 July 2026)
- WIPO, Designs of Norway added to the Global Design Database (2 July 2026)
- WIPO, Global Design Database: frequently asked questions
- WIPO, Global Design Database: terms of use
- WIPO, Locarno Classification 16th edition: advance publication (26 February 2026)
- EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2026/715 on European Union designs (OJ L, 30 March 2026)
- EUIPO, What happens when your design is examined?
- EUIPO, Designs search and availability
- WIPO, Hague Union Assembly, draft report H/A/46/2 Prov. (14 August 2026)
