The five largest industrial design offices, known as ID5, have agreed to close the project on an informative user guide for digital design applications, co-led by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The decision was taken at the closed session of the 2026 ID5 annual meeting in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, on 5 and 6 November, according to a CNIPA report on 7 November. ID5 brings together CNIPA, the USPTO, EUIPO, the Japan Patent Office and Korea's Ministry of Intellectual Property (MOIP).
What the guide is meant to cover
According to the project page on the ID5 website, the project began in 2025 to collect the partner offices' general and special rules on the protectable subject matter of digital designs, application requirements and amendments, and to show users concisely how to seek protection for different types of digital design. Its planned output is a user guide for digital design applications. As of 9 November the guide had not been published, and the ID5 project page still listed the project as ongoing.
Other outcomes
At the closed session the offices also reviewed progress on their joint projects and adopted the 2026 ID5 Joint Statement and two new project proposals. The official report does not give the text of the statement or the names of the new projects.
The meeting was hosted by CNIPA. A user session on international cooperation for design innovation in emerging fields heard each office's latest policies and the results of ID5 projects, and gathered industry needs for design protection in emerging fields.
J&C notes: businesses planning to protect graphical user interfaces, virtual products or AR/VR designs in several of the five jurisdictions may want to watch for the guide's release; until then, applications should still be prepared to each office's current rules.
Source: www.cnipa.gov.cn | id-five.org
