Numerous industrial designs in India are protected by the Design legislation through the Design Registration Law (2000). Read this article to learn about the implications of the Design Act and to evaluate the requirements for submitting a design registration application in this nation.
Design registration falls under the category of intellectual property conservation. This kind of application when approved safeguards the design makers against counterfeits when their newly designed product is undergoing an industrial process. Design registration authorizes the proprietor to enjoy exclusive benefits for the next ten years. Also, there is a provision to further extend this limit by five years if desired by the applicant. This blog will serve as an ultimate guide to the reader who wishes to know everything regarding a successful design registration process in India.
What Do You Mean by a Design?
Section 2(d) of our Designs law (2001) clearly specifies the abstract features of a commodity that can be referred to officially as a design. A design manifests a pattern, shape, exclusive composition, or collection of colors that are incorporated into the manufacturing process of a product. This object can be three-dimensional, two-dimensional, or sometimes even a combination of both recognized by industrial standards.
These standardized processes are generally derived from manual, mechanical, or chemical activities which are judged by the jury in terms of perception when a finished product is put in front of them. The construction principles or unique mechanical aspects of producing a commodity or device are not considered while judging a design.
Design Essentials for Successful Registration
As per the Design law (2000), if a design maker wishes to protect a specific design under the provisions of the law then every requirement mentioned below must be met otherwise the application will turn void.
- The applicant must make sure that the proposed design does not interfere with the faith of the general audience or challenge their moral values
- In connection with the above point, it is necessary to make sure that the design put forward does not include or express obscene matters
- The design must be unique especially when an expert compares it to other well-known designs. Also, the design should not be too inspired by an amalgamation of existing designs
- The design has to be original on a global scale, i.e., there must not be a petition or filing of a similar design recorded before the registration application date
- Mechanical contrivance is acceptable only up to a certain level when it comes to judging a design that has been presented for protection under intellectual property rights
- A finished market commodity must bear the design and apart from being attractive to the eye, it is desired that the design will offer functional advantages as well.
Entity-Specific Criteria for a Design Registration in India
Any concerned individual or an assignee or any legal representative may request registration individually or through collaboration. The Design Act mentions every eligible candidate as a ‘person’, here the term ‘person’ signifies a legal firm, corporate body, small enterprise, or any partnership as well. NRIs can also apply for national design approval but for them, an intermediary legal executive or agent fixes the stream of processes.
Procedure to Be Followed for Design Registration
As conscious readers you must first note that the implications of a design registration status request get applied to specific authorities only, we have listed them for you:
- Office of Designs Controller General, located in Kolkata
- Patent office situated in Chennai
- The patent office of Mumbai
- The patent office of Delhi
- The patent office of Ahmadabad
Form – 1 is needed to apply for design registration in India. In this form the prospective patent owner must provide the below-mentioned information:
- The official name of the patent seeker
- Business address
- Applicant’s nationality
- If a corporate body is filing the application then data has to be shared concerning the location of the inauguration, also the entity’s past legal standpoint has to be presented to the best of the business owner’s knowledge
- Representation of the highlighted design has to be attached
- Each sub-class and class of an application following the Locarno Classification manifesting the design
- The trade name of the product bearing the proposed design
A minimum of two design specimens must be presented for inspection if the proposed design is two-dimensional in nature. For three-dimensional objects a couple of design copies from five different perspectives have to be produced in front of the jury, this includes copies depicting the top, bottom, front, back, and lastly both the lateral faces of the final product. In the end, the applicant also needs to emphasize the exclusive traits of the design, this step is compulsory to prove the uniqueness of the design.
As an applicant, if you wish to secure registration in multiple jurisdictions then every category of registration must be supported by individual applications. Disclaimer or novelty statement must accompany all the specimens in terms of trademark, numbers, mechanical principles, letters, and so on. The documents are to be attested by designated officials along with the date of signature. The applicant’s signature is also recorded to ensure the process does not face problems or confusion later on. After the design registration request has been submitted the patent office scrutinises the application to point out the possible loopholes. Once the drawbacks are catered to and solved from the applicant’s end, the patent office publishes a clearance notification with due effect. The design is awarded a copyright certificate for a limited period.
Validity Period
A continuous stretch of ten years of validity is awarded to patents granted against specific designs. By bearing additional charges the applicant can enforce an extra protection period of five more years.
If the design owner does not extend the timeframe before a deadline, then also patent rights can be sought by following a few basic steps. Restoration of design protection is appealed by an applicant within 12 months from the exact lapse date. The concerned ‘person’ should fill out form 4 if non-payment is applicable for the following extension period. Once the approval is granted necessary charges are cleared off by the company executives.
Design Registration Cancellation
Section 10 of the Design Act of 2000 states that registration may be cancelled in the following situations:
- If similar designs already exist, the design is not original.
- The design has already been authorised in India.
- Before the registration deadline, the design has already been published in another nation.
- Does not follow the Design Act’s guidelines for acceptable design.
Conclusion
By registering it under the Design Act, any unique design can be shielded from potential copying (2000). The registration process will be stopped in its initial stages if applicants do not have a fully-proof plan for how they will persuade the judges of a design’s originality. As of the relevant registration date, no nation should have any records of the same design. Finally, the Design Act has set down a number of requirements or standards for a “design” that, if not met by the design creator, render the application invalid. To gather more information on design registration revisit Vakilsearch blogs and let us know your feedback so that we can further improve our content.
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