Design Registration is a very vital registration if you want to make your business grow successfully. But before going deep into registration, we will first know the basic meaning of design. The basic meaning says a plan or drawing produced to show the look and function or workings of a building, garment, or another object before it is made. But the definition goes some difference when it comes to Intellectual Property Rights.

In this context, the design is basically the overall visual appearance of the product. In other words, the uniqueness is the word for designing. Therefore, the design cannot exist theoretically; it must be applied whether to a two-dimensional or a three-dimensional Article.

As reported by the Designs Act, 2000 an Industrial Design is defined as “the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament or composition of lines or color or combination thereof applied to any article whether two dimensional or three dimensional or in both forms, by any industrial process or means, whether manual, mechanical or chemical, separate or combined, which in the finished article appeal to and are judged solely by the eye.”

Why register a Design?

Design adds an aesthetic value of a product. Decision-making of the consumers is based on the way how the product looks. Hence, given the importance a design has on the decision-making of consumers, it is only fair to protect original and unique designs by conferring their right to use on the creators. In order to avoid loss in the business, it is better not to copy the design of a product.

What are the requirements for registering a Design?

The Designs Act, 2000, lists the following necessities to be met before a design can be registered:

• Novelty– An existing design and an original design on a new subject-matter can be registered. The original design cannot be published or in use in any country.
• The design should be applied or applicable to an article excluding industrial plans or layouts from registration as designs.
• The design should be applied to an article by an industrial process excluding paintings and sculptures that are not produced in bulk by an industrial process from registration.
• The design is judged solely by the eye. Hence, the design should be visible in the final article.
• Any mode of operation such as a mechanical device cannot be registered.
• Design cannot incorporate a trademark, property mark or any artistic rights as defined under the Copyright Act, 1957.

Who is liable for a registration of a design?

The proprietor of the original design has legal rights to apply for the registration of the design. There is a custom that if a country does not offer the identical registration right to an Indian citizen, the citizen would not be eligible to apply for registration of the design in India. Even a foreigner is eligible to apply for registration of the design. But if there are two persons each of whom has produced a similar design and given authority to the other person, neither of them alone is the proprietor of a new or original design. There is joint authorship of the design.

If you would like to receive personalized legal advice about Design Registration, contact BDS Legal Services and get a free consultation.   

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