Industrial Design Registration in India

What is design registration?

Design registration under the Designs Act, 2000 protects the visual appearance of a product – its shape, configuration, pattern, ornamentation or composition of lines and colours – as judged by the eye. It does not protect how the product works (that is a patent) or the brand name (that is a trademark).

What can be registered?

Designs applied to almost any manufactured article – furniture, packaging, bottles, jewellery, apparel, footwear, consumer electronics, lighting, toys, automotive parts and more – provided the design is:

• new and original, and not published anywhere before filing;
• significantly distinguishable from known designs; and
• not contrary to public order or morality.

Benefits

• Exclusive rights to the design for 10 years, extendable by another 5 years.
• Legal remedies against piracy, including damages.
• A transferable and licensable business asset.

File before you launch

Because the design must be new, file your application before showing the product publicly, at trade fairs or online. We prepare the representation sheets in the format the Design Office requires, draft the statement of novelty and handle any objections.

How design registration works

1. Search and assessment – we check whether similar designs are already registered or published.
2. Representation sheets – drawings or photographs of the article from the required views, prepared in the Design Office's format.
3. Application – filed with the statement of novelty, the class of the article and the applicant's details.
4. Examination – the examiner may raise objections, which are answered within the time allowed.
5. Registration – the design is registered and published in the official journal, and the certificate issued.

Protection runs from the filing date, so file before the product is shown publicly.

Design, trademark, copyright or patent?

Many products are protected by more than one of these – a distinctive bottle can carry a registered design and a registered trademark at the same time. See trademark registration and patent registration.

Protecting your design abroad

An Indian design application can be used to claim priority in many other countries if they are filed within six months. If you plan to sell the product internationally, decide on your target markets early so the deadlines are not missed.