Design

DESIGN REGISTRATION ELIGIBILITY: OVERVIEW

Anyone who asserts ownership of an innovative or unique design may submit a registration application under Section 5 of the Act. According to Section 2(j), the term "proprietor" refers to the author of the design or any other person to whom the right to the design has passed. It also refers to anyone who has acquired the design or the right to use it as per any article.

Can a foreign application get priority?

If the design application in India gets submitted within six months of the priority date. Section 44 permits priority to be claimed from a convention application. Since India is a party to the Paris Convention, priority may be claimed for applications submitted in any nation, group of nations, or organization of nations to whom the Paris Convention applies. Currently India is not a part of the Hague Convention.

What is the requirement for a design application?

• The original and uniquedesign.
• The judgment should.
• Should be easily assessed primarily by the eye, and the design elements should be evident.
• Shouldn't be made public in India or anywhere else across the globe by prior publishing, prior usage, or any other means.
• Designs or combinations of designs that are previously registered, pre-existing, or publicly revealed should be considered distinct.
• Contains no scandalous or offensive material.
• An industrial process ought to be used to apply it to an item.
• Any purely utilitarian feature shouldn't be present.
• Any brand, property mark, or creative work as those terms are specified by the Copyright Act should be excluded.

Required Documents

The following documents should be submitted during the registration process:

• Form-1
• A POA (Power of Attorney).
• Presentation of the design on the sheets that includes different perspectives clearly showing the design.
• Information about the class of goods for which design protection is requested.
• Applicant information
• If priority from a foreign application is claimed, a certified copy of the priority document is.

Protection period under design registration

The Patent Office issues registration when a design application complies with the requirements. The registration grants the applicant 10 initial and 15-year renewable copyright in the design. Registration-related rights for designs under Section 22 enable legal action to be taken against the theft of a registered design. It states that it would be illegal for anyone to apply the design itself to any article in the class of articles for which the design is registered. Import any such article, or knowingly publish that the article is for sale if done to sell it without a license or written permission from the proprietor.

Is it possible to dispute a design registration?

Under Section 19, any interested party may, at any time following the registration of a design, submit a petition to the Controller for cancellation of the registration for the reasons listed in Section 19. (1). The following grounds are mentioned:

• In India if the design has been already registered.
• Before the registration date, the design gets published in India or another country;
• The design is not innovative or unique;
• The Act does not provide registration of the design, and
• It does not qualify as a design under the Act's Section 2(d).

The Advantages of Registration

Design registrations are very helpful since a customer's choice to buy a product is frequently influenced by its aesthetics, including its form, appearance, colour scheme, ornamentation, etc. Based on the aesthetics of the product, consumers may also link it to a certain business or quality level. For businesses, distinguishing their goods from those of competitors is easiest through product design. Additionally, to increase their market share, businesses that make counterfeit goods frequently replicate the design or the way a product feels and looks. As a result, it is crucial to safeguard the design from imitation.