Introduction
Commercial success of an industry and its products highly depends on how it grabs the attention
of the customer. The Designs Act 2000, provides for the registration, application and protection
of such designs in the form of intellectual property. Any intellectual property to be registered
follows a “first to file first to get” system where the inventor should register through an
application as earlier as he has invented it. In India the history of designs backs a century when
the Patent and Designs Act, 1872 was passed by the British government to the last repealed act
as Designs Act of 2000, when India became a member of WTO in the year 1995. This law was
enacted in compliance with the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights having its
enforcement on 11th may 2001.
Locarno classification
The Locarno classification is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) through a multilateral treaty. This classification consists of a list of 32 classes and 219
subclasses with the explanatory notes into which any design can be incorporated[1]. This list
includes around 6797 indications of different types of products. Before India has adopted the
Locarno classification it classified products for industrial designs on the basis of the material
which has been used to make the product. Only after the enactment of the new law the design
was classified on the basis of the subject matter the design.
Objectives of the Designs Act of 2000
The predominant objective of Designs Act is to consolidate the earlier laws which were not in
compliance with the International design jurisprudence and other main objective is for the
protection of novel and innovative original designs from getting copied resulting in the loss for
the proprietor and also for ensuring that the creator or the originator of the design is not deprived
of his rights and reward for creating it. This industrial design also helps the property holder to
increase the attention of the customers thereby increasing the commercial value of the product
for expansion of market. The important objective of designs act is also to prevent the
exploitation of designs by big hands who adopt anti-competitive ways to compete its rival.
Definition
Design is defined in sec2(d) of the design act,2000, ‘ means only the features of shape,
configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours applied to any article whether
in 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; but does not include any mode or principle of
construction or anything which is in substance a mere mechanical device, and does not include
any trade mark as defined in clause (v) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Trade and
Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 (43 of 1958) or property mark as defined in section 479 of the
Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) or any artistic work as defined in clause (c) of section 2 of the
Copyright Act, 1957 (14 of 1957).’
Important features of design act,2000
1. Absolute novelty means that a design has not been previously published in any other
form. According to Sections 4(a), (b), and (c), this entails that the design must not have
appeared elsewhere before its current presentation.
2. Regarding copyright protection, the proprietor can seek copyright for the design for up to
ten years from the registration date. However, confusion may arise as multiple products
can be registered for both copyright and design, yet remedies cannot be pursued for both
separately, as stated in Section 11.
3. The Designs Act also allows for the extension of copyright protection for an additional
five years upon application to the Controller within the initial ten-year period.
4. Furthermore, the Act outlines the jurisdiction of High Courts to handle cases transferred
from district courts, particularly when challenging the validity of a registration, per
Section 36.
5. Infringement of a registered layout design is subject to punishment, with penalties
including imprisonment for up to three years or fines ranging from approximately Rs.
50,000 to Rs. 10 lakhs, in accordance with Section 22(2).
6. The Act enables anyone to obtain a certified copy of a registered design for inspection,
aiding in anticipating novelty after its publication, once a license is available in the public
records domain, as outlined in Section 21.
7. Additionally, the Act delegates powers to the Comptroller and defines the duties of
examiners under Chapter 7. Moreover, it includes provisions to restrict anti-competitive
practices in the market.
