Design Registration in India

Advantages

Establishes a public record
Right to sue infringers in court.
Creation of Goodwill
Legal Protection to Work
Marketing

Eligible Norms

New and original
Not opposed to public order
Appealable to eye

An Overview

Design registration is a type of intellectual property right governed by the Design Act, 2000 which helps to protect any newly created shape, configuration, patterns and composition of lines or colours applied to an article created under an industrial process from counterfeiting. However, to get a design registered, it must fulfill some conditions. These conditions are as follows:

Eligibility Norms

It should be new and original
It should be close or near to any other existing design or a combination of known designs
It should not be a mere mechanical contrivance
It must not be in opposition to public order

One must unfailingly meet the eligibility norms.

Who can apply for Registration?

Any person stating to be the owner or proprietor of the new and original design which is not previously published anywhere and which is also not contrary to the public morality can apply for the registration of the same.

Further, any agent or design registration consultant may also apply for the registration on behalf of its owner.

Documents and Details Required for Registration

Name of the Applicant along with its full address.
Certified True Copy of the Power of Attorney (if any) given to the Agent duly signed by the proprietor, partner or one of the Directors of the Company
Affidavits in paragraph form containing a declaration of its truthfulness and verifiability
Documentary proof of priority required in the case if any previous registration or application for registration made

Information Required

Applicant’s Name, Address, and nationality. In case the applicant is not a natural person than a documentary proof stating the legal status and the place of incorporation
Name of the article to which the design is to be applied.
A short & precise statement of the novelty that one lay claim to be his design
Class or category of the article representing the design
Applicants or applicants’ name(s), age, address (es), and nationality (ies) whether they are partners in a firm or Directors of the firm or company
Name, address, designation, and nationality of the person who signs the General Power of Attorney

Process for Registration of Design

The whole process of design registration can be divided into the steps mentioned below:

1. Application
Submit an application specifying the details such as name & address, applicant’s information- a person or company, description of the article & its type, claim of novelty and so on. One may also enclose images or drawing of the article in the application form.

2. Acceptance of application & registration
Application duly filled in the prescribed form signed either by the applicant or by his authorized agent along with the requisite documents and is thereafter examined by the Design Office and objections if any are raised to that. Further, the Design Office issues a Certificate granting Copyright in Registered design after the objections if any rose is being removed to the satisfaction of the Department.

3. Publication & Validity
Post-registration of the design, the same is notified in the official journal. The registered design is valid for 10 years which may be further extended to another 5 years on the filing of an application for extension with payment of the prescribed amount.

A Design Registration Consultant tracks and takes all necessary steps needed at every stage of the design registration process until the design gets registered successfully and also stands by the ethical standard of your creativity.

Design registration makes a design an intellectual property and intangible asset for a period of ten years which can be further extended for a limited period of five years through design renewal. Also, it provides the owner with an exclusive right to use, sell, franchise or contract the design.

After the registration of the design, the owner also gets specific legal rights to take actions against those who breach the design right.