Design and The Law (Part 1 of 3)

A Creative Agency

Written by Isha Malik and Shubhra Wadhawan, final year law students at the Jindal Global Law School on behalf of Plane Crazy Studios

The recent case of design plagiarism by the ultra-luxurious brand Christian Dior brought to fore the debate around design protection in India and shed light on the little known legal instruments available for the same.

This article is part 1 of 3 of a larger series on the Designs Act, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”). This is an Indian legislation that regulates and allows for registration of designs. The article will briefly explain what the Designs Act is, what a ‘design’ is as per the definition under the Act, and what protection is granted to ‘designs’ under the Act.

What is the Designs Act?

The Design Act, 2000, which is in compliance with Article 25 and 26 of the TRIPS Agreement, ensures effective design protection in India to registered designs. The Act accounts for scientific and technological progressions and ensures that the originator of a design is not deprived of his bona fide reward by those using the design for their own goods.

What qualifies as a ‘Design’?

Something that determines the appearance of an article or some part thereof is termed as a design. Section 2(d) of the Act is wide in its scope and defines a design exclusively which is conditional upon the following:

1. That the design represents features of shapes, pattern, ornament, colour, configuration or composition of lines;
2. That such shape, pattern, ornament, colour, configuration or composition of lines is applied to any article;
3. Such an article maybe two/ three dimensional or both
4. Any of these features may be one that is applied by any industrial process or means which may be manual, mechanical, chemical, separate or combined;
5. Such an application of the aforesaid features in the finished article shall appeal to and judged solely by the eye;
6. It does not include any mode or principle of construction or anything which is in substance a mere mechanical device;
7. It does not include any trademark or any property mark or any artistic work.

What protection is granted to ‘Designs’ under the Act?

The protection granted under the Act is for an initial period of ten years and can be renewed once for an additional period of five years. The protection granted is a type of intellectual property right with the exclusive right to make, sell and use articles that entail the protected design. All designs under the Act are classified as per the Locarno Classification of Industrial Design and to obtain protection one could apply on paper or online.

This was Part 1 of a 3-part series on the Designs Act, 2000. Follow us on Medium to be notified when we release the next two parts and for all our upcoming articles on marketing and design!

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