The Designs Act undertakes the registration and protection of business designs in India. The commercial design acknowledges the formation of new and original features of the latest shape, configuration, surface pattern, ornamentation and composition of lines or colors applied to articles which within the finished state appeal to and are judged solely by the attention.
Design Registration
Design registration may be a sort of property protection, under which a newly created design applied to a piece of writing created under a process are often shielded from counterfeiting. Under the Design Act, a shape, configuration, pattern or ornament or composition of lines or color or combination applied to any article are often registered. For a design to be registered, it must satisfy the subsequent conditions: it must be new and original, the planning should relate to features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to a piece of writing, the plan must be used to any article by a process and therefore the design must be visible and will appear on a piece of paper.
Design registration provides the creator, exclusive rights overuse of the planning for a period of ten years, which will be further extended for a period of 5 years. Just in case of infringement, the owner of a registered design can seek legal remedy under the Planning Act.
Design Registration Process
An application for the registration of design should be submitted alongside four specimen copies of the planning. A press release of novelty should even be submitted, which refers to a press release of how the planning is exclusive. The planning so represented within the ‘representation of the planning ‘ submitted should be precisely almost like the planning or exact copies of the design.
Documents Required for Design Registration
A certified copy of the first or certified copies of extracts from disclaimers Affidavits Declarations and Other public documents are often made available on payment of a fee.
The affidavits should be in paragraph form and will contain a declaration of truth and verifiability. The prices involved within the design registration process could also be regulated by the Controller consistent with the Fourth Schedule.
Difference between Trademark and style Registration
A design registration protects any new and innovative ornamental design of a piece of writing of manufacture. Trademark registration protects a word or words, name, symbol, or drawing that’s utilized in commerce to differentiate one source of products or services from that of another.
Put another way; a design registration would enable the protection of the physical appearance of a particular product you’re getting to sell to the general public (so long as that appearance doesn’t affect the product’s function in any way). A trademark would defend the symbols or words you employ to spot the merchandise as coming from your specific business. In certain conditions, both sorts of protection could also be accessible to hide one design, providing potential rewards for the owner of those rights.
Important Aspects of Design Registration
File Professionally
It’s important that knowledgeable file for the registration of a design to make sure that the planning is correctly protected. A skilled professional can help significantly improve the probabilities of successful design registration by filing a knowledgeable application, addressing all the aspects of the Designs Act.
Government Process
Filing a design registration application doesn’t guarantee registration of the planning. Design registration may be a process, and registration is provided only by the Registrar – supported the facts and premises of every case. Hence, our professionals can only make the best efforts for filing of design registration application supported experience and expertise.
Timeline
Post filing of a design registration application, it’s important to periodically check the status of the appliance until its processing on the govt side. Design registration application needs sometimes require various time-bound response or action from the applicant. Hence, it is vital to repeatedly check the status of the appliance and take the specified action until registration.
Protection
A list of all registered designs is maintained and published by the Patent and Trademark Office Database to place competitors on notice about registration of a design and stop counterfeiting. Just in case of infringement or piracy of a registered design, the owner of the registered design can seek legal remedy under the Designs Act.
10 Year Protection
Designs registered under the Designs Act, 2000 are protected for a period of 10 years, renewable by another five years. However, design registration mainly applies only to designs used by a process in any article. Hence, items that are covered under the Trademark Act or Copyright Act can’t be registered as a design.