The base of a successful business is always associated with the relation of customers towards the product they purchase and it may differ on multiple factors. The first and foremost factor is the physical aesthetics or the appearance of the product which plays a mitigating role in the sales of the product. Companies that own a more significant share tend to spend more time and capital upon enhancing the appearance of the product by creating a perfect and unique masterpiece ultimately leading to more significant profits.
The Designs Act, of 2000 is for safeguarding visually appealing designs and protecting them from any forms of piracy, “First to register, First to acquire”. The creator of the design should get the design registered under this act to get it protected and thus the creator or the designer will become the owner and can exercise the rights over it. This act deals with 11 chapters consisting of the registration process, the proceedings, the designer’s powers and duties and every other provision that shall be dealt with in this article.
Purpose and Objectives of the Act
- Safeguarding the designs is the sole objective and purpose of the act.
- To regulate the designs under the provisions of the act.
- To prevent the design from getting used by someone who is not the owner of the act.
- To ensure that the design created by the creator should be liable for the reward as a result of being the originator of the design.
- Support in expanding the business and increasing profit by attracting customers and also by providing the genuineness to the design under this act.
- To keep a check on the rival companies who use different means to exploit the designs to gain benefits. Such laws play a very vital role in regulation and thus, the Designs Act 2000 emerged as a success.
Important Definitions
Design
Section 2 (d) defines the term “Design” as indicating the shape, configuration, or composition of lines of ornaments or the applied colours towards the product/article as of any industrial means including manual, mechanical or chemical or separate and the ultimate product stands out to be judge solely by the eye but does not include a substance of mere mechanical device or any trademark under Section 2(1)(v) of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act of 1958 or property under section 479 of IPC, 1860 and any other artistic work under Section 2(c) of the Copyright Act, 1957.
Original
Section 2(g) defines “original” as the design with reference towards the author and also includes which are although old bur significantly leads to new application.
Prescribed
Section 2(j) talks about the “Proprietor of A new or Original work” as the creator/author of the design who tends to execute the work for some other person including the person for whom the design is executed and to any other person who acquires the design and its further application towards any article towards the extent of being acquired and the right to apply as the design is shifted from the original proprietor upon the other person including the other person.
Essential for registration
Novel and original design
The uniqueness of design about originality can only be registered and the design originated from a combination with new aesthetics can also be registered as original.
Published design
The design should not have been published elsewhere leading to failure of registration and no private use would not lead to publication but can be registered and if the copy of the publication is available to the public then it can be published and the design registered should not have access for the public.
Not Opposition to Morality
The design should not oppose public morality or be against the policies of the government of India or with any organised institution that may cause disturbance to public order and morality which would lead to a failure in registration and should also not be obscene in nature.
Registration Procedure
The provisions for filing of an application for the purpose of registration of designs are mentioned under Section 5 of The Designs Act, 2000. It talks about the person who claims to be the owner of any new or original design is not subjected to any previous publications and in due compliance with the interest of the public and morality and is liable to apply for the registration of the design, further can be registered upon the proper examination of the product.
Patent to be filed under this section for the registration of the design towards the associated office in a proper manner and shall also pay the fees for the procedure. The design can only be registered upon a single class only and if there are some misconceptions then it would solely depend on the decision of the controller for the registration which may be rejected or accepted upon the proper examination of the application and if the examiner finds any objections, it should be communicated towards the designer.
If the design gets rejected and the person feels aggrieved then that individual shall appeal to the high court. The application which is defaulted on the part of the applicant and is not completed for registration shall stay cancelled.
Successful Registration
Upon a successful registration the owner is liable for a copyright form which will be served by the registration authority and has a validity of ten years from the date of its registration. Although the said period can be extended to the controller before it expires and the extension of that copyright would be permitted for five years from its expiry of the originally mentioned ten years to be done in a proper manner with the paying of fees.
The non-payment of fees shall prevent the copyright of the design from coming into effect then the proprietor has the option of restoring the design from the date within a time of one year it ceased its effect in the prescribed manner as the prescribed fees were not paid. It further depends on the discretion of the controller for the extension of not paying was genuine and not in an intentional manner then shall proceed further upon the payment of fees for the restoration of the registration design.
Landmark Case Laws
Gopal Glass Works Ltd. vs Iag Company Ltd. And Ors, (2006)
The registration of design was made by the plaintiff named as “Diamond Square” that took place before the “Kohinoor” design was registered by the defendant. The issue came into the picture as the defendant claimed that his designs were not hampering the designs provided by the plaintiff and after verification both the designs were found out to be similar in nature. The plaintiff was granted interim protection for the acts of piracy with the granting of the interim injunction.
Dabur India Limited vs Mr Rajesh Kumar And Ors, on 20th March (2008)
‘Dabur Amla Hair Oil’ was registered by the Dabur India Limited with a distinctive design. Rajesh Kumar (Defendant) claimed that he had manufactured plastic bottles was of his company that were alleged to be the design of the bottles of the plaintiff and these plastic bottles were common and used by other companies for the marketing of hair being including “fixers, and liquid products”. It was the Defendants who got infringed the design of the bottles of the plaintiff. The plaintiff’s design of the bottle is registered and the whole bottle is registered as a design. Bottles used by the plaintiff have a similar shape to the bottles of the plaintiff and it was stated that for a validly registered design, it must be of “novelty and originality” and not been republished. Hence interim injunction was not provided to the plaintiff.
Whirlpool Of India Ltd vs Videocon Industries Ltd, on 27th May (2014)
The registration of the design with the same features was registered by the defendant of Videocon with the same configuration and shape as the plaintiff and the design of the Videocon stands out to be a complete replica of the plaintiff’s design. It was held by the court that the Videocon had the same design as of the design registered by Whirlpool hence, Videocon was held liable for the piracy of the design made by the plaintiff.
Conclusion
A person’s creativity and hard work completely represent the design towards the product which later on develops with an article. A unique and new design stands out to be an eye candy for the customers ultimately playing a vital role in influencing the minds of customers. The profit and loss criteria of a business is solely dependent upon the design of that particular article and if the design is liked by the majority of the customers the business shall experience a spike in its profits. And it changes completely changes upon the design which is disliked by the customers which will affect the dales of the article negatively. It becomes a necessity to protect the design by getting it registered and preventing any other party from using that specific design to gain benefits. The mandatory registration under this act protects from the infringement made towards that design and also provides certain benefits if registered under this act and ensures a fair competition. The protection provided under this act helps encourage the aspect of creativity in the interest of customers and manufacturers. In this developing nation, the government is enacting more statutes for the protection and development of the industries in which the designs of the innovators must be protected. The Designs Act, of 2000 only is only staged on civil remedy towards copyright infringement. Certain amendments can take place for the criminal aspect to be inserted in this act giving more protection to the copyright designs as of which there will be lesser no of piracy of the design and the creators will avail benefits for registering the design.
Frequently Asked Question
What is the Design Act 2000 in intellectual property rights?
The Design Act 2000 completely resembles the powers of controllers in relation to other controllers including the duty of examiners. This promotes a more transparent, accountable and efficient process for registration, with a positive intellectual property system.
What are the objectives of the Design Act 2000?
The Design Act 0f 2000 is an Act to safeguard and provide the law in the protection of designs and stands as the main objective is to protect new or original designs and prevent it from being copied
What is protected under the Design Act?
The protection is granted only to the specific visual characteristics of a design; it includes the process Of Registration of Design in India which is provided under section 5 of the Act, the person who makes a claim to be the proprietor of any original design can further apply for registration of such design.
