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V Liberalization has brought with it unlimited options for

the Indian consumer who now has numerous alternatives
for any single product.
V No longer do the sellers have to establish only their
reliability and integrity in the market, but they have to also
appease the aesthetic senses of the consumer.
V àonsidering the huge amount of capital and effort
expended by manufacturers and marketers in establishing
the recognition of consumers it is essential that the law
protect the designs and efforts of the manufacturers of
goods.
V The object of the Designs Act is to protect the aesthetic
appearance of an article.
V The Designs Act, 2000 is a consolidating and amending
Act relating to the protection of design.
V one of the objects of the new Act was to ensure effective
protection to registered designs and to remove impediment
to the free use of available design.
! International classification based upon Locarno classification
has been adopted wherein the classification is based on articles,
the subject matter of design. Under the previous law a Design
was classified on the basis of the material of which the article
was made.
! The definition of Design under the new Act has been widened.
Under the previous law, the Design registration was granted
only for the visual appearance of an article which included
shape, configuration pattern, and ornamentation whether in 2 or
3 dimensions. Under new law, a Design registration can now be
obtained for new or original features of shape, configuration
pattern, ornamentation or composition of lines or colours as
applied to an article, whether in 2 or 3 dimensions or both.
! A Design registration has been brought within the domain of
the public records right from the date it is physically placed on
the register. In the previous Act, there was a 2-year confidential
period post registration, which prohibited taking
inspection/certified copy of any entry in the records.

! A Design registration would be valid for 10 years (from the

date of registration which is also the date of application)
renewable for a further period of 5 years. Under the previous
law the validation period was 5 years which was extendable for
2 terms of 5 years each.
V A Design registration can be restored within a year from its last
date of expiry. Under the previous law, no provision relating to
restoration upon expiration of the Design registration was
provided.

V A concept of absolute novelty has been introduced whereby a

novelty would now be judged based on prior publication of an
article not only in India but also in other countries. Under the
previous law, the position was ambiguous
r INFLUENàE

r PHYSIàAL APPERANàE

r DEàIDING FAàTOR

r ORNAMENTING
r UNDER SECTION 2(d) OF DESIGN ACT 2000
r PURàHASING POWER

r OUTLOOK

r VISUAL

r ORIGINALITY
r PRIOR DOàUMENT

r PRIOR USER
V The procedure for registration of a design is comparatively
simple when compared to procedure for registration of a patent
or a trademark. Briefly, the procedure consists of the following
steps:

V Submission of application
V Acceptance / objections / refusal
V Removal of objections/appeal to àentral Government
V Decision of àentral Government
V Registration of the design
V Infringement of a copyright in design is termed as "Piracy of a
registered Design". It is not lawful for any person during the
existence of copyright to do the following acts without the
consent or license of the registered proprietor of the design.
Section 22 of the Designs Act, 2000, lays down that the
following acts amount to piracy: -
V (1) To publish or to have it published or expose for sale any
article of the class in question on which either the design or any
fraudulent or obvious imitation has been applied.
V (2) To either apply or cause to apply the design that is
registered to any class of goods covered by the registration, the
design or any imitation of it.
V =) To import for the purpose of sale any article belonging to the
class in which the design has been registered and to which the
design or a fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof has been
applied
V In fact any unauthorized application of the registered design or
a fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof to any article covered
by the registration for trade purpose or the import of such
articles for sale is a piracy or infringement of the copyright in
the design.
V A distinction is made between fraudulent and obvious imitation. The
only common factor between the two is that both should be
imitations.
V In the case of fraudulent imitation the design applied must be an
imitation of the registered design.
V In a fraud the imitation has been made with the intention to deceive
another person with the knowledge that what is being done is a
violation of the other persons right.
V Fraudulent imitation must mean If a man knowing that the pattern is
a registered design, goes and imitates it, and does that without
sufficient invention on his own part, that would be fraudulent
imitation, if in fact it is an imitation (an exact copy of the registered
design).
V The judicial remedy for infringement of a registered design
recommended in the Act is damages along with an injunction.
V Section 22(2) stipulates remedy in the form of payment of a
certain sum of money by the person who pirates a registered
design.
V A suit in the appropriate manner for seeking the relief in the
form of an injunction is also recommended.
V A suit under section 22 is to be instituted in a District àourt or
a High àourt depending upon the quantum of damages
claimed.
V A person complaining infringement of his design can certainly
ask for accounts from the defendant to show the profits earned
by the defendant which would be the loss sustained by him
which he could claim as damages.
V . A suit for injunction restraining infringement of registered
design is maintainable only when it is filed in the appropriate
court.
V A design can be registerable only when it is new or original and
not previously published in India.

V The word publication has not been defined by the Designs Act,
2000

V Publication can occur in two types-:

(i) Publication in prior document.
(ii) Publication by prior user.
A) Ampro food products v. Ashok Biscuit Works

B) B.K. Plastic Industries v. Jayantilal Kalidas Sayani

à) Glaxo Smithkline àonsumer Healthcare Gmbh and ào. Kg v.

Amigo Brushes Private Limited and Anr.