Design Act

 What is design Act?

    The Design Act was enacted in the year 2000. Design Act is purely a form that describes the shape, structure, configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of colors to be protected. It can be two dimensional or three dimensional or in both forms applied to any article. It also protects the visual design of any entity. It should be visible outside and can be identified by eyes. It shouldn't include any constructional features or mechanical devices that are defined in other trademarks. The design should be new, original and novel, i.e., it should be well distinguishable and uniquely identifiable by the public. That it should not be disclosed to the public or anywhere in the world before publication.



    The copyright of a registered design is totally 15 years. But initially, copyright in the design is registered for 10 years, which can be further extended by 5 years of making an application for renewal. Like any other Intellectual Property Rights, Design approval provides legal security for the design and exclude others from reproducing, selling, manufacturing, copying or dealing without the consent of the proprietor (the legal owner). 

  • For Example,the famous Coca-Cola logo and script design is an original artistic creation that is protected by copyright law.

coca-cola bottle shapes

Coca-Cola bottle shapes

Why designs are cancelled?

In section 19 of the Designs Act, 2000, any person can seek for the cancellation of the design registration by filing a petition before the controller in the following:

  • That the design has been previously registered in India; or
  • That it has been published in India or in any other country prior to the date of registration
  • That the design is not a new or original design; or
  • That the design is not registerable under this Act; or
  • That it is not a design as defined

The section very specifically provides that in a civil case compensation payable shall not exceed Rs. 50,000/- in respect of infringement of one registered design.

Design and other IPRs:

Patent => should have a functional or structural feature of technical significance.

Design=> judged on aesthetics only.

Copyright => both are quite inter-relatable, but copyright shall not subsist in any design.

Trademark => if the unique shape is registered design also it has popularity and great recognition, then it can be processed for trademark registration.

Also read: https://yrmoonbeam.blogspot.com/2022/04/what-causes-shrinkflation-why-companies.html

Advantages of Design Act:

  • Creativity building
  • Innovation and recreation of products
  • Increases customer attention
  • Destroys plagiarism
  • Protects viable rights
  • Avoids infringement

Disadvantages of Design Act:

  • Depending upon the industries, they change rapidly especially in jewellery, shoes.
  • It becomes inessential to protect if the product designs are changing based on customer needs.
  • The 15 years time period is too short compared to other IPRs.
  • Investing in trademark or copyright seems to be better than Design Act in terms of protection time period.

Reference: Technical Publications :- Dr. Meenu Pandey, Dr. Prabhat Pandey.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dopamine Detox: Is worth doing?? Or a Silicon valley trend

Image
The word Dopamine detox is getting trend in the Silicon Valley and people are responding and following this new type of fasting. But do you know what does it mean?  First of all, What is meant by Dopamine ? Dopamine is a chemical in the brain that is responsible for the feeling of satisfaction or after we've completed an important task, completed a project, reaches a goal or even reached one our markers towards our goal. As we get closer towards our goals, our metric tells us that we're making progress and we get another little hit of dopamine to keep us going. Then finally we reach our goal that intense feeling of "got it" is a big hit of Dopamine for all our hard work.  As we get closer to our goals our metric tells us that we're making progress and we get another little hit of dopamine to keep us going. For example: A marathon runner who passes each mile toward the finish line his body rewards him with dopamine so that he will keep going, working even harder to
Read more

What causes shrinkflation?? Why companies use this strategy??

Image
What is Shrinkflation ?           Shrinkflation is the hidden form of inflation. Shrinkflation is the process of reduction of the size of the product rather than the price of the product. This strategy is mainly used by food and beverages companies as the competition in the food market is very high.             Why companies use this strategy??? Companies know that customers   attention will more likely towards the price of the product as most of us would not see the size of the product. If any big  company directly increased the price of the product it will be headline news in many TV channels and newspapers, but if a producer just decreased the size of the product many of us will not notice it.  For example many companies like Coca Cola, lays, Dairy milk, Hershey's , Doritos and many companies are secretly decreasing their size of the product.  The main benefit for the company is that they can maintain their sales margin and the market share of the company. History :  Shrinkflati
Read more