The importance of registering your design is immense in today’s world. Earlier, while discussing intellectual property, a design registration wasn’t treated with the seriousness it deserved. However, distinct legislation for preserving designs was established with the advent of the Designs Act 2000. The Designs Act of 2000 shows the importance of registering your design in India.
Registering a design helps fundamentally secure the characteristics of a novel product, including its forms, patterns, and aesthetic elements. For the purpose of registering a design, various patent authorities follow their own distinct procedures and rules. In India, registration of designs is done in accordance with the Designs Act, 2000, which grants registered creations ten year period of security along with the option for a five-year extension period. Thus, in the face of fierce market rivalry, design protection is a successful method of preventing the replication of both industrial and product designs.
The following article will help you understand the importance of registering your design in accordance with the Designs Act, of 2000.
Overview of design as per the Designs Act
In the most basic sense, design refers to a unique or distinctive technique of creating anything, such as a product, it’s packaging, color, etc. The design may be seen as the creator’s attempt to create something distinctive and unique from several other items. The Designs Act of 2000 provides security for designs in India.
The Designs Act, section 2(d) defines design as the distinctive features of a shape, pattern, layout, ornamentation, the composition of lines, or shades, that is imparted to a product by any manufacturing process or method, whether it be in two or three dimensions or both. The procedure used to create the design can be human, technological, automated, chemical, discrete, or all-encompassing. The ultimate product must look appealing in order to be recognized.
This does not, however, include any structure, standards, mode, or other elements that are just mechanical. Additionally, it excludes any trademark authorization that has been filed, as those defined under Section 2(v) of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act of 1958, in addition to any ownership mark or creative work, as those defined in Section 2(c) of the Copyright Act of 1957.
The importance of registering your design is clearly evident in today’s environment. As per the Designs Act, the intention of registering a design is to protect a new or unique design that has been generated and will be implemented in a particular object during the manufacturing procedure utilizing an industrialized method or mode.
Criteria for registering a design
The following criteria must be followed in order to register a design:
- According to the Design Act of 2000, a design has to be a novel and original one, and not a design that has already been used or published in another nation.
- The features of the design must be present, along with their form, layout, pattern, arrangement, and adornment. It could not just be limited by what can be seen.
- It is necessary that the design is not publicly released.
- There shouldn’t be any creative works, domain names, or brand names of other businesses in the design.
Importance of registering your design
According to the Designs Act, to safeguard a design as per its terms, the producer of a design must submit an application to get the design registered with the relevant authorities to safeguard the design under its provisions.
India has submitted 65,447 design submissions in the past nine years, 51,225 of which have been registered, based on research conducted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This figure shows the importance of registering your design.
The following points will help you understand the importance of registering your design in India:
1. Grants Exclusive Right– The importance of registering your design can be known from the fact that a registered design grants its proprietor the sole authority to prevent unlawful duplication or reproduction of the design by external parties. As a result, the customer will have no trouble recognizing that the commodity is from a specific brand.
A registered design grants the owner the sole right to employ the design for commercial purposes or to conduct trade in the way specified by the Act for a duration of ten years, which may be extended by an additional five years by submitting an extension request.
2. Protects The Design– The importance of registering your design could be clearly defined from the point that registering your design with an approved authority would prevent others from duplicating, recreating, marketing, or distributing goods with the same design as their own. Moreover, designs boost the brand recognition and economic worth of an item in addition to making it sellable.
3. Enhanced Market Value- Designs are assets that can boost a corporation’s and its goods’ market value and help to get a suitable amount of revenue. By registering a design with the relevant authority, its industrial worth is boosted, and the product’s marketability is increased. This is due to the fact that a proprietary design enhances a product’s placement in the eyes of prospective customers. The more profitable a design is, the more important it is to the company. This shows the importance of registering your design.
4. Licensing Rights– Owners of recognized and registered designs have the sole right to license their creations to third parties in exchange for a license cost for their usage in their companies. Anybody who intends to sign a licensing contract for the licensing of property rights will want to make sure that the individual doing the licensing is indeed the real owner. In such situations, the registration record serves as proof of possession and strengthens confidence in the uniqueness and originality of the design.
5. Selling Rights- Proprietors of licensed and authorized designs have the sole right to commercialize their creations. Similar to licensing, when owners sell their designs and when buyers buy the design, the customer can ask the provider for proof of ownership. Again, in such kinds of situations, the importance of registering your design can be clearly seen as the registration document is evidence of the ownership of the work for the sake of formalities.
6. Improved Valuation- The registration document adds to the asset’s worth in addition to serving as proof of ownership. This is due to the fact that in addition to the design’s esthetic value, the holder can provide the purchaser or lessee the exclusive protection that comes with a design that the Designs Act protects. Therefore, the creator of the design may request a greater price or licensing costs in exchange for their creation.
7. Enhanced Industrial Worth– Industrial design registration promotes ethical business conduct and competitive marketplace conditions, both of which help to foster the creation of a wide variety of visually pleasing goods. This shows the importance of registering your design.
8. Strong Credibility– Customers are more likely to believe a design is legitimate after they learn that it has been recognized under governmental legislation. This happens because any accreditation or license issued by a government agency requires the authorities to exercise adequate investigation. In other words, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the legitimacy of the design. As a result, it fosters public confidence. The importance of registering your design can be known from its strong credibility,
9. Provides Legal Security- After a design is registered, the author has the power to pursue legal action against anyone who copies it. This guarantees that the creator of the design may cling to their commercial share by upholding ownership over their commercial design or commodity. Registering designs allows businesses to take legal action against the increased incidence of counterfeiters. It grants owners the ability to sue in the event that their designs are imitated in any way.
10. Larger Investment Returns- The importance of registering your design can be shown from the point that registering a design will help you get significant investment returns. The qualifying company receives the legal authority to market its goods after a design is registered. Additionally, it strengthens their intangible resources and expands their scope of intellectual property holdings. Large returns on investment are frequently achieved by these intangible resources since they generate extra revenue sources.
Conclusion
The importance of registering your design is huge in today’s world. Registering a design enables people to safeguard their creations from being reproduced, replicated, or exploited by third parties in addition to giving owners the ability to initiate a lawsuit in the event of design duplication. Designs can be registered in order to grant the owner exclusive rights, licensing agreements, and marketing rights over the design. Given these considerations, the importance of registering your design is clearly evident.
If you have any additional questions concerning the importance of registering your design, you can speak with Odint Consultancy. We look forward to answering any questions you may have.
FAQ’s
A design is a strategy or plan for producing a structure, thing, activity, or process, as well as the result of that approach or demand in the form of a prototype, final product, or method.
The design may contain characteristics, form, structure, layout, or arrangement, for a collection of lines or hues applied to articles.
- By registering your design, you may protect it and stop others from using it to produce, sell, or distribute things under their own names.
- A registered design grants its owner the sole authority to prohibit the reproduction or recreation of the design by unauthorized parties.
- Designs are resources that can increase a company’s and its products’ market worth and aid in generating the right amount of income.
- The exclusive right to license one’s creations to other parties in exchange for a license fee for their use in businesses belongs to the owners of recognized and registered designs.
- The features of the design must be present, along with their form, layout, pattern, arrangement, and adornment.
- It is necessary that the design is not publicly released.
