Industrial Design Protection & Opposition | EXCELON IP
We are the leading industrial Design Law Firm, specializing in Industrial Design Protection and Design Opposition Services. The stylish and aesthetic creation of a human mind is required to be protected through industrial designs. At times, it is also required to enforce your rights in order to restrain third parties from infringing on your intellectual property assets.
Scope for Industrial Design Protection
The physical appearance or the form of the article makes it appealing and aesthetic to the eyes and exponentially increases its commercial worth. This, in turn, leads to taking measures in order to protect your creation from any third party or unauthorized use, so that nobody else other than the owner of the creation benefits from the registered industrial design.
Any design cannot be registered by the design office, viz. if:
- The design of the article is not unique and original.
- The design is disclosed or published publicly.
- The design cannot be distinguished from another existing or known design.
- The design is obscene in nature.
Civil Remedies & Enforcement
The grounds stated above can also be utilized for revocation of an application of design as well as defence in a proceeding of infringement. The design Act of India provides for civil remedies only. Apart from injunction, the creator of the design can obtain monetary compensation too. An infringement suit of design can be instituted only after the design is registered.
Many times, popular brands are identified from their unique designs — for instance, the shape of the Volkswagen Beetle automobile and the unique design of the Mini Cooper. When a design of the product is protected against infringers, it restricts other fake articles from destroying the product’s effectiveness and impact in the market.
Industrial Design Opposition Service
In accordance with Section 19 of the Designs Act of 2000, any person can apply for cancellation of the design at the national design office on the basis of grounds like:
- Such design is already registered in India.
- Such design being already published in India or in another country before the date of its registration in India.
- Such design being old and conventional.
- Such design cannot be registered under the Designs Act of 2000.
- Such design is not pertaining to an ornamental design as defined in Section 2(d) of the Designs Act of 2000.
Piracy of Design | Registration Under the Designs Act 2000
The Designs Act of 2000 also mentions clauses in relation to piracy. According to Section 22 of the Designs Act, 2000, any kind of imitation of a design which already exists in the database as registered, without the authorization of the owner of such creation, is unlawful in nature. Also, any kind of import of such material is restricted which is already registered at the design office.
Compensation for Infringement
In case a civil matter is instituted against the illegal reproduction of the design in question, then the compensation for the infringement shall not exceed ₹50,000. This is to ensure a fair return against the owner’s investment in the design.
For the applicability of this provision, it is important that piracy has been done for the purpose of trading, selling or business and not necessarily for some personal or private use. It is also important that the unlawful acts are performed with regard to any product in the class of goods wherein it is registered, and not in relation to some other class or category of goods.
In this epoch of creativity and innovation, it is very important for you to protect your hard work, intellect complemented with creativity. We are a team of experienced individuals at Excelon IP who can help you safeguard your design as well as provide other design services.