[Type the document subtitle] `

Evolution of Designs Act in India &

Protection of Industrial Design under

International IPR Regime

Balaji P Nadar,

LLM 2nd Semester,

ILI, New Delhi.

Contents

I. Introduction

II. History of Industrial design rights

i. Emergence of Designs Rights

ii. Importance and Recognition

iii. Paris Convention and Hague Agreement

III. Evolution of Designs Act in India

i. Introduction of Design Rights by British

ii. Significance and effectiveness of Colonial Designs Act of 1911

iii. Protection of Industrial Designs under the new Indian Designs Act, 2000

IV. International Protection of Industrial designs

i. TRIPS

ii. Objectives and basic features of the Hague System

iii. Filing Application and Procedures for International registration

iv. e-filing

v. Examination

vi. Grant of protection and the Term of protection

V. Locarno Agreement – International Classification for Industrial

Designs

VI. Conclusion

Introduction:

Design is a process of taking something from its existing state and moving it to a

preferred state. This applies to new artifacts, whose existing state is undefined and previously

created artifacts, whose state stands to be improved. An Industrial Design is the commercial or

aesthetic aspect of an article. It makes a product attractive and appealing hence, they add to

the commercial value of a product and increase its marketability. The design may consist of

three-dimensional features such as shape or surface of an article, or of two-dimensional features,

such as patterns, lines or colour1. Designs are used in various distinct productions and across the

various business or commerce like handicrafts, special ornamentations, jewelry, medical, and

engineering appliances. Works of art like paintings and sculptures also have designs in the sense

that e artists have decided what they will look like and have used paint and brushes or a hammer

and chisel to express their artistic intent2. An Industrial design rights is an intellectual property

rights that protects the visual design of objects that are not purely utilitarian3. It safeguards the

appearance, structure, style, design of the industrial object such as tools, spares, machines and

instruments. Industrial design rights are defined as a part of intellectual property rights, in order

to ensure a fair return on investment. An effective system of protection also benefits the

consumers and the public at large by promoting fair competition and honest trade practices.

A product may be superior to another in its aesthetic features and/or its functional

features, such as, its reliability in performance or the convenience in its use, based on

ergonomics delivered through technology. In the context of industrial design law, it should be

appreciated that the word `design' refers only to the eye appeal or external form of a

manufactured product and not to any of its functional features. Design registration particularly

makes business sense when it improves competitiveness of a business and brings in additional

revenue. It helps economic development, by encouraging creativity in the industrial and

manufacturing sectors and contributes to the expansion of commercial activities and the export

of national products. The Industrial designs are protected under the intellectual property rights in

different forms under different legislations and international organizations.

1 WIPO Publication No. L450ID/E, available at: http://www.wipo.int/ebookshop (visited on March 1, 2011).

2 Christine Fellner, Industrial Design Law 2(Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1995).

3 Frederic P Miller, Agnes F Vandome and et.al., Industrial Design Right 1(Alphascript Publishing, 2009)

History of Industrial design rights:

Emergence of Designs Rights:

Before discovering the history and the evolution of the designs act in India, it will be

better to see the history of the designs act in United Kingdom, as they are the pre-runners in

protecting the industrial designs and our laws relating to industrial designs are based on their

legislations during the colonial period. The law of designs has a long history dating back to the

latter part of 18th

century. Its origin can be found from the United Kingdom in 1787 with the

Designing and Printing of Linen Act. It was originally introduced to protect the designing and

printing of linens and cottons, design law has been extended over the years to cover functional as

well as decorative articles4. This act gave only a limited copyright protection to the designs, but

it effectively begins with a design registration scheme which took recognizable form in the 1830s

and 1840s5. The Copyright and Design Act was passed in the year 1839 and increased the

protection given to fabrics and textiles by extending the law according to the modern design.

This act only introduced the system of registration to avail benefits under the act. Then the act of

1842 consolidated all earlier acts and provided a higher level of protection and increased the

remedies for infringement. Thereafter in the year 1883 a single consolidated and amendment act

was passed by the parliament of the United Kingdom, clinching designs, patents and trademarks.

At these times the importance of protection of designs was considered by most countries and

they started enacting legislations to protect the industrial designs.

Importance and Recognition:

In 1949, the registered designs were once more separated entirely from patents and the

law relating to registered designs was governed by the Registered Design Act 1949. Then it was

further modified in the year 1968 by a concise act. The Registered Designs Act 1949 is still in

force today but as amended by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988. The new

amendment of 1988 was intended to reduce the luxurious nature of the designs rights. The act

was amended further on 9 December 2001 to incorporate the European Designs Directive6. The

Directive mandate all the member countries of EC to implement the directive before 2001, to

4 available at: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/design/d-about/d-whatis/d-history.htm (visited on March 1, 2011).

5 W Cornish, D LLewelyn and et.al., Intellectual Property: Patents, Copyright, Trademarks and Allied Rights

601(Sweet & Maxwell. London. 7th

ed, 2010). 6 Directive on the legal protection of designs (Directive 98/71 of the European Community).

give the holder of a registered design right an exclusive right to authorize or prohibit others from

using the design in anyway, but the right holders cannot restrict the private or non-commercial

use. Further the period of protection was extended to a maximum total of twenty five years. The

European Community has introduced a community design in the year 2002 that provides a

unitary industrial design right. The scope of the protection conferred by a community design

includes any design which does not produce a different impression on an informed user, taking

the degree of freedom of the designer into consideration7. It also protects the designs in a foreign

country, if it has business in number of European countries.

Paris Convention and Hague Agreement:

At the international level the Paris convention for the protection of Industrial Property,

1883 is the first international convention which discusses the concept of industrial property and

its protection. The convention was amended in the year 1979 and mandates the countries of the

union to protect Industrial designs8. It further introduced a provision to mandate the member

states to provide protection to the industrial designs without any forfeiture on the basis of failure

to work or by reason of importation of articles corresponding to those which are protected9.

Another important international document which provides adequate protection to the industrial

property is the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement concerning the International Registration of

Industrial Designs which was adopted in the year 1999. The Hague system provides an

international registration of designs which provides a mechanism for registering a design in

countries and intergovernmental organizations party to the agreement. It is administered by the

international bureau of the WIPO. The international registration obtained under this agreement

produces the same effects in each of the designated countries, as if it was registered in that

country. India is a member of Paris convention and gives protection to the industrial designs, but

does not signed the Geneva act of the Hague agreement and the international protection for

industrial designs is not available in India. The Protection given under the Hague agreement will

be discussed later under the head International Protection of Industrial Designs.

7 available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_design (visited on February 28, 2011).

8 Article- 5quinquies of the Paris convention as amended on 1979

9 Id, Art- 5B.

Evolution of Designs Act in India:

Introduction of Design Rights by British:

The first act in India to grant exclusive privileges to inventors of new patterns and

designs was passed in 1872. This act was titled as “The Patterns and Designs Act, 1872”. It gave

a definition of new manufacture to include any new or original pattern or design or the

application of such pattern or design of the application of such pattern or design to any substance

or articles of manufacture10

. Afterward the act was replaced by a new consolidated act called The

Inventions and Designs Act, 1888. This 1988 act was nothing but a clear reflection of British

model of the same act in the United Kingdom. Then its came the Patents and Designs Act, 1911,

which repealed the previous acts relating to patents and for the first time in India this act has

introduced a new separate office for the execution of law relating to designs. The creation of

controller general for all the intellectual properties unified the registration, administration and

information in one office and made the procedure for obtaining protection more steady and

uniform. To regulate the practice of registration and for the purpose of carrying into effect the

provisions of the Act11

, patent and designs rules were framed in the year 1933. Section 2(4) of

the act gives copyright protection to a registered design as “Copyright means the exclusive right

to apply a design to any article in any class in which the design is registered”.

Significance and effectiveness of Colonial Designs Act of 1911:

The Act of 1911 excludes any trademark or property mark from the definition of the term

‘design’ which was stated as only the features of shape, configurations, pattern or ornament

applied to any article by any industrial process, which in the finished article appeal to and are

judges solely by the eye12

. The act further provides certain essential requirements to be satisfied

in order to get a design registered in India. The first important requisite is that the design should

be new or original and not previously published in India. For the purpose of registration of

designs, goods have been classified into fourteen different classes and an applicant, to safeguard

10

B.M.Mohapatra, “Registration of Industrial Designs,” 51 The Journal of the Patent office Technical Society 27

(1969). 11

s. 77 of The Patents and Designs Act, 1911. 12

Id s. 2(5).

his own interest, may register the identical design in different classes13

. When a design is

registered under this act, the proprietor of the design shall have copyright on his design for a

period of five years, which may extend to fifteen years on an application filed before the registrar

with the prescribed fee for the extension of the period of copyright before the expiry of the five

years term14

. During the period of the protection, the registered owner has the exclusive right to

apply the design so registered on any particular thing or object in which it was registered. Under

this act, the registered owner of the design should mark the article with word ‘Regd’ or

‘Registered’ with the number of registration, except in case of the textile design. If it was not

marked by the proprietor, the he cannot claim protection and not entitled to recover damages

from an infringer.

Protection of Industrial Designs under the new Indian Designs Act, 2000:

The 1911 act was amended so many times in the British colonial period and after the

Indian independence. Finally Indian Designs Act, 2000 was enacted to consolidate and amend

the law relating to the protection of designs and to implement the TRIPS Agreement15

. It came

into effect in India on May 11, 2001, replacing the old law of 1911 to provide more effective

protection to the registered designs and to encourage design activities. The new act of 2000

grants the owner or proprietor of the registered designs an exclusionary right of selling,

licensing, assigning and using the same in any product. In India, registration of an industrial

design is possible to protect if it is new or original provided it is a: non-functional features of

shape, configuration, pattern, ornamentation or composition of lines or colours, applied to any

article whether in two or three dimensional or in both forms, by any industrial process or means

whether guide, mechanical or chemical, separate or combined16

. India, under this act, has

adopted the ‘first to file, first to get’ system, which means that the inventor or creator of a design

should file the application for registration on the earliest possible time in order to prevent other

persons claiming rights on that particular designs. A design is considered to be new if no

13

supra note 10 at p.28. 14

s. 47 of The Patents and Designs Act, 1911. 15

Article 25(1) of the TRIPS Agreement mandates the member states to provide a minimum level of protection for

independently created industrial designs for a period of 10 years. 16

available at: http://www.imtma.in/pdf/ch5.pdf (visited on March 17, 2011).

identical design has been made available to the public before the date of filing, or the application

for registration. In India, novelty is determined on a worldwide basis17

.

The main change that the act has brought in is the exclusion of ‘artistic works’ as defined

in the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 from the definition of the term ‘design’18

. Likewise the

Copyright act also excludes any design which is registered under the Designs Act from the scope

of protection under the copyright act. The new definition to the term ‘design’ made many

conflicts in giving protection to the artistic works. This was explained by the Delhi High Court in

Microfibers Inc. v. Girdhar Co. & Another19

that the artistic works which are excluded from

designs protection are the piece of art by itself in the form of painting. The court further observed

that the artistic work with an object to put them into industrial use are not excluded from the

section 2(d) of the designs act and they needs to be registered to get protection. The court clearly

explained in that case that “The exclusion of an 'artistic work' as defined in Section 2(c) of the

Copyright Act from the definition of 'design' under Section 2(d) of the Designs Act, 2000 is only

meant to exclude the nature of artistic works like painting of M.F.Hussain. It is, thus, the

paintings, sculptors and such works of art which are sought to be specifically excluded from the

new Act”20

. The definition under the act of 2000 is an improved one and more comprehensive21

.

The inapplicability of copyright law to the fashion industry has not caused any instability, nor

has it adversely affected the incentive to innovate and create. It is beyond doubt that the fashion

industry needs to regulate dissemination of designs and art to reduce if not curb unauthorized use

and appropriation of creative artistic works22

.

Another important case was decided by the supreme court of India regarding the designs

registration and protection in Bharat Glass Tube Ltd v. Gopal Glass Works Ltd.23

In this case the

supreme court examined the nature of proof required to establish prior publication of a design.

This is an appeal on the cancellation of the design registration on the ground of similarity of

17

s. 4 of The Designs Act, 2000 and Id. 18

Id s. 2(d). 19

2009(40) PTC 519(Del). 20

Id Para. 8(11). 21

Reshma Abraham, “A Comparative Analysis of the Designs Act 1911 and the Designs Act 2000”, available at:

http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/l269-Designs-Act-1911-&-the-Designs-Act-2000.html (visited on March

21, 2011). 22

Pranjal Shirwaikar, “Fashion copying and Design of the Law”, 14 Journal of intellectual Property Rights 113

(2009). 23

2008 (37) PTC 1.

design existing in England. The Design in dispute in this case is a shape to be applied in glass

sheet. The court after examining the two designs came to the conclusion that there is no

comparision between the two and upheld the order of the Calcutta high court. The international

registration of industrial designs came into conflict in India for the first time in Disney

Enterprises Inc. v. Prime Housewares Ltd. before the Delhi high court. In this case the Disney

characters such as mickey mouse, minnie mouse and donald duck were manufactured by

Mumbai based Prime housewares limited. The Disney filed trademark infringement suit with the

main contention on their international registration of their designs and the court observed that the

plaintiff’s trademark is protected under Indian law, but not the designs. The court passed the

order on trademark infringement suit in favour of the Disney. The court also directed the indian

company to deliver all the infringing material in their possession to Disney so that it could be

destroyed.24

The new act has made another major change to the existing act by extending the initial

period of protection to ten years from five years, but the maximum term of protection remains

the same for fifteen years25

. In case of piracy of the designs, the person who infringed the design

copyright shall be liable for the fine not exceeding fifty thousand rupees. The proprietor can also

bring a suit for recovery of damages and infringement. The suit for infringement of registered

designs cannot be instituted in any court lower than that of a district judge26

. The new act is more

superior and effective in giving protection and encouraging the industrial designs in India.

International Protection of Industrial Designs:

TRIPS:

The TRIPS Agreement obliges members to provide for the protection of independently

created industrial designs that are new or original. It says that the members may provide that

designs are not new or original if they do not significantly differ from known designs or

combinations of known design features and that such protection shall not extend to designs

24

available at: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-07-29/india/27952729_1_disney-characters-donald-

duck-disney-enterprises (visited on March 3, 2011). 25

s. 11 of The Designs Act, 2000. 26

Brian W. Gary and Effie Bouzalas(ed.), Industrial Design Rights: An International Perspective 141 (Kluwer Law

International Ltd, London, 2001).

dictated essentially by technical or functional consideration.27 Further the TRIPS requires the

members to grant the owner of a protected industrial design the right to prevent third parties not

having the owner's consent from making, selling or importing articles bearing or embodying a

design which is a copy, or substantially a copy, of the protected design, when such acts are

undertaken for commercial purposes. 28 Under the TRIPS agreement, the minimum term of

protection given to the proprietor should be ten years.29

At the International level, apart from the TRIPS Agreement which mandates the member

countries of the WTO to enact or amend their legislations to give minimum level of protection to

the Industrial designs, there are three other international treaties which provide general standards

of protection to be provided by the contracting states. Paris Convention for the Protection of

Industrial Property is the first major international agreement covering general standards of

protection for industrial designs to be provided by the member states. The second important

international agreement was the Hague Agreement concerning the International Registration of

Industrial Designs, which governs the WIPO administered global protection system for

registering designs. Then the Locarno Agreement, 1979 which establishes the international

classification for industrial designs. Though India is not a contracting party to the Hague

Agreement, but follows the International classification for industrial designs based on the

Locarno Agreement, it would be better to discuss the Hague system of international registration

and protection of industrial designs to analyze the protection of industrial designs under

international IPR regime.

Objectives and basic features of the Hague System:

The Hague system gives the owner of the industrial design the possibility to have his

design protected in several countries by simply filing one application with the International

Bureau of WIPO30

, in one language. The design so registered with the WIPO under this system

will get the protection at all the member countries to the Agreement. At present there are 58

countries are contracting parties of the Hague Agreement, of which 41 countries are bound by

the Geneva Act, 1999 which provides for international registration for industrial designs. The

27

Article 25(1) of the TRIPS Agreement. 28

Id article 26(1). 29

Id article 26(3). 30

Situated at Geneva, Switzerland.

European Union joined the Hague system for international design protection in the year 2008,

which mandates all the members of the EU to give protection to the designs registered under the

Hague system. Another Union of countries which joined the Hague system is the African

Intellectual Property Organization (OPAI) with 16 countries. The Hague system was aimed at

providing simpler and more cost-effective design protection solutions for the users from the

member states. It also simplifies the management of an industrial design registration, since it is

possible to record subsequent changes or to renew the registration through a single procedural

step with the International Bureau. One advantage to filing via the Hague Agreement is that no

in-country patent agent is required in order to obtain protection in that jurisdiction. Additionally,

countries are required to accept applications whose formalities are in agreement with Hague

agreement practice, but not necessarily with practice in that country31

. The Earlier acts of the

Hague systems, the London Act of 1934 and the Hague Act of 1960 give relief to the owners of

the designs only after fulfilling some procedural matters in the national level. But as per the

Geneva Act of 1999, the international design registration completely takes care of the applicant

interest and relives him from filling separate individual application before the national office. It

offers the possibility of obtaining protection for industrial designs in a number of States and

Intergovernmental Organizations by way of filing a single international application32

. The filing

of an international application does not require any prior national application or registration.

Protection for an industrial design can therefore be applied for at the international level through

the Hague Agreement for the first time33

.

Filing Application and Procedures for International registration:

An international registration may be obtained only by a natural person or legal entity

having a connection, through establishment, domicile, nationality with a Contracting Party to any

of the three Acts of the Hague system. Over 99 percent of international registrations currently

obtained are governed by either the 1999 or the 1960 Act; hence the application of the 1934 Act

has been frozen since January 1, 2010. Only under the 1999 Act, an international application

31

Robert Gunderman and John Hammond, “The Limited Monopoly: International design registration through the

Hague system” available at: http://www.patenteducation.com/images/Hague_System_LM_website.pdf (visited on

March 21, 2011). 32

M.Sakthivel, “Hague System- International Registration of Industrial Design : An Overview”, 3 Manupatra

Intellectual Property Reports F41 (2009). 33

Guide to the International Registration of Industrial Designs under the Hague Agreement, 2010 available at:

http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/hague/en/guide/pdf/hague_guide.pdf (visited on March 12, 2011).

may be filed on the basis of habitual residence in a contracting party34

. An international

application must be filed on the official form and it must contain a reproduction of the industrial

design concerned, together with the designation of the contracting parties in which protection is

sought. It must be filed in English, French, or Spanish, at the applicant’s option. A single

international application may comprise several different designs up to a maximum of 100

provided that all designs included in the same application must belong to the same class of the

international classification of Locarno Agreement35

. The international application may be filed;

at the option of the applicant either directly with the International Bureau or through the Office

of the applicant’s contracting party. An international application is subject to the payment of

three types of fees: a basic fee, a publication fee, and designation fee for each designated

country. All the payment to the International Bureau should be made in Swiss currency.

However, National offices who receive international application may collect fees in their own

currency but while transferring application and fee to the International Bureau should be in Swiss

currency36

.

e-filing:

WIPO introduced an electronic interface for electronic filing (e-filing) for the online

filing of an international application directly with the International Bureau of WIPO37

. The

electronic filing system has a number of advantages over filing a paper application, such as:

faster delivery of the application, lower fees when the application contains many reproductions

of the industrial designs to be registered, since reproductions submitted on paper are subject to a

fee for each page beyond the first, automatic checking of much of the information provided,

reducing the likelihood of irregularities38

. e-filing application also must have all the details of the

created design and the creator like name, address, phone number, e-mail, designation, indication

as to contracting party, identity of the creator and specimens of the design same like the paper

form applications. Every attachments and reproduction accompanying the international

application like power of attorney, model should be in the image formats by scanning the

34

Article 3 of the 1999 Act. 35

Article 5 of the Act of 1960 and 1999. 36

supra note 25. 37

e-filing can be made in WIPO’s portal available at: https://webaccess.wipo.int/hagueform/ 38

supra note 26.

original reproduction not exceeding 2 MB capacity. The same portal offers e-payment and e-

renewal options for online payment of fees as notified by WIPO with regard to the international

application and the renewal of international design registration, by using credit card or by a

current account created with the WIPO.

Examination:

Once filed, the application will be examined by the International Bureau of WIPO for

formal requirements, with the applicant being given the opportunity to make corrections. When

all formalities have been met, the application will get recorded in the International Register and

published electronically in the International Designs Bulletin of WIPO. This publication takes

place on WIPO’s website and contains all the relevant data concerning the international

registration, including a reproduction of the industrial designs. The date on which each issue of

the Bulletin is made available on the internet will be communicated electronically by the

International Bureau to the office of each contracting party. Upon publication of the International

Designs Bulletin on the internet, substantive examination must be conducted by each contracting

party’s office, if it was provided for by its own legislation. As a result of that examination, the

Office may notify to the International Bureau a refusal of protection for its territory. However,

an international registration may not be refused on grounds of non-compliance with formal

requirements, since such requirements must be considered satisfied following the examination

carried out by the International Bureau39

. Such refusal must be notified to the International

Bureau within six months from the date of publication on WIPO’s website. The same can be

done within twelve months from the date of publication in case of the international applications

filed under the Geneva Act. The holder cannot get protection in the country which refused the

registration and he can file an appeal against the refusal of protection before the competent

authorities within the time limits and in accordance with the legislations of the contracting party

which refuse the registration. The International Bureau will not involve in this procedure.

Grant of protection and the Term of protection:

The Office of a contracting party, if satisfied on substantive examination, can send to the

International Bureau a statement to the effect that protection is granted to the industrial designs

39

Article 8 of the Act of 1960 and Article 12 of the 1999.

that are the subject of the international registration in the contracting Party concerned. In every

contracting party that does not issue such a refusal, the international registration takes effect and

provides the same protection as if the design(s) had been registered under the domestic law of

that contracting party. The International registration shall be effected for an initial period of five

years and may be renewed for one or more additional terms of five years in accordance with the

procedures and after payment of fees40

. The maximum duration of protection in each designated

contracting party corresponds to the maximum duration provided for by the domestic laws of that

contracting party. In Europe, Community Designs provide for rights within the European

community that can extend for up to 25 years, subject to payment of renewal fees every five

years. The Renewals are handled centrally by the International Bureau. The applicant must pay

the renewal fee and notify the International Bureau the countries for which his registration is to

be renewed. The International Bureau itself will send an unofficial notice to both the holder and

his representative about the renewal of registration, six months before the expiry of a five year

term of protection41

.

The WIPO is conducting programs, at frequent time gap, on the working of the

International Registration of Industrial Designs. Recently in March 30, 2011 a Seminar on the

Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs was organized by the

WIPO. It was discussed in the seminar the advantages of the Hague system from the user’s point

of view, the management of the international registration and the general overview of the Hague

system. It was further observed in the seminar that the system of international registration of

industrial designs arose from a need for simplicity and economy. In effect, it enables design

owners originating from a Contracting Party to obtain protection for their designs with a

minimum of formality and expense.

Locarno Agreement – International classification for Industrial Designs:

The Locarno Agreement spells out how industrial designs are classified and protected

around the world. The agreement was finalized in 1968 and amended on 1979, but is still being

ratified. The Locarno classification gives and international classification system for industrial

designs which established in accordance with the agreement of 1968. It classifies Industrial

40

Article 17 of the Act of 1999. 41

Rule 23 of Rules of the Common Regulations.

design thirty two classes and two hundred and nineteen subclasses based on goods or products in

an alphabetical order in which industrial designs are incorporated42

. Product classes covered in

the Locarno Agreement include foodstuffs, which are further broken down into such items as

baked goods, meat and produce; brush ware, which is further broken down into items such as

paint and tooth brushes and brushing machines; and building and construction elements etc.,43

.

In total there are 7,024 indications of different kinds of goods which have been classified and, for

searching purposes; these are provided in a purely alphabetical list as well as alphabetically

within each subclass. In order to keep the Locarno Classification up to date, it is continuously

revised and a new edition is published every five years. The current (ninth) edition has been in

force since January 1, 2009. The revision is carried out by a Committee of Experts set under the

Locarno Agreement. All States party to the Agreement are members of the Committee of

Experts. At present 49 states were party to the Agreement and they have to adopt and apply the

Locarno classification for industrial designs. International classification based upon Locarno

classification had been adopted by India, in which the classification is based on articles. Like

India, many other countries follow the International Classification for industrial designs, based

on the Locarno Agreement.

It is important to remember that the Locarno Classification is solely an administrative

tool and does not bind the member States with regards to the nature of protection afforded by a

design so classified. The use of the Locarno Classification as a single international classification

system adopted by several Industrial Design Offices facilitates design searching in a number of

different territories. It can also negate the need for re-classification when related designs are filed

in more than one member state. Moreover, as the Locarno Classification system is product-based

it is relatively easy to expand it to include new products by adding new classes, sub-classes or

product descriptions, as required. Furthermore, since design protection is limited in time, old

designs will not remain in force for long and therefore product trends and commercial conflicts

can be relatively easily tracked44

.

42

Locarno Classification has Class 1 to 31 and 99. 43

Cherly Teal, “The Locarno Agreement”, available at: http://www.ehow.com/facts_6864554_locarno-

agreement.html#ixzz1IWZ41A42 (visited on March 17, 2011). 44

Antwerp, “Position Paper on Proposed Changes to the Locarno Classification System for Industrial Designs”,

prepared for the European Communities Trade Mark Association on September 5, 2008.

Conclusion:

The Industrial Design registration helps in safeguarding the ornamental or aesthetic

elements of the article and it gives exclusionary rights to the holder or proprietor of the registered

designs against unauthorized use like replicating or copying by a person without his consent. The

protection to the industrial designs helps the economic development, which promote creativity in

the industrial arena. From the above discussion it is clear that The Hague system for international

registration of designs provides maximum advantages and benefits to the international

merchandisers to acquire registration and get protection within the contracting states through a

single application. It makes the procedure simple and efficient in registering and getting

protection for the designs created by an individual at the international level. However, India is

not a member to the Hague system of international registration of design, it gives wider

protection to the industrial designs under the designs act of 2000. But it will be better to have

international protection in India to make the protection available in all the contracting parties to

the Hague system and to provide much protection to the international traders in India.

Bibliography

Books:

� Brian W. Gary and Effie Bouzalas(ed.), Industrial Design Rights: An International

Perspective (Kluwer Law International Ltd, London, 2001).

� Christine Fellner, Industrial Design Law (Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1995).

� Frederic P Miller, Agnes F Vandome and et.al., Industrial Design Right (Alphascript

Publishing, 2009)

� W Cornish, D LLewelyn and et.al., Intellectual Property: Patents, Copyright,

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� M.Sakthivel, “Hague System- International Registration of Industrial Design: An

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� Pranjal Shirwaikar, “Fashion copying and Design of the Law”, 14 Journal of intellectual

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� Reshma Abraham, “A Comparative Analysis of the Designs Act 1911 and the Designs

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1911-&-the-Designs-Act-2000.html (visited on March 21, 2011)

Web Resources:

• http://www.ehow.com

• http://www.imtma.in

• http://www.ipo.gov.uk

• http://www.legalserviceindia.com

• http://www.wikipedia.org

• http://www.wipo.int

• http://www.patenteducation.com