OUR INDUSTRIAL DESIGN SERVICES

Industrial Designs: Protecting the Visual Identity of Your Products

Industrial design protection addresses a gap that neither patents nor trademarks fill. Patents protect technical function; trademarks protect brand identity. Designs protect the aesthetic appearance of a product — the visual features that make it recognisable, desirable, and commercially distinctive. For manufacturers, product designers, packaging specialists, and consumer goods companies, design registration under the Designs Act 2000 is often the most commercially relevant and cost-effective form of IP protection available.

ATB Legal’s industrial design practice supports clients across the complete registration and enforcement lifecycle — from initial novelty assessment through to CGPDTM filing, prosecution, portfolio management, and action against infringers.

Industrial Design Protection in India

Industrial designs in India are protected under the Designs Act 2000, administered by the CGPDTM under DPIIT. Registration grants the proprietor the exclusive right to use the registered design in relation to the article for which it is registered, preventing any person from applying an identical or fraudulently imitated design for the purpose of sale.

The Act protects aesthetic and visual features — shape, configuration, pattern, ornamentation, and composition of lines or colours applied in two or three dimensions. A design must be new or original andmust not have been previously published or disclosed anywhere in the world before the filing date . Features dictated solely by technical function are excluded from design protection and may instead qualify for patent protection under the Patents Act 1970.

The term of protection is 10 years from the date of registration, extendable by a further 5 years on payment of the prescribed renewal fee — giving a maximum protection period of 15 years. Registered design rights are enforceable through civil and criminal proceedings from the date of registration.

Industries Where Design Registration Matters Most

Design registration is particularly valuable in sectors where product appearance drives purchasing decisions and imitation is commercially damaging. Industries actively using design protection in India include consumer electronics, home appliances, furniture and furnishings, packaging and containers, fashion accessories, automotive components, medical devices, and fast-moving consumer goods. For GCC and European businesses exporting to India or manufacturing in India, early design registration prevents local competitors from appropriating product aesthetics that represent years of development investment.

Our Services Include

• Novelty Searches and Registrability Assessment: Conducting prior art searches across the Designs Register to assess novelty before filing — establishing registrability and identifying conflicting prior registrations.
• Drafting and Filing Design Applications: Preparing applications, representations, and statements of article for filing with the CGPDTM through the IP India portal — ensuring compliance with all formal and substantive requirements.
• Prosecution and Office Action Responses: Managing correspondence with the CGPDTM following examination, addressing objections, and progressing applications through to registration.
• Design Renewal and Portfolio Management: Managing 10-year renewal cycles and 5-year extensions, maintaining design validity across large product portfolios, and coordinating international filings through the Hague System administered by WIPO.
• Design Cancellation Proceedings: Representing clients in cancellation petitions before the CGPDTM — challenging registrations on grounds of prior publication, lack of novelty, or non-compliance with the Designs Act 2000.
• Enforcement and Infringement Actions: Representing design proprietors in civil infringement proceedings before Indian courts — pursuing injunctions, damages, and delivery up of infringing articles.
• Design Licensing and Assignment: Drafting and registering design licensing and assignment agreements, ensuring commercial exploitation is contractually documented and enforceable.
• Design-Patent Strategy: Advising on the boundary between design and patent protection for products with both functional and aesthetic features — developing integrated IP strategies that maximise protection across both regimes.