Term of Copyright in a Design
According to the Designs Act, when a design is registered, the registered proprietor of the design shall have copyright in the design during ten years from the date of registration.
Advisory and Legal Opinions
The very first criteria to register a copyright in a design is that the design should be new/ original, i.e. it should not be made public before the date of application. We also have an immense experience and knowledge in prosecuting designs. We are adept at providing you with advisories and legal opinions that would help you to carve out a definite course of action for your design/ design portfolio.
Infringement and Validity Opinions
Many a times manufacturers invent a new packaging, or a new shape of an article, for marketing or better functionality. We are equipped with a sound legal and technical experience to provide infringement or validity opinions in case a similar appearing design exists in the market. With a knowledge of how a design may be viewed by the Indian judiciary coupled with the experience of advising clients over the years, we offer comprehensive infringement and validity opinions to our clients.
Filing and Prosecution of Design Applications in India and Foreign Jurisdictions
For filing a design, the Designs Office requires certain documents to be filed. The documents include application form mentioning the title and the class in which the design is sought to be registered; photographic representations of the article along with the novelty claim, etc. Along with providing an advisory for design registration and assisting our clients in filing an application for the registration of the design, we also provide services for prosecuting the design applications. We assist our clients in prosecution of the design application as well. Once an application for the registration of a design has been filed, the Designs Office issues a First Examination Report containing objections regarding the design application. Responding to the First Examination Report in design matters requires expertise and experience. It is mandatory to respond to the First Examination Report within 6 months of the date of application of the design. If the Controller is satisfied by the response provided by the Applicant (or the Attorney of the Applicant), the application generally proceed towards a grant.
Once an Applicant has filed a response to the First Examination Report, the application is examined by the Designs Office in light of the response provided. In event that the Controller is not satisfied with the response, the Controller may issue a hearing notice to the Applicant. The hearing notice has the details of the scheduled hearing along with a list of further objections. In such an event, the Applicant (or the Attorney of the Applicant) is expected to be present and provide an explanation to the objections raised by the Controller in the hearing notice.
Along with filing and prosecuting designs in India, we also assist our clients in filing and prosecuting design applications in other foreign jurisdictions as well.
Related Pages
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