Design Specification in India
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Unlike United States, Designs are subject matter of registration in India and no design patent is granted in India for protection of designs. The most interesting part in design protection is that it uses two specific terms as used for grant of patent, such as, novelty and priority date and prior art but its content does not match with that of patents. Herein below we can find a brief as to procedure and technique for obtaining design registration in India.
Requirements
1. Original in the sense it should be new (novelty)
2. Priority date (prior design reference, meaning on the filing date it is not known)
3. Distinguishable from known designs
4. Applicable on an article
5. Non scandalous, not obscene, and appealing to eye
6. Not merely a mechanical contrivance
First Step
Find out whether a design similar to proposed one is filed for registration and whether it has been registered? Relevant forms ΓÇô forms 6 and 7 to be filed to comply with the first step.
Second Step
Filing registration application: convention application ΓÇô to be filed in India within six months from the date of application of registration in any convention country claiming priority date.
For Indian application, date of filing is date of priority.
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[align=justify]Third Step
Filling form 1 as follows:
(i) Application duly filed in on the prescribed form (Form-1) along with the prescribed fees, stating name in full, address, nationality, name of the article, class number, address for service in India. The application shall also be signed either by the applicant or by his authorized agent.
(ii) Representation (in quadruplicate of size 33 cm X 20.5 cm with a suitable margin) of the article.
Drawings/sketches should clearly show the features of the design from different views and state the view (e.g. front or side).
(iii) A statement of novelty and disclaimer (if any) in respect of mechanical action, trademark, word, letter, numerals should be endorsed on each representation sheet which should be duly signed and dated.
(iv) Power of attorney (if necessary).
(v) Priority documents (if any) in case of convention application claimed under Section 44 of the Designs Act, 2000.
Step Four
(i) Defects in the application, if any noticed on examination of the application are communicated to the applicant or to his agent at the address for service. The defects should be corrected and the application resubmitted to the Design office for acceptance within six months from the official date of the application.
(ii) In case the defects as required by the Controller are not rectified, a personal hearing the will be provided to the applicant. At such a hearing the controller will decide whether the application should be accepted or not.
(iii) Acceptance & Notification: - An application is accepted when all the shortcomings have been rectified. It is then notified in the Official Gazette for objections, if any, from interested persons.
Preparing Design Specification
The most important part of design specification preparation is ΓÇÿpreparation of representation sheet, which is filed in quadruplicate along with application.[/align]
[align=justify]Statement of Novelty
It is required that the registrant should give statement as to novelty of the Design, requested for registration under the Designs Act, 2000. Example: The novelty resides in the floral ornamentation of the Jar as illustrated.
Statement as to Disclaimer
When a design is likely to represent a trademark or perform a functional/mechanical aspect, a disclaimer as to its use is required to be given without prejudicing rights of other persons. Example:
No claim is made by virtue of this registration to any right to the use as a trademark of what is shown in the representations.
Example: No claim is made by virtue of this registration in respect of any mechanical or other action of the mechanism whatever or in respect of any mode or principle of construction of the article.
Preparing Representation Sheet
Representation means the exact representation of the article on which the design has been applied. It should be prepared on white A4 size paper of durable quality but should not be prepared on cardboard or should not be mounted on other paper.
The following points should be considered while preparing a representation.
1. A brief statement of novelty, claim of features of design, which is new and original, are required to be mentioned on each set of representation sheet. No description stating the features of the design should be incorporated.
2. The article must be shown in isolation and features of the design must be clearly and accurately visible.
3. The article shown in the drawing should be consistent with the name of the article mentioned in the application form. The name of the article should be such that is known in the trade.
4. The margin of the representation sheet should be one and half on all sides.
5. The figure shown should be of sufficient scale in order to visualize all the details of the features of the design applied to the article.
6. The figure should be shown in upright position with respect to top and bottom position of the sheet.
7. No descriptive matter or denoting the components by reference letter/numerals should be included other than showing the particular portion of the article where novelty resides.
8. Sufficient number of views should be incorporated in the representation sheet in order to show the article completely and to visualize the exact nature of the design clearly.
9. No dimensions or engineering symbol etc. should be mentioned in the representation sheet. The representation is not to be regarded as engineering drawing of the article.
Stating Classification
Designs are required to be categorized, in separate classes in order to provide for systematic registration. An International classification of Industrial Designs according to the Locarno Agreement (thirty two classes) has been introduced in the Designs Rules, 2001. The classification of goods is based upon the function of the goods.
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