An industrial design may constitute the ornamental or aesthetic
aspect of an article. It may consist of 3-D features such as the
shape of an article, or 2-D features, such as patterns, lines or
color.[1] India has seen the evolution of design
as an important fragment of the intellectual property family in
protecting the aesthetic value of the articles.
The Designs Act, 2000, currently governs the issues related to
design registration and piracy in India. Design registrations are
particularly useful since, many a time, a customer's purchase
decision is based on the product aesthetics i.e., the shape, look,
color combination ornamentation, etc.
The issues under the Design Act have recently increased as
organizations want to safeguard the aesthetic value of their
products. Two prominent cases decided by the Indian Judiciary are
as follow:
