Six months after it became a signatory to the Locarno Agreement
(which establishes a classification for industrial designs), on 25
January 2021, India notified the Design (Amendment) Rules, 2021 to
formally adopt the "Locarno Classification".
The previous Design Rules already provided for a design
classification which was essentially based on the 10th
edition of the Locarno Classification, even when India was not a
signatory to the Locarno Agreement. The new amended Rule 10(1)
clarifies that the designs will now be formally classified as per
the current edition of Locarno Classification, as published by
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Although amended Rule 10 (1) seeks to adopt the Locarno
Classification, this adoption is not without qualification. Amended
Rule 10(1) includes a proviso, I.e., "registration of any
design would be subject to the fulfillment of provisions of the
Designs Act, 2000 specifically Section 2(a) and 2(d) of the Designs
Act,
