More Than A Slipper: Design Protection Under The Design Act

 Introduction

At first glance, a pair of hawaii slippers, the humble rubber flip-flop ubiquitous across Indian  households, seems an unlikely protagonist in a high-stakes intellectual property dispute. Yet it is  precisely in such ordinary, everyday objects that design law faces its most interesting test: can  novelty truly reside in something as commonplace as a slipper? And if it can, how does the law  protect it without strangling competition? The Delhi High Court’s Division Bench decision in  Aqualite Industries Pvt. Ltd. v. Relaxo Footwears Ltd.¹grapples with these questions head-on,  delivering a judgment that is both doctrinally precise and practically significant. Touching upon  the scope of design protection, the mechanics of the “instructed eye” test and the evidentiary  threshold for a prior art defence, this decision is essential reading for anyone navigating design  law in India.