Introduction
An innovative design has the potential to revolutionize the
industry. Simplest of designs with their inherent efficiency and
uniqueness have catered to consumers' basic needs for decades.
Seldom known famous designs which might have skipped one's
attention, but not their needs include the ball-point pen, bendy
straw, angelpoise lamp, Post-it® notes and Tupperware®, to
name a few. So, why is design an essential criteria for an article,
and does it warrant separate legal protection? The scope of the
article attempts to highlight the growing significance of design
rights and its current scenario in India.
What is a Design?
Design rights protect the novel features such as shapes,
configuration, colour combination, surface ornamentation,
composition of lines, or patterns of an article, whether in two
dimensional or three dimensional or in both forms, which provide an
aesthetic element instead of a functional quality. In India,
filing, prosecution and