Secure exclusive legal rights over the unique visual appearance of your product, and maintain your intellectual property flawlessly.
While patents protect how a product works, a design registration protects how a product looks. Governed by the Designs Act, 2000, an industrial design officially secures the unique visual appearance of your product—including its shape, configuration, surface pattern, ornamentation, or composition of lines and colors.
To qualify as a registered design, the defining factor is its visual appeal. The design must be applied to an actual article and judged solely by the eye, meaning it cannot simply be a hidden mechanical principle or construction method.
The shape, configuration, or pattern must be entirely original and never published or registered anywhere before.
The design must apply to a physical article and appeal directly to the eye in its finished state.
The registration protects the aesthetics, not the functional or mechanical utility of the product.
The design must not conflict with public morals, public order, or the security of India.
Absolute right to use, sell, or license the design while legally preventing competitors from copying.
A legally protected aesthetic helps build brand recognition and sets your product apart.
A registered design is a valuable IP asset that can be commercialized, sold, or franchised.
After you file a design application, it is strictly reviewed by the Examiners at the Design Registry. If they find any discrepancies—such as unclear images, formatting errors, or doubts about the originality of your design—they will issue a First Examination Report (FER) detailing their official objections.
We carefully review the exact objections raised by the Ld. Controller of Designs to understand the legal or technical hurdles blocking your registration.
We prepare a comprehensive and persuasive legal response to defend the novelty and originality of your design, directly addressing the Examiner's concerns.
If the registry rejected your initial images, we help you properly format, sign, and re-attach the specific views and novelty claims exactly as directed.
Responding to an FER comes with a strict deadline (typically 6 months). We ensure your formal reply is filed flawlessly and on time so your application is not abandoned.
If your written reply to the First Examination Report (FER) does not fully resolve the Examiner's queries regarding the novelty or formatting of your design, the Design Registry may schedule an official hearing. This is a crucial opportunity to verbally defend your application.
We ensure that all necessary supporting documents, updated novelty claims, and amended representation sheets (design views) are properly compiled and filed with the registry well in advance of the hearing date.
You do not need to navigate the registry yourself. Our experienced IP attorneys will appear before the Ld. Hearing Officer on your behalf, presenting strong, evidence-backed arguments to prove your design is original.
If the applicant fails to appear for the scheduled hearing, the registry will automatically declare the design legally abandoned. We monitor all dates strictly to ensure this never happens to your IP.
After listening to our legal arguments, the Hearing Officer makes a final decision. Our primary goal is to satisfy their legal queries so they exercise their discretion to formally grant your Design Registration.
If the Controller of Designs rejects your application after a hearing, it is not necessarily the end of the road. Under the Indian Designs Act, 2000, you have the statutory right to challenge a wrongful refusal by elevating your case to the higher judiciary.
Our legal team meticulously examines the Controller's final refusal order. We identify the exact legal grounds for rejection—whether lack of novelty or prior publication—and find the legal flaws in their decision.
Under Section 5(4) and Section 36 of the Designs Act, 2000, we draft a highly persuasive, evidence-backed appeal petition and file it directly to the High Court to challenge the registry's findings.
The law strictly mandates that your appeal must be filed within three months (90 days) from the date the Controller passes the final order. We ensure your petition is flawlessly filed within this window.
Our specialized IP litigators represent you before the High Court, presenting concrete evidence of originality to set aside the refusal and officially direct the registry to grant your Certificate.
Keeping the official Register of Designs updated is crucial for maintaining the enforceability of your intellectual property rights. Whether you have moved your business headquarters, changed your corporate name, or discovered a clerical error, we help you file the correct applications before the Controller of Designs to ensure your legal records remain perfectly accurate.
If you have officially changed your name or address, we help you file a formal notice (Form 22) with the registry to instantly update your registered details or legal address for service in India.
Minor typographical mistakes or omissions made during the original filing process can be formally corrected through a rectification request (Form 14 or Form 17), ensuring your certificate is flawless.
You cannot use a simple "name change" to transfer a design. If the design was sold or acquired in a merger, we will help you draft and file proper Design Assignment documents to legally record the new owner.
Navigating specific legal forms required by the Registry can be tricky. Our team handles the entire preparation, evidence compilation, and official filing process so your updates are processed quickly.
Unlike trademarks that can be renewed indefinitely, an industrial design registration in India has a strict, maximum legal lifespan of 15 years. Once your design is registered, it is crucial to track its validity and file for a timely extension to ensure your intellectual property remains exclusively yours.
Upon successful registration, your design is legally protected for an initial period of 10 years from the date of registration.
Before the initial term expires, you have the right to renew the copyright in your design for one final, additional period of 5 years.
We ensure you never miss a deadline by tracking your IP portfolio and filing the mandatory extension application (Form-3) before your initial 10-year term expires.
If you accidentally missed your renewal deadline and your design rights lapsed, we can file a formal restoration application (Form-4) on your behalf.
A lapsed design can only be restored within exactly 12 months. We help draft statements proving the delay was unintentional to convince the Controller.