The government has proposed changes in the Design Act to provide greater protection to virtual designs and align it with current international norms.
Through the changes in law the government is seeking to clarify that design protection extends beyond static visual features to dynamic visual effects that are central to contemporary digital and screen-based designs.
A discussion paper on the changes proposed in the Act has been released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) for public comments.
To enable this protection, the expansion of definition of the “article” has been proposed to cover items both in physical and non-physical forms including Graphical User Interface (GUIs), icons, graphic symbols, typefaces, augmented reality graphical user interfaces, and other virtual products.
Copyright Act Alignment
It has also been proposed to make changes in the Copyright Act to enable copyright protection for designs that are registrable under the Designs Act, 2000 but remain unregistered. This can be done for 15 years, it has been proposed.
Permitting the continued copyright protection but aligning the term of protection with commercial lifespan of designs, would help reconcile the two statutes, the discussion paper said adding that this would help prevent any attempts to claim long term copyright monopolies over the subject matter which is more appropriately regulated under design law.
It also seeks to increase the grace period for registration under Design Act to 12 months from 6 months. This grace period gives time to innovators to register their intellectual property which they might have disclosed at various platforms lille online launches, investor presentations, pilot sales, crowdfunding platforms, academic publications, and digital marketplaces.
Confidential Registration Phase
It also provides for deferment of publication of design after getting it registered. This will enable applicants who wish to keep their design confidential until the product is ready for launch.
Currently, the design protection is granted for 10 years initially, which can be renewed for a further period of 5 years upon filing a renewal request. It is proposed to adopt a “5+5+5” term of protection.
India is also planning to join the Hague System of design that will allow Indian businesses and designers to seek design protection in several countries by way of filing a single application through World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)