Design Registration

‘Design’ means only the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament or composition of lines or colour or combination thereof applied to any article whether two dimensional or three dimensional or in both forms, by any industrial process or means, whether manual, mechanical or chemical, separate or combined, which in the finished article appeal to and are judged solely by the eye, but does not include any mode or principle or construction or anything which is in substance a mere mechanical device, and does not include any trade mark, as define in clause (v) of sub-section of Section 2 of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958, property mark or artistic works as defined under Section 2(c) of the Copyright Act, 1957.

Yes you do. You must file an application for registered design before you sell or offer
for sale or disclose your design to others in a non-confidential manner. Once the
application is filed you may disclose your design as your rights are officially (and in most cases internationally) recognized from the date you filed it. If it is necessary for you to disclose your design to others before filing an application for registered design, ensure that you have the other party sign a confidentiality agreement prior to disclosing the design to them. By completing this agreement it is easier to prove that it was disclosed in confidence and you have the ability to sue for breach of contract if the recipient of the confidential information you supplied uses or tells others about that information.

You should apply for a registered design as soon as possible after finalizing the design
and certainly before you disclose the design to others. We recommend that you file
drawings of your article that are as close as possible to the actual articles that you will beselling, i.e. not drawings of your initial prototypes.Your rights in the design are recognized from the date the application is filed so the sooner you file the better the position you will be in if your competitors have created something similar.

Design can be filled by an individual, a firm, partnership and legal entity.

Design registration confers rights for a period of a 15 years form the date of application,The registration is valid for an initial term of 10 years and can be renewed for another 5 years.

Yes

in case of individual Rs 1000 for small entities 2000 and others 4000.

Approximately 12 to 15 Months

No, Patent protects the way the product works and design protects the look of an objects.Basically if your product has a unique visual appearance and you want protect its appearance for commercial reason you should go for design registration.

The registration of a design confers upon the registered proprietor ‘Copyright’ in the design for the period of registration. ‘Copyright’ means the exclusive right to apply a design to the article belonging to the class in which it is registered.

Yes, the same applicant can apply again since no publication of the abandoned application is made by the Patent Office, provided the applicant does not publish the said design in the meanwhile.