A design registration has one renewal in its life, and it is easy to miss because nothing prompts it. There are no annual fees, no reminders from the Office, and a decade between filing and the date that matters. This guide covers the term, the extension, and what can be done when the extension was not applied for in time.
Quick reference
| Initial term | Ten years from the date of registration, which is the filing date — or the priority date, where priority is claimed |
| Extension | One, of five years, on application before the ten years end |
| Maximum | Fifteen years; no further renewal |
| Restoration | Within one year of lapse, if the failure was unintentional and there was no undue delay |
| Gap | No claim for piracy committed between lapse and restoration |
| Fees | Extension ₹2,000 or ₹8,000; restoration ₹1,000 or ₹4,000 plus the missed fee |
The term
Copyright in a registered design — the Act’s phrase for the exclusive right — lasts ten years from the date of registration. The date of registration is the date the application was filed, or, where convention priority is claimed, the date of the foreign filing. It is not the date the certificate issued, so time spent in examination is not added on, and for a convention application the Indian term is already several months old on the day it is filed.
The extension
Before the ten years expire, the proprietor can apply to extend the term by five years. The application is on the prescribed form with the fee — ₹2,000 for a natural person, startup or small entity, ₹8,000 for anyone else. Once extended, the design runs to fifteen years from the date of registration and then expires. There is no second extension.
The application must be made before the expiry of the initial ten years. The Rules do not provide a grace period after expiry in the way the Patents Rules do for renewals. A design whose extension is applied for on the day after the tenth anniversary has lapsed, and restoration is the only route.
Where the same design is registered in more than one class, the later registrations expire with the first, so the extension dates line up.
Restoration
A design that has ceased to have effect for non-payment of the extension fee can be restored. The proprietor applies within one year from the date the design lapsed, with a statement of the circumstances that led to the failure and the restoration fee. The Controller must be satisfied that the failure was unintentional and that there was no undue delay in applying. If satisfied, the Controller restores the design on payment of the extension fee that was missed.
“Unintentional” is read reasonably: a docketing error, a change of agent, a missed reminder. A deliberate decision to let the design go, followed by a change of mind when a competitor copied it, is not. The application is published and can be opposed by anyone who would be affected.
Restoration is not available for any other lapse. A design that was never extended because the proprietor forgot the design existed is restorable within the year; one that lapsed two years ago is gone.
The gap in rights
Restoration does not rewrite the intervening period. The Act protects anyone who began to use the design between the lapse and the restoration: no suit for piracy lies for acts done in that window, and the Controller can impose conditions on the restored registration to protect people who started using the design in good faith while it was lapsed. A competitor who launched a copy during the gap may be able to carry on.
That is the practical cost of relying on restoration rather than diarising the extension. The design comes back; the market position may not.
Keeping track
The extension date is the one date in a design’s life that has to be diarised, and it falls ten years after a filing that most people have long forgotten. Record it at filing, in the same system as trademark renewals and patent annuities, with reminders at twelve and three months before. Where a portfolio was inherited through an acquisition, audit the filing dates: lapsed designs are the commonest finding.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a registered design last in India? Ten years from the date of registration, which is the filing date or the priority date. It can be extended once, by five years, on application made before the ten years expire. Fifteen years is the maximum.
When do I have to apply to extend a design? Before the end of the tenth year from the date of registration. There is no grace period after expiry; a late application means the design has lapsed and must be restored.
Can a lapsed design be restored? Yes, within one year of the lapse, if the proprietor shows the failure to pay the extension fee was unintentional and there was no undue delay. The extension fee and a restoration fee are paid.
What happens to infringements during the period a design was lapsed? No claim lies for acts done between the lapse and the restoration, and the Controller may impose conditions protecting anyone who began using the design in good faith while it was lapsed.
Is there an annual renewal fee for designs? No. The only fee during the term is the single extension fee at the ten-year point.
Can a design be renewed beyond fifteen years? No. After fifteen years the design falls into the public domain. Continued protection for a distinctive product shape would have to come from trademark law, which the courts allow only cautiously.
Useful official resources
- IP India — designs — forms and the fee schedule
See our related notes on design fees and the design registration process.
A design approaching its tenth year, or one that has already lapsed? Talk to us — the one-year window is the whole opportunity.