Designs & GI
Perspectives on designs and GIs across India and the subcontinent.
7 July 2026
The Supreme Court Settles the Section 15(2) Copyright–Design Conundrum: Cryogas v. Inox
When does an artistic work lose copyright by being industrially applied? The Supreme Court in Cryogas v. Inox laid down a two-pronged test — is it a pure artistic work, and if not, does the 'functional utility' test make it a design? — bringing long-awaited clarity.
11 March 2026
After a Design Right Expires, Can a Trademark Protect the Shape? The Harpic Bottle Dispute
Reckitt's Harpic bottle design expired — then it registered the shape as a trademark and sued Godrej's SPIC. The Calcutta HC Division Bench set aside the injunction, warning that trademark law shouldn't revive an expired design monopoly. What it means for shape marks.
2 February 2026
India's Proposed Design Law Reforms: What Would Change
Protection for GUIs and virtual designs, a 12-month grace period, deferred publication for 30 months, statutory damages, a 5+5+5 term, multiple designs in one application, and accession to the Hague system. The most significant overhaul of Indian design law since 2000.
Raja Pannir Selvam · 17 December 2022
India's Designs Office Goes Digital: E-Filing of Signed Forms
A December 2022 notice let design applications be filed fully online with digital signatures — no mandatory physical copies. What can be filed electronically, the documents still needed in original, and the e-certificates now issued.
11 November 2021
Design Renewal in India: Terms, Fees and Restoration
A registered design in India lasts ten years, renewable once for five more — fifteen years maximum. How and when to renew on Form 3, the fees, and how to restore a lapsed design.
27 January 2021
The Designs (Amendment) Rules, 2021: What Changed
Startups and small entities now pay the same fees as natural persons — roughly a 50% cut for small entities — foreign startups can qualify on an affidavit, India formally adopted the current Locarno Classification, and service addresses must now carry an Indian mobile number.
15 July 2019
India's GI Logo and Tagline: Guidelines for Permitted Use
A single tri-colour GI logo and the tagline 'Invaluable Treasure of Incredible India' aim to end consumer confusion over authentic GI products. Who can use them, who needs DPIIT permission, and the restrictions that apply.
11 June 2019
India Joins the Nice, Vienna and Locarno Agreements
In June 2019 India acceded to the three WIPO classification treaties — Nice for goods and services, Vienna for figurative elements, Locarno for industrial designs. It aligned Indian classification practice with the rest of the world and gave India a vote on how those systems evolve.
31 May 2019
Shape as a Design or a Trademark? The Crocs Ruling and Its Puzzle
Can the shape of a product be both a registered design and a trademark? The Delhi High Court's Crocs decision said no — what is registered as a design cannot be a trademark, even after the design lapses. A ruling that raised as many questions as it answered.
19 July 2017
Carlsberg v. Som: How a Statement of Novelty Lost a Design Case
Carlsberg's novelty in its Tuborg bottle lay in the indentations. Its statement of novelty claimed the shape and configuration of the bottle as a whole — which already existed in prior art. The court read the statement literally, and the case failed.
Archana Priyadharshini · 21 April 2017
The Rubik's Cube Loses Its 3D Trademark
The Court of Justice of the EU held that the Rubik's Cube's shape mark was invalid because its essential characteristics perform a technical function. Shapes that work cannot be monopolised indefinitely through trademark law — that is what patents are for.
30 December 2015
Labels Are Not 'Designs': Delhi HC on the Copyright–Design Overlap
A package label is a trademark and an artistic work — but not a 'design'. The Delhi High Court's Midas Hygiene v. Sudhir Bhatia held labels fall outside the Designs Act, so Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act doesn't extinguish copyright in them.