Application Procedure for Design Registration

If you are willing to register a design then, the following documents must be submitted to the Design Wing of the Patent Office;

1. Submission of the Documents:

• The Application correctly filed in the recommended form i.e. Form- I. This needs to be submitted along with a tentative fee, stating personal details;
  1. Address
  2. Nationality
  3. Name of the article
  4. Class number
  5. Address of service(incase different from the personal address).
• The application needs to be self-attested or by an authorizing agent.
• Representation of the article, it has to be described in quadruplicate of size 33 cm x 20.5 cm along with a suitable margin. The features and detailing of the design is to be clearly visible and from different angles
• A statement of novelty along with a disclaimer(if any), in respect of mechanical action, trademark, letter, work, numerals is required to be endorsed on each representation sheet. This also needs to be self attested by the applicant each representation sheet which should be duly signed and dated.
• If there is a necessity then Power of attorney also needs to be added.
• Priority documents (if any) in case of convention application claimed under Section-44 of the Designs Act, 2000.
• Four copies of representation of the model on the receipt at the office. A number will be provided after submission of the application.

*It is to be noted that the applications without the fee or copies of the representation will not be numbered and dated.

2. Examination:

Once the applications & documents are submitted with the fee, the Design of Patent Office will examine the same for further registration procedure. In case there are any defects noticed during the examination of the application, then the same is communicated to the applicant. A notice is sent to the applicant/agent at the particular address of service given. The defects are to be corrected and resubmission is done to the Design of the Patent Office for acceptance. This complete process should be done within 6 months or within the extended period from the actual date of the application.

3. Acceptance & Notification:

The application is accepted only when it meets all the eligibility criteria and have been rectified as recommended or stated by the Design of Patent office. Once the application is accepted and approved it then passes onto the Patent Office journal which is published on every Friday.

4. Further Refusal:

This is the case where the application is again refused after the corrections which means the defects are not correctly rectified as required by the Controller. In such a situation a personal hearing will be provided to the applicant. The acceptance will depend solely on the controller after the hearing. The reasons of refusal are rightly stated in writing to the applicant.

5. Appeal:

If, you are not happy with the decision of the Controller then, the last chance of the application to get through registration is the appeal to the High Court. This is to be done within 3 months from the date of the decision by the Controller.

6. Abandonment:-

This is where the application is abandoned and rejected, it has no scope for registration. This can be due to;

• negligence/default of the applicant.
• Defect in the design.
• Deadlines are not met i.e. six months from the date of submission of application.

Such an application is not possible to be revived with the Patent Office of Design, you need to register with a new request all over again.

The following statement of novelty should be mentioned on the representation of a design as per the Act. : "The novelty resides in the shape and configuration of the article as illustrated."

• "The novelty resides in the portion marked as 'A' and 'B' of the article as illustrated."
• "The novelty resides in the ornamentation or surface pattern of the article as illustrated."