(1)
The Controller may, on the application of any person claiming to be
the proprietor of any new or original design not previously published
in India, register the design under this Part.
(2)
The application must be made in the prescribed form and must be left
at the Patent Office in the prescribed manner and must be accompanied
by the prescribed fee.
(3)
The same design may be registered in more than one class, and, in case
of doubt as to the class in which a design ought to be registered, the
Controller may decide the question.
(4)
The Controller may, if he thinks fit, refuse to register any design
presented to him for registration; but any person aggrieved by any such
refusal may appeal to the Central Government.
(5)
An application which, owing to any default or neglect on the part of
the applicant, has not been completed so as to enable registration to
be effected within the prescribed time shall be deemed to be abandoned.
(6)
A design when registered shall be registered as of the date of the application
for registration.
44. Registration of designs in new classes
Where
a design has been registered in one or more classes of goods, the application
of the proprietor of the design to register it in some one or more other
classes shall not be refused, nor shall the registration thereof be
invalidated-
(a)
on the ground of the design not being a new or original design, by reason
only that it was so previously registered; or
(b)
on the ground of the design having been previously published in India,
by reason only that it has been applied to goods of any class in which
it was so previously registered:
PROVIDED
that such subsequent registration shall not extend the period of copyright
in the design beyond that arising from previous registration.
45. Certificate of registration
(1)
The Controller shall grant a certificate of registration to the proprietor
of the design when registered.
(2)
The Controller may, in case of loss of the original certificate, or
in any other case in which he deems it expedient, furnish one or more
copies of the certificate.
46. Register of Designs
(1) There
shall be kept at the Patent Office a book called the Register of Designs,
wherein shall be entered the names and addresses of proprietors of registered
designs, notifications of assignments and of transmissions of registered
designs, and such other matters as may be prescribed.
(2)
The Register of Designs existing at the commencement of this Act shall
be incorporated with and form part of the register of designs under
this Act.
(3)
The register of designs shall be prima facie evidence of any matters
by this Act directed or authorised to be entered therein.
COPYRIGHT
IN REGISTERED DESIGNS
47. Copyright on registration
(1) When
a design is registered, the registered proprietor of the design shall,
subject to the provisions of this Act, have copyright in the design
during five years from the- date of registration.
(2)
If before the expiration of the said five years application for the
extension of the period of copyright is made to the Controller in the
prescribed manner, the Controller shall, on payment of the prescribed
fee, extend the period of copyright for a second period of five years
from the expiration of the original period of five years.
(3)
If before the expiration of such second period of five years application
for the extension of the period of copyright is made to the Controller
in the prescribed manner, the Controller may, subject to any rules under
this Act, on payment of the prescribed fee, extend the period of copyright
for a third period of five years from the expiration of the second period
of five years.
48. Requirements before delivery on sale
(1)
Before delivery on sale of any articles to which a registered design
has been applied, the proprietor shall-
(a)
(if exact representations or specimens were not furnished on the application
for registration), furnish to the Controller the prescribed number of
exact representations or specimens of the design; and, if he fails to
do so, the Controller may erase his name from the register, and thereupon
the copyright in the design shall cease; and
(b)
cause each such article to be marked with the prescribed mark, or with
the prescribed words or figures, denoting that the design is registered;
and, if he fails to do so, the proprietor shall not be entitled to recover
any penalty or damages in respect of any infringement of his copyright
in the design unless he shows that he took all proper steps to ensure
the marking of the article, or unless he shows that the infringement
took place after the person guilty thereof knew or had received notice
of the existence of the copyright in the design.
(2)
Where a representation is made to the Central Government by or on behalf
of any trade or industry that in the interests of the trade or industry
it is expedient to dispense with or modify as regards any class or description
of articles any of the requirements of this section as to marking, the
Central Government may, if it thinks fit, by rule under this Act, dispense
with or modify such requirements as regards any such class or description
of articles to such extent and subject to such conditions as it thinks
fit.
49. Effect of disclosure on copyright
The
disclosure of a design by the proprietor to any other person, in such
circumstances as would make it contrary to good faith for that other
person to use or publish . the design, and the disclosure of a design
in breach of good faith by any person other than the proprietor of the
design, and the acceptance of a first and confidential order for goods
bearing a new or original textile design intended for registration,
shall not be deemed to be a publication of the design sufficient to
invalidate the copyright thereof if registration thereof is obtained
subsequently to the disclosure or acceptance.
50. Inspection of registered designs
(1)
During the existence of copyright in a design, or such shorter period
not being less than two years from the registration of the design as
may be prescribed, the design shall not be open to inspection except
by the proprietor or a person authorised in writing by him, or a person
authorised by the Controller or by the Court, and furnishing such information
as may enable the Controller to identify the design, and shall not be
open to inspection of any person except in the presence of the Controller,
or of an officer acting under him, and on payment of the prescribed
fee; and the person making the inspection shall not be entitled to take
any copy of the design, or of ally part thereof:
PROVIDED
that, where registration of a design is refused on the ground of identity
with a design already registered, the applicant for registration shall
be entitled to inspect the design so registered.
(2)
After the expiration of the copyright in a design, or such shorter period
as aforesaid, the design shall be open to inspection, and copies thereof
may be taken by any person on payment of the prescribed fee.
(3)
Different periods may be prescribed under this section for different
classes of goods.
51. Information as to existence of copyright
On
the request of any person furnishing such information as may enable
the Controller to identify the design, and on payment of the prescribed
fee, the Controller shall inform such person whether the registration
still exists in respect of the design, and, if so, in respect of what
classes of goods, and shall state the date of registration, and the
name and address of the registered proprietor.
51A. Cancellation of registration
(1)
Any person interested may present a petition for the cancellation of
the registration of a design-
(a)
at any time after the registration of the design, to the High Court
on any of the following grounds, namely,-
(i)
that the design has been previously registered in India; or
(ii)
that it has been published in India prior to the date of registration;
or
(iii)
that the design is not a new or original design; or
(b)
within one year from the date of the registration, to the Controller
on either of the grounds specified in sub-clauses (i) and (ii) of clause
(a).
(2)
An appeal shall lie from any order of the Controller under this section
to the High Court, and the Controller may at any time refer any such
petition to the High Court, and the High Court shall decide any petition
so referred.
51B. Designs to bind government
A registered
design shall have to all intents like effect as against government as
it has against any person and the provisions of Chapter XVII of the
Patents Act, 1970, shall apply to registered designs as they apply to
patents.
INDUSTRIAL
AND INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
52. Provisions as to exhibitions
The
exhibition of a design, or of any article to which a design is applied,
at an industrial or other exhibition to which the provisions of this
section have been extended by the Central Government by notification
in the Official Gazette, or the publication of a description of the
design, during the period of the holding of the exhibition, or the exhibition
of the design or the article or the publication of a description of
the design by any person elsewhere during or after the period of the
holding of the exhibition, without the privity or consent of the proprietor,
shall not prevent the design from being registered or invalidate the
registration thereof:
PROVIDED
that-
(a)
the exhibitor exhibiting the design or article, or publishing a description
of the design, gives to the Controller previous notice in the prescribed
form; and
(b)
the application for registration is made within six months from the
date of first exhibiting the design or article or publishing a description
of the design.
LEGAL
PROCEEDINGS
53. Piracy of registered design
(1)
During the existence of copyright in any design it shall not be lawful
for any person-
(a)
for the purpose of sale to apply or cause to be applied to any article
in any class of goods in which the design is registered the design or
any fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof, except with the license
or written consent of the registered proprietor, or to do anything with
a view to enable the design to be so applied; or
(aa)
to import for the purposes of sale, without the consent of the registered
proprietor, any article belonging to the class in which the design has
been registered, and having applied to it the design or any fraudulent
or obvious imitation thereof; or
(b)
knowing that the design or any fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof
has been applied to any article in any class of goods in which the design
is registered without the consent of the registered proprietor, to publish
or expose or cause to be published or exposed for sale that article.
(2)
If any person acts in contravention of this section, he shall be liable
for every contravention-
(a)
to pay to the registered proprietor of the design a sum not exceeding
five hundred rupees recoverable as a contract debt, or
(b)
if the proprietor elects to bring a suit for the recovery of damages
for any such contravention; and for an injunction against the repetition
thereof, to pay such damages as may be awarded and to be restrained
by injunction accordingly:
PROVIDED
that the total sum recoverable in respect of any one design under clause
(a) shall not exceed one thousand rupees.
(3)
When the court makes a decree in a suit under sub-section (2), it shall
send a copy of the decree to the Controller, who shall cause an entry
thereof to be made in the Register of Designs.
54. Application of certain provisions of the Act as to patents to designs
The provisions
of the Patents Act, 1970 with regard to certificates of the validity
of a patent, and to the remedy in case of groundless threats of legal
proceedings by a patentee shall apply in the case of registered designs
in like manner as they apply in the case of patents, with the substitution
of references to the copyright in a design for references to a patent,
and of references to the proprietor of a design for reference to the
patentee, and of references to the designs for references to the invention.
