Intellectual
Property Rights
Designs Act 2000
CHAPTER II : REGISTRATION OF DESIGNS
3. Controller and other officers.
(1) The Controller-General
of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks appointed under sub-section (1) of
section 4 of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 shall be the Controller
of Designs for the purposes of this Act.
(2) For the purposes of
this Act, the Central Government may appoint as many examiners and other
officers with such designations as it thinks fit.
(3) Subject to the provisions
of this Act, the officers appointed under sub-section (2) shall discharge
under the superintendence and directions of the Controller such functions
of the Controller under this Act as he may, from time to time, by general
or special order in writing, authorise them to discharge.
(4) Without prejudice
to the generality of the provisions of sub-section (3), the Controller
may, by order in writing and for reasons to be recorded therein, withdraw
any matter pending before an officer appointed under sub-section (2) and
deal with such matter himself either de novo or from the stage it was
so withdrawn or transfer the same to another officer appointed under sub-section
(2) who may, subject to special directions in the order of transfer, proceed
with the matter either de novo or from the stage it was so transferred.
4. Prohibition of registration of certain designs.
A design which-
(a) is not new or original;
or
(b) has been disclosed
to the public any where in India or in any other country by publication
in tangible form or by use or in any other way prior to the filing date,
or where applicable, the priority date of the application for registration;
or
(c) is not significantly
distinguishable from known designs or combination of known designs; or
(d) comprises or contains
scandalous or obscene matter,
shall not be registered.
5. Application for registration of designs.
(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 any country and which
is not contrary to public order or morality, register the design under
this Act:
Provided that the Controller
shall before such registration refer the application for examination,
by an examiner appointed under sub-section (2) of section 3, as to whether
such design is capable of being registered under this Act and the rules
made thereunder and consider the report of the examiner on such reference.
(2) Every application
under sub-section (1) shall be in the prescribed form and shall be filed
in the patent office in the prescribed manner and shall be accompanied
by the prescribed fee.
(3) A design may be registered
in not 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 High Court.
(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) An design when registered
shall be registered as of the date of the application for registration.
6. Registration to be in respect of particular article.
(1) A design may be registered
in respect of any or all of the articles comprised in a prescribed class
of articles.
(2) Any question arising
as to the class within which any article falls shall be determined by
the Controller whose decision in the matter shall be final.
(3) Where a design has
been registered in respect of any article comprised in a class of article,
the application of the proprietor of the design to register it in respect
of some one or more other articles comprised in that class of articles
shall not be refused, nor shall the registration thereof 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 or in any other country,
by reason only that it has been applied to article in respect of which
it was previously registered:
Provided that such subsequent
registration shall not extend the period of copyright in the design beyond
that arising from previous registration.
(4) Where any person makes
an application for the registration of a design in respect of any article
and either-
(a) that design has been
previously registered by another person in respect of some other article;
or
(b) the design to which
the application relates consists of a design previously registered by
another person in respect of the same or some other article with modifications
or variations not sufficient to alter the character or substantially to
affect the identity thereof,
then, if at any time while
the application is pending the applicant becomes the registered proprietor
of the design previously registered, the foregoing provisions of this
section shall apply as if at the time of making the application, the applicant,
had been the registered proprietor of that design.
7. Publication of particulars of registered designs.
The Controller shall, as
soon as may be after the registration of a design, cause publication of
the prescribed particulars of the design to be published in such manner
as may be prescribed and thereafter the design shall be open to public
inspection.
8. Power of Controller to make orders regarding substitution
of application, etc.
(1) If the Controller is
satisfied on a claim made in the prescribed manner at any time before
a design has been registered that by virtue of any assignment or agreement
in writing made by the applicant or one of the applicants for registration
of the design or by operation of law, the claimant would, if the design
were then registered, be entitled thereto or to the interest of the applicant
therein, or to an undivided share of the design or of that interest, the
Controller may, subject to the provisions of this section, direct that
the application shall proceed in the name of the claimant or in the names
of the claimants and the applicant or the other joint applicant or applicants,
accordingly, as the case may require.
(2) No such direction
as aforesaid shall be given by virtue of any assignment or agreement made
by one of two or more joint applicants for registration of a design except
with the consent of the other joint applicant or applicants.
(3) No such direction
as aforesaid shall be given by virtue of any assignment or agreement for
the assignment of the benefit of a design unless-
(a) the design is identified
therein by reference to the number of the application for the registration;
or
(b) there is produced
to the Controller an acknowledgment by the person by whom the assignment
or agreement was made that the assignment or agreement relates to the
design in respect of which that application is made; or
(c) the rights of the
claimant in respect of the design have been finally established by the
decision of a court; or
(d) the Controller gives
directions for enabling the application to proceed or for regulating the
manner in which it should be proceeded with under sub-section (5).
(4) Where one of two or
more joint applicants for registration of a design dies at any time before
the design has been registered, the Controller may, upon a request in
that behalf made by the survivor or survivors, and with the consent of
the legal representative of the deceased, direct that the application
shall proceed in the name of the survivor or survivors alone.
(5) If any dispute arises
between joint applicants for registration of a design whether or in what
manner the application should be proceeded with, the Controller may, upon
application made to him in the prescribed manner by any of the parties.
and after giving to all parties concerned an opportunity to be heard,
give such directions as he thinks fit for enabling the application to
proceed in the name of one or more of the parties alone or for regulating
the manner in which it should be proceeded with or for both those purposes,
as the case may require.
9. 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.
10. 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 matter as may be prescribed and such register may be maintained
wholly or partly on computer floppies or diskettes, subject to such safeguards
as may be prescribed.
(2) Where the register
is maintained wholly or partly on computer floppies or diskettes under
sub-section (1), any reference in this Act to any entry in the register
shall be construed as the reference to the entry so maintained on computer
floppies or diskettes.
(3) 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.
(4) The register of designs
shall be prima facie evidence of any matter by this Act directed or authorized
to be entered therein.
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