The Designs Act, 2000

The Designs Act, 2000 (‘the 2000 Act’) is an Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to protection of designs. The 2000 Act, by S.48, repealed the Designs Act, 1911 which was in force before the repeal. The 2000 Act does not use the expression ‘industrial design’ but the definition requiring that the application of the design to any article shall be through any individual process or means is in substance saying that the legislation deals with industrial designs. The definition of a design under S.2 (d) of the 2000 Act is as follows:

‘” design” means only the features of shape, configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours applied to any article whether in two dimensional or three dimensional or in both forms, by any industrial process or means, whether manual mechanical or chemical, separate or combined, which in the finished article appeal to and are judged solely by the eye; but does not include any mode or principle of construction or anything which is in substance a mere mechanical device, and does not include any trade mark as defined in clause (v) of sub- section (1) of section 2 of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 (43 of 1958 ) or property mark as defined in section 479 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860 ) or any artistic work as defined in clause (c) of section 2 of the Copyright Act, 1957 o (14 of 1957 )’