Industrial design
Also called: Design right · Topic: International Trade Policy, WTO and Intellectual Property · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
An industrial design right protects how a product looks: its shape, pattern, lines or configuration. It protects the ornamental or aesthetic features only, never how the product works. It matters because in many markets, such as phones, furniture and bottles, buyers choose partly on appearance, and copying a design can take away that edge. In India, designs are registered under the Designs Act 2000. Protection lasts 10 years, and it can be extended once by 5 more years.
Example
A company designs a pressure cooker with an unusual curved body and a distinctive handle pattern. It can register that look as a design. Rivals then cannot sell cookers that look the same. They can still sell cookers built on the same working mechanism.
Don't confuse with
- Patent: a patent protects a new technical invention, meaning how something works, for 20 years from filing. A design protects only how it looks.
- Trademark: a trademark protects a sign or logo that identifies the seller. A design protects the look of the product itself.
Related concepts
- Copyright
- Trademark
- Trade secret
- Layout-design of integrated circuits
- Geographical indication
- Plant variety protection
- Farmers' rights
- Biopiracy
- Access and benefit sharing