3 designs registered
The challenge
The client had invested two years developing a modular furniture range. Within months of launch, near-identical copies were on the market.
Copying of this kind is difficult to fight after the fact. Furniture styling sits outside patent protection — there is no new function to claim — and an action built on reputation alone is slow and expensive to run. What the client needed was a registered right in the shape and configuration itself.
What we did
We filed three separate design applications under the Designs Act, 2000, each covering a distinctive element of the range rather than attempting to cover the whole collection in a single filing. Splitting a range this way matters at enforcement: one broad application is easier to challenge, and harder to assert against a copyist who has taken only part of the design.
Before filing we ran a novelty search against the Indian design register, prepared representation sheets to the standard the Design Office expects, and classified each article under the Locarno classification. Representation and classification errors are among the most common reasons a design application stalls in examination.
The outcome
All three designs proceeded to registration. The client holds enforceable rights over the visual identity of a product line sold nationwide, and can now act against copies as design infringement rather than arguing reputation from scratch.
The lesson
Design protection in India depends on novelty — a design already in the public domain generally cannot be registered. The window is at or before launch. Clients who come to us after the copies appear have far fewer options than clients who come to us before.
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