Indian Design Registration: Section 22 Novelty and What the Designs Act Actually Protects

The Designs Act, 2000 protects the visual aesthetic of articles — the shape, configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours applied to an article. The protection sits between trademark (which protects brand identity) and patent (which protects technical inventions). For Indian product companies — consumer electronics, automotive, footwear, packaging, furniture, jewellery — design registration is one of the most accessible and most-used IP filings. Section 22 of the Designs Act sets the novelty and originality requirements; Section 4 sets the bars to registration; and the case law of the Designs Office and the High Courts has developed a workable framework over the past two decades.

This guide covers what a registrable design is, what Section 4 excludes, what Section 22's novelty requirement actually demands, and the procedure for filing, prosecution and enforcement.

What the Designs Act covers

Section 2(d) defines 'design' to mean only:

• Features of shape, configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours
• Applied to any article — whether 2D or 3D, by any process — industrial, manual, mechanical, chemical, separate or combined
• Which in the finished article appeal to and are judged solely by the eye
• That do not include any mode or principle of construction (those are patent matter)
• That do not include any trademark or property mark

The protection is the visual aesthetic — what the consumer sees on the article. The protection does not extend to how the article works, what it does, or what mechanical advantage it provides. Those are patent or trade-secret matters.

Design law protects what the eye judges. Function is for the patent.

Section 22 novelty

Section 22 of the Designs Act provides that a design must be new or original — not previously published in India or anywhere else in the world, not in public domain, and not so similar to a known design as to be substantially the same. The test is global, not Indian-only. Prior publication anywhere defeats novelty.

Indian courts have applied the novelty test by examining:

• The state of the art of the design field as it existed before the priority date
• Whether the impugned design appears as a whole substantially different from prior art designs
• The degree of distinction required — typically the test asks whether the new design is more than a trade variant of existing ones
• The 'instructed eye' standard — what an informed observer in the relevant trade would consider novel

Section 4 — bars to registration

Section 4 lists the absolute bars:

• Not new or original
• Published prior to the date of application in India or anywhere else
• Not significantly distinguishable from known designs or combinations of known designs
• Comprises or contains scandalous or obscene matter

The 'significantly distinguishable' bar is the most-litigated. Designs that merely combine known elements without producing a substantially new visual whole fail Section 4. Designs that take known elements and rearrange them in a manner that produces a genuinely different visual impression typically pass.

The Locarno classification

Indian design applications use the Locarno International Classification of Industrial Designs — 32 classes covering different product categories. Common Indian filings:

• Class 02 — articles of clothing and haberdashery
• Class 06 — furnishing
• Class 09 — packages and containers
• Class 11 — articles of adornment (jewellery)
• Class 12 — means of transport or hoisting
• Class 14 — recording, communication or information retrieval equipment (electronics)
• Class 24 — medical and laboratory equipment
• Class 32 — graphic symbols and logos, surface patterns, ornamentation

The class is selected based on the principal article carrying the design. Multi-article designs may need filings in multiple classes.

Procedure and timeline

The filing process is comparatively fast — typically 6-12 months from application to registration in a clean case:

1. Filing — Form 1 with prescribed fee, accompanied by 4 sets of representations (drawings or photographs) showing the design from required views, claim of novelty, and statement of priority where applicable
2. Examination — the Designs Office examines for novelty and Section 4 compliance, typically issuing a first examination report within 2-4 months
3. Response and acceptance — the applicant responds to objections (usually re-drafting the novelty statement, clarifying class, addressing prior-art citations); acceptance follows
4. Publication and registration — accepted designs are published in the Designs Journal and the certificate of registration is issued

Government fees as of 2026: ₹1,000 for an individual or startup applicant, ₹2,000 for a small entity, ₹4,000 for others (verify current schedule).

Term and renewal

Section 11 of the Designs Act provides a term of 10 years from registration, extendable for one further period of 5 years on payment of the renewal fee. Total maximum protection: 15 years. After that the design enters the public domain.

The renewal application must be filed before expiry; restoration after lapse is available within 1 year on payment of higher fees under Section 12. The annual workflow for any design portfolio includes tracking expiry dates and filing renewals well before expiry.

Infringement and enforcement

Section 22 of the Designs Act gives the registered proprietor the exclusive right to apply the design to the article in the registered class. Infringement is the unauthorised application of the design (or a fraudulent imitation) to an article in the same class. Section 19 lists the grounds on which an infringement defendant can attack the design's validity — typically prior publication, lack of novelty, Section 4 bars, or non-distinguishability.

Indian design infringement matters are filed in the District Court (Section 22(2)). Remedies include injunction, damages, account of profits and delivery up of infringing articles — the same remedy menu as in patent and trademark cases. IP litigation handles design enforcement particularly in fashion, consumer electronics and packaging contexts.

The takeaway

Indian design registration is fast, affordable and well-defined. The 10+5-year term, the global novelty test, the class-based filing structure and the established enforcement framework make it one of the most accessible IP filings available. For Indian product companies — D2C brands, consumer electronics, footwear, packaging, furniture, jewellery, automotive — design protection is operational, not optional. The key disciplines are filing before publication and structuring the portfolio to cover the visual elements that actually drive consumer recognition. IPForte's design registration practice handles filings, prosecution and enforcement across all Locarno classes.