In defence of originality

IPR lawyer Suhrita Majumdar demystifies the legalese and argues for a protective regime that will help designers and artists

As the menace of copying and unauthorised reproduction increases in the fashion industry, the need for an adequate protection mechanism for apparel designs is being strongly felt by designers across the globe.

A common practice prevalent among imitators is to claim that they have not copied but have been “inspired by” a particular design in creating their own version. However, in most cases, such designs actually retain the essential elements of the original, amounting to imitation /copying.

In India, the law for protecting designs and original work is fast evolving and the courts interfere in a strong way to demotivate imitations. Recent rulings have encouraged creators and helped artists get better value for their work. Protection of designs in India may be statutory — that is under the Copyrights Act or the Designs Act — or it may be non-statutory in the form of a passing-off action.

So how can the designer protect his intellectual propertyIJ

Registration: Before a design is disclosed/launched, such protection must be sought under the Designs Act. Once registered, a design is valid for an initial period of 10 years which may be renewed for a further period of five years.

The proprietor of a registered design, in the event of piracy, is entitled to reliefs as stated under Section 22 of the Designs Act, 2000, which includes damages and injunction. Registration, is thus, the best method to ensure the protection of artistic work and creativity and acts as the strongest shield in the hands of designers to protect their work from being misused. Therefore, the fashion industry should opt for registration of designs in order to gain exclusive rights over them and enforce such rights in the event of piracy.

If more artists, designers, creators protect their designs by way of registration, the tendency of easy picking/piracy will be significantly reduced and can be eradicated from the fashion industry.

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Wednesday, February 20, 2019 | Categories: Design, Copyright, All, Litigation