A registered design protects only the look of a product: its shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to an article by an industrial process. The design must be new anywhere in the world on the filing date. A named registered patent agent or advocate files the application; StampMitra coordinates, pays the government fee at actuals and tracks deadlines. We are a filing assistance platform, not the Designs Office and not a law firm.
The Act protects features of shape, configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours applied to an article, in two or three dimensions, by an industrial process, which in the finished article appeal to and are judged solely by the eye (section 2(d)). A mode or principle of construction, a mere mechanical device, a trade mark, a property mark and an artistic work under the Copyright Act are not designs.
Shape or configuration: The look of a product, such as a bottle, a chair or a lamp. A shape forced only by function is not protected.
Designs (Amendment) Rules, 2021, First Schedule. The fee is per design.
Shown at an exhibition first / Filed abroad first
Never on the order form; they are collected securely after payment.
Point, What the law says
The design was shown, sold or published before filing, by you or anyone else.
StampMitra is a filing assistance platform. It is not the Designs Office and not a law firm.
Only the look of a product: its shape, configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours, applied by an industrial process and judged by the eye. How it works, a trade mark and a standalone artwork are not protected by a design.
Usually not. The design must be new anywhere in the world on the filing date, and your own showing counts. The only exception is a notified exhibition where the Designs Office was told beforehand, with an application within 6 months of first showing. Tell us what was shown and when.
₹1,000 per design for natural persons, startups and small entities, and ₹4,000 for others, alone or together with them. We confirm the exact amount before filing.
A registered patent agent or an advocate, named to you before filing, files it under your Form 21 authority. StampMitra coordinates, pays the government fee at actuals and tracks deadlines; it does not file.
One. Each design and each class is a separate application and fee. A set of articles sold together is one design. Several designs in one application are only proposed, not yet law.
10 years from registration, extendable once for 5 years on Form 3 before the term ends, so 15 years at most. A lapsed design can be restored on Form 4 within one year.
Only as applied to a named device, normally in class 14-04. IP India's guidelines on this are still a draft, so our team quotes these cases after review.
Yes. Mark articles REGISTERED, REGD or RD with the number before sale, or no damages are available if the design is copied. Printed or woven textile goods are exempt.
You can claim priority if you apply in India within 6 months of that first filing, and the certified copy of the first filing goes with the application or within up to 3 more months. After 6 months our team advises.
A registered design has no copyright. A design that could have been registered but was not loses copyright once the article is reproduced more than 50 times by an industrial process, so registration is then the only protection.
A DPIIT concept note of January 2026 proposes a grace period, deferral of publication, multiple designs in one application and a 5+5+5 year term. These are proposals only and are not law today.