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May 19, 2021

Summary: The Design (Amendment) Rules, 2021

Author: Intern - Divya Sasidharan

The Design (Amendment) Rules, 2021 came into effect on January 25, 2021 with the notification in the Official Gazette by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. Prior to this, the design classification system in India was based on tenth edition of Locarno Classification, but now with the 2021 Amendment Rules, designs will be classified according to the latest edition of the Locarno Classification (Rule 10 (1)) i.e, the 13th edition which contains 32 classes and 237 sub-classes. This is a positive move to keep India aligned with the evolving International Standards.

The 2021 Amendment Rules introduced ‘startup’ as a category of Applicants. Section 2(eb) defined “startup” as any Indian entity which is in turn recognized by a competent authority as a startup under the ‘Startup India Initiative’ of the Government of India. Any foreign entities that fulfill the turnover requirement, the registration criteria and have been established recently enough such that their date of incorporation is within the period specified by the ‘Startup India Initiative’ are also entitled to claim the status of a startup as under the new Amendment Rules, provided they submit a declaration to that effect.

There is a simplification of the fee structure regarding transfer of rights and an overall reduction in fees for small entities as under the Amendment Rules of 2021. Now, all applicant entities whether small entities under the MSME Act, startups or natural persons are supposed to pay the same fees without any differentiation. This in turn specifically has led to about 50% reduction in the fees to be payable for small entities.

The 2021 Amendment Rules provides for e-service of documents by means of email and mobile phones. The Designs Office has been mandated to keep a record of the mobile numbers which are to be given along with the address as a mode for the service of documents.

Another change is in the templates of Form 1 and Form 24 to implement the new categories of start-ups and small entities. Form 1 now features four different categories of Applicants i.e, (i) natural person (ii) start-up (iii) small entity and (iv) others. The revised Form 24 specifically mentions ‘start-ups’ along with ‘small entities’ as permissible distinct categories of Applicants.

The Design (Amendment) Rules, 2021 can be accessed at : https://ipindia.gov.in/writereaddata/Portal/Images/pdf/The_Designs__amendment___Rules__2021.pdf 

Disclaimer: Views, opinions, interpretations are solely those of the author, not of the firm (ALG India Law Offices LLP) nor reflective thereof. Author submissions are not checked for plagiarism or any other aspect before being posted.

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