What can I do if someone copies my registered design

Question

My competitor is selling a product with a design that looks identical to my registered design and I want to stop them. I have been reading conflicting things online and I would like to understand what Indian law actually says about this, which Act and Section applies, what the realistic timelines and costs are, and what I should be doing right now to protect my position. If the matter can be resolved without litigation I would prefer that route, but I want to know what my rights are before I agree to anything or sign any document.

MyVakeel Legal Desk · Accepted Answer

What can I do if someone copies my registered design is governed in India primarily by Designs Act, 2000, Section 22 and Designs Act, 2000, Section 11. The short answer is set out below, followed by the practical steps most people in this situation need to take. Read it alongside the specific provisions named, because the exact relief available to you turns on the facts you can prove on paper.

Section 22 of the Designs Act, 2000 makes it unlawful, during the period of copyright in a registered design (its ten or fifteen-year term under Section 11), for any person to apply the design or any fraudulent or obvious imitation of it to any article in the class for which it is registered, without the licence or consent of the registered proprietor, for the purpose of sale.

A person committing piracy of a registered design is liable to pay to the registered proprietor a sum not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees as contract debt for each contravention, recoverable in a suit, or the proprietor may instead sue for damages for the piracy and an injunction restraining further use, an election the proprietor must make before instituting the suit.

Design infringement suits below the pecuniary threshold of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 are filed before the District Court, while higher-value claims go to the Commercial Division of the High Court, and courts routinely grant ad-interim injunctions restraining the sale of the infringing article pending trial, given the largely visual and easily comparable nature of design disputes.

Since 'obvious or fraudulent imitation' is assessed by the eye of the customer rather than through a detailed technical comparison, courts typically place the registered design and the accused article side by side to determine whether an ordinary purchaser exercising reasonable care would confuse or fail to distinguish the two.

What to do next: 1) Obtain a certified copy of the design registration certificate; 2) Document the infringing article with photographs and purchase invoices; 3) Send a cease-and-desist notice electing between damages or the statutory sum; 4) File suit before the appropriate District Court or Commercial Court seeking injunction.

If the other side has already issued a notice, filed a case or set a deadline, treat the matter as time-sensitive — most remedies under Designs Act, 2000, Section 22 carry limitation periods, and a delay you cannot explain weakens an otherwise strong case. You can post the details on the MyVakeel forum for a practising advocate to review, or book a paid consultation with a Bar Council verified lawyer in this practice area.