The post provides statistical information about industrial design (Design Patent) filing and grant numbers during the last decade.
The Design Act, 2000 is administered by the Design wing of the Patent office Kolkata under the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs, Trademarks and Geographical Indications.
The Designs Act 2000 was made effective from 11th May 2001 repealing the earlier Act of 1911. This Act with corresponding Design Rules 2001 provides for the registration and protection of industrial designs. The protection given includes extension of copyright duration of the existing registered designs and miscellaneous post registration work. It recognizes activities which are the creation of features of new shape, configuration, surface pattern, ornamentation and composition of lines and colours applied to the articles to enhance their visual appeal.
The number of applications filed for registration of designs during the year 2006-2007 was 5521 showing about 11% increase in comparison to the year 2005-2006 where 4949 applications were filed.
The highest increase in design applications filed for registrations was during the year 2007-2008 where about 16% increase was seen in comparison to the previous year. This showed a steady increase in the number of filings per year.
However, in the year 2009-2010 the design applications filed has fallen in number from 6557 in the previous year to 6092. This was the first decrease seen in the decade which was a marginal decrease of about 7% as compared to the previous year.
The second time the decline in filings for designs occurred was during 2012 – 2013 where the total number of filings had reduced but only by 36 applications.
The highest number of total filings was noticed in the year 2013 – 2014 with a total of 8533 applications filed. Below is a table indicating the number of Design applications filed and registered in India in the last decade:
| Year | Filed | Registered | Change Since Previous Year |
| 2003-2004 | 3357 | 2547 | 233 |
| 2004-2005 | 4107 | 3728 | 750 |
| 2005-2006 | 4949 | 4175 | 842 |
| 2006-2007 | 5521 | 4250 | 572 |
| 2007-2008 | 6402 | 4928 | 881 |
| 2008-2009 | 6557 | 4772 | 155 |
| 2009-2010 | 6092 | 6025 | -465 |
| 2010-2011 | 7589 | 9206 | 1497 |
| 2011-2012 | 8373 | 6590 | 784 |
| 2012-2013 | 8337 | 7252 | -36 |
| 2013-2014 | 8533 | 7178 | 204 |
Read Dr. Kalyan’s note on The Case of Indian Intellectual Property
