India has signed the Final Act of the Riyadh Design Law Treaty. This decision was announced by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Tuesday, marking the culmination of nearly two decades of negotiations among the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
The Riyadh Design Law Treaty is a pivotal instrument that seeks to harmonize the procedural frameworks for industrial design protection. It aims to improve the efficiency and accessibility of registration processes across multiple jurisdictions. By standardizing procedural requirements, the treaty significantly reduces administrative burdens, thereby promoting global creativity in design.
The overarching goal of the treaty is to ensure that the benefits of streamlined design protection are accessible to all stakeholders. It places particular emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startups, and independent designers. This focus is in line with India's ongoing efforts to foster innovation and entrepreneurship, as evidenced by initiatives like the Startup India programme and the Startups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) scheme.
The treaty introduces several key provisions aimed at benefiting design applicants. These include relaxed time limits, the reinstatement of lost rights, the option to correct or add priority claims, simplified procedures for recording assignments and licenses, and the option to file multiple designs in a single application. These changes provide greater flexibility for design applicants, thereby encouraging more individuals and businesses to secure design rights.
Furthermore, the treaty encourages contracting parties to work towards implementing electronic industrial design systems and facilitating the electronic exchange of priority documents. This digital focus aligns with India's broader push towards digitization and is expected to significantly streamline the process of securing design rights.
When combined with initiatives like the Startup India programme and the SIPP scheme, these provisions will help empower startups and SMEs to secure design rights globally. This is expected to boost their competitiveness and support market growth, thereby contributing to India's economic development.
India, with its rich heritage of creativity and craftsmanship, has long recognized the crucial role of design in driving sustainable economic development. The country's policy emphasis on design protection as a catalyst for innovation has delivered impressive results. Over the past decade, design registrations in India have tripled, with domestic filings increasing by 120 per cent in the last two years alone. Notably, design applications grew by 25 per cent last year.
This development is reminiscent of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property in 1883, which was one of the first major international treaties designed to help people protect their inventions and creations. Like the Riyadh Design Law Treaty, the Paris Convention sought to create a unified system that would simplify and streamline the process of securing intellectual property rights.
