What are the essential prerequisites for a design to qualify for protection under the Designs Act, 2000?

Design as per Section 2(d) of the Designs Act, 2000 means only the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament or composition of lines or colour or combination thereof applied to any article whether two dimensional or three dimensional or in both forms, by any industrial process or means, whether manual mechanical or chemical, separate or combined, which in the finished article appeal to and are judged solely by the eye, but does not include any mode or principle or construction or anything which is in substance a mere mechanical device, and does not include any trade mark, as define in clause (v) of sub-section of Section 2 of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958, property mark or artistic works as defined under Section 2(c) of the Copyright Act, 1957. As stated in the definition of the design above, design does not include: any trademark, as defined in Section 2(zb) of the Trademarks Act, 1999, or any property mark, as defined in Section 479 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, or any artistic work, as defined in Section 2(c) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Section 4 of the Designs Act, 2000 provides the prohibition of registration of certain designs. This section states that a design which- (a) is not new or original; or (b) has been disclosed to the public anywhere in India or in any other country by publication in tangible form or by use or in any other way prior to the filing date, or where applicable, the priority date of the application for registration; or (c) is not significantly distinguishable from known designs or combination of known designs; or (d) comprises or contains scandalous or obscene matter, shall not be registered." Thus, the pre-requisites for a design to qualify for protection are as follows: It should be novel and original. It should be applicable to a functional article. It should be visible on a finished article. It should be non-obvious. There should be no prior publication or disclosure of the design. A design is capable of being registered only if it is new or original. Novelty: A design shall be considered to be new when it has not been disclosed to the public, anywhere in India or in any other Country, by publication or by use or in any other way, before the filing date or priority date. A design shall be considered new if it is significantly distinguishable from known designs or a combination of known designs. [Section 4] Originality: Original in relation to a design means originating from the author of the design, and includes the cases, which, though old in themselves, are new in their application. [Section 2(g)] For instance, the figure of the Taj Mahal is centuries old. But if a person conceives for the first time, the idea of making a flower vase or an ashtray in the form of a figure of the Taj Mahal, that may be an original design and shall be registrable.