XYZ company has ventured into design work. It provides logistic as well as creates architecture design for their clients. They made a three-dimensional diagram for the new corporate office for ABC Company Pvt. Ltd. in De

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. Section 30 of the Design Act, 2000 read with Rules 32, 33, 34 and 35 of the Design Rules, 2001, recognizes the contracts relating to assignment of designs and provides procedure thereof. The Copyright in the design is only protected if the same is statutorily recognized under the provisions of the Designs Act, 2000. Similarly, the rights acquired by third parties by way of assignments or licenses are only made effective if the same is duly registered in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the Rules framed there-under. There is no concept of common law license under design law. A registered proprietor can institute a suit for injunction as well as recovery of damages against any person engaged in piracy of the registered design. Such legal proceedings can be instituted from the date of registration and till the expiry of copyright. However, in case of reciprocity application, the registered proprietor can claim damages only from the actual date on which the design is registered in India. If any person commits piracy of a registered design, as defined in Section 22, he shall be liable to pay for a payment of a sum not exceeding ₹ 25,000/- recoverable as contract debt. However, the total sum recoverable in respect of any one design shall not exceed ₹ 50,000/-. The suit for injunction/damages shall not be instituted in any Court below the Court of District Judge. In a case between Ampro Food Products v. Ashok Biscuit Works, AIR 1973 AP 17 , the appellant manufactured biscuits with AP embossed on them. The respondent also manufactured biscuits with identical design except that letters AB were embossed on them, in place of AP. The suit claimed injunction bringing a charge of piracy of design. Issuing a temporary injunction, the Court held that in such cases the defence cannot argue that the appellant's registered design was not new or original if no steps had been taken earlier seeking cancellation of the registration of the design.