New Delhi [India], November 26 : India has signed the final act of the Riyadh Design Law Treaty (DLT), reaffirming its commitment to fostering inclusive growth and ensuring equitable access to intellectual property protection, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on Tuesday.
The DLT seeks to harmonise the procedural frameworks for industrial design protection, improving the efficiency and accessibility of registration processes across multiple jurisdictions.
After nearly two decades of negotiations, the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) adopted the landmark Design Law Treaty during a diplomatic conference in Riyadh.
According to the WIPO, the current draft text with the working title Design Law Treaty would make it significantly easier for designers, especially smaller-scale designers and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to register their work.
In a separate release issued by WIPO, Director General Daren Tang expressed his enthusiasm and said, "For 19 years, we have worked toward this moment. Now, the finish line is in sight. To cross it, we must be prepared to build bridges, find areas of convergence, and be creative in achieving the needed compromises."
"In so doing, we will empower designers to create even more amazing designs that will delight us, spark creativity, and unleash innovation," he added.
The DLT would deal with the procedures for obtaining design protection, not with questions such as the legal definition of design or the conditions for protection, which would remain within the purview of the contracting parties, as per the WIPO.
By standardising procedural requirements, the Design Law Treaty (DLT) reduces administrative burdens, thereby promoting global creativity in design.
Its goal is to ensure that the benefits of streamlined design protection are accessible to all stakeholders, with particular emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startups, and independent designers.
Similar treaties already exist in other intellectual property (IP) categories, including patents and trademarks. The DLT aims to fill the gap in the area of design.
The DLT will overcome the obstacles faced by designers by simplifying protection procedures and eliminating red tape.