Application for registration of designs
Section 5 of the Designs Act, 2000 deals with application for registration of designs. The Controller may, on the application of any person claiming to be the proprietor of any new or original design not previously published in any country and which is not contrary to public order or morality, register the design under this Act: Provided that the Controller shall before such registrat The Act came into force on 11 May 2001.
(1) The Controller may, on the application of any person claiming to be the proprietor of any new or original design not previously published in any country and which is not contrary to public order or morality, register the design under this Act:
Provided that the Controller shall before such registration refer the application for examination, by an examiner appointed under sub-section (2) of section 3, as to whether such design is capable of being registered under this Act and the rules made thereunder and consider the report of the examiner on such reference.
(2) Every application under sub-section (1) shall be in the prescribed form and shall be filed in the patent office in the prescribed manner and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.
(3) A design may be registered in not more than one class, and, in case of doubt as to the class in which a design ought to be registered, the Controller may decide the question.
(4) The Controller may, if he thinks fit, refuse to register any design presented to him for registration;
but any person aggrieved by any such refusal may appeal to the High Court.
(5) An application which, owing to any default or neglect on the part of the applicant, has not been completed so as to enable registration to be effected within the prescribed time shall be deemed to be abandoned.
(6) A design when registered shall be registered as of the date of the application for registration.
Section 5, The Designs Act, 2000 (Act 16 of 2000).
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
This section refers to
Referred to by 1
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Kohler Co. v. Controller of Patents and Designs
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Abandonment under Designs Act s.5(5)/Rule 21 cannot be mechanical where applicant emailed FER response within the statutory six months because the design e-filing portal was down (HTTP 503); Controller must consider that explanation with reasons — cryptic "abandoned" order set aside and matter remitted.
On this section: True
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Made under this section, and citing it
2 instruments name this provision in its title or its text without being made under it.
Questions about Section 5
What have the courts held on Section 5 of the Designs Act?
Kohler Co. v. Controller of Patents and Designs (15 Jul 2025) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: True.
How do I find court cases under Section 5 of the Designs Act?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Designs Act 2000 5, section 5 Designs Act 2000, section 5 of the Designs Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Kohler Co. v. Controller of Patents and Designs (15 Jul 2025).
What should I read with Section 5 of the Designs Act, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 3 (Controller and other officers), so none of them can safely be read on its own. 1 other provision in this corpus refers back to it. 2 instruments name it without being made under it, most recently The Designs (Amendment) Rules, 2014 (2014), then The Design Rules, 2001 (2001).
When did Section 5 of the Designs Act come into force?
Section 5 of the Designs Act, cited as Designs Act 2000 5, came into force on 11 May 2001, having been enacted on 25 May 2000. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
- 47. Power of Central Government to make rules897 words
- 44. Reciprocal arrangement with the United Kingdom and other convention countries or group of countries of inter-governmental organisations538 words
- 42. Avoidance of certain restrictive conditions521 words
- 30. Entry of assignment and transmissions in registers474 words
- 8. Power of Controller to make orders regarding substitution of application, etc464 words
- 2. Definitions458 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 19 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.