Concept note on PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE DESIGNS ACT, 2000

 Key proposals for amendment to the Act, which are to be fleshed out further, are presented in broad outline in this concept note for the purpose of consultation with stakeholders with a view to receive their inputs on the core concepts.

1. Virtual Designs Protection

Last few years have seen rapid advancements in technology transforming the way consumers interact with products and services. Graphical user interfaces (“GUIs”), icons, animated characters, and immersive virtual environments are nowadays a core part of consumer experience across sectors like technology, fintech, gaming, e-commerce, healthcare, and digital services. These visual elements embody significant aesthetic value. Stakeholders have also advocated the ideas of providing protection to GUIs and other virtual designs under Designs Act, in consultations with DPIIT.

To address this gap, it is proposed to clarify and modernise the definitions of “design” and “article” to expressly enable protection of virtual designs, independent of any physical carrier. The definition of “design” may be expanded by broadening the scope as well as meaning of “industrial process” and by expressly including animation, movement, and transition, thereby clarifying that design protection extends beyond static visual features to dynamic visual effects that are central to contemporary digital and screen-based designs.

In parallel, the definition of “article” may be revised to expressly cover items in physical or non-physical form, including GUIs, icons, graphic symbols, typefaces, augmented reality graphical user interfaces, and other virtual products provided under Locarno classification, clarifying that a design may subsist regardless of whether it is embodied in a tangible object or materialises in a purely digital or virtual environment. These amendments would help explicitly decoupling design protection from the requirement of physical embodiment, enabling protection for designs in virtual, augmented, and immersive digital environments. Corresponding amendments can be considered to be made to other provisions of the Design Act, including the infringement related provision, to give effect to protection of virtual designs.

Download- https://www.dpiit.gov.in/static/uploads/2026/01/791a71ebde47d93b67560f7394be2fec.pdf