Riyadh Design Law Treaty Adopted

News: Recently, the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s member states, including India, adopted the Riyadh Design Law Treaty by signing its final act.

1. The Design Law Treaty (DLT) is an international treaty that aims to harmonise and improve the protection of design standards.

2. The treaty needs 15 contracting members to enter into force.

3. The key features of the treaty are:

• It simplifies the procedures for registering design by allowing electronic filings.
• It provides for a grace period of 12 months after disclosure of the design. During this period, the design’s validity of registration will not be affected.
• It enables the designers to obtain protection for their designs in multiple countries by streamlining the registration process.
• The treaty provides relief measures to applicants to prevent them from losing their rights if they miss a deadline.

4. The benefits of the treaty are:

• It benefits the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), start-ups, and independent designers by streamlining the design registration process.
• It protects traditional knowledge and cultural expression during the registration of design.
• The treaty makes the framework for design protection procedures more predictable and affordable.
• The harmonised procedures provide for legal certainty, promoting global creativity in design.

5. India adopted the National Design Policy 2007 to encourage innovation. In the last ten years, design registrations in India have tripled.