After nearly two decades of negotiations, the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) adopted the landmark Design Law Treaty (DLT).
By signing the Final Act of the Riyadh Design Law Treaty, India builds on its progress and reaffirms its commitment to fostering inclusive growth. It is also to ensure equitable access to intellectual property protection.
Riyadh, the capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, had hosted the Diplomatic Conference to Conclude and Adopt a Design Law Treaty. The Diplomatic Conference represented the final-stage treaty negotiation.
India, with its rich heritage of creativity and craftsmanship, has long recognized the crucial role of design in driving sustainable economic development.
The treaty aims to streamline the global system for protecting industrial designs, making it easier, faster and more affordable for designers to protect their work in home markets as well as overseas.
The treaty seeks to harmonize the procedural frameworks for industrial design protection, improving the efficiency and accessibility of registration processes across multiple jurisdictions.
By standardizing procedural requirements, the 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.
The DLT introduces several key provisions aimed at benefiting design applicants, including relaxed time limits, the reinstatement of lost rights, the option to correct or add priority claims, simplified procedures for recording assignments and licenses, and the option to file multiple designs in a single application.
These changes provide greater flexibility for design applicants. Furthermore, the treaty encourages contracting parties to work towards implementing electronic industrial design systems and facilitating the electronic exchange of priority documents.
When combined with initiatives like the Startup India program and the Startups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) scheme; these provisions will help empower startups and SMEs to secure design rights globally, boosting their competitiveness and supporting market growth.
The country’s policy emphasis on design protection as a catalyst for innovation has delivered impressive results. Over the past decade, design registrations in India have tripled, with domestic filings increasing by 120% in the last two years alone. Notably, design applications grew by 25% last year.
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) leads the development of a balanced and effective global intellectual property ecosystem to promote innovation and creativity for a better and more sustainable future.
WIPO currently has 193 member states, including 190 UN member states and the Cook Islands, Holy See and Niue; Palestine has permanent observer status. The only non-members, among the countries recognized by the UN are the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and South Sudan.
Illustrative, hundreds of delegates joined the WIPO Assemblies to negotiate the future of the IP ecosystem and WIPO’s activities in promoting the economic, social and cultural development of all countries.
Nine SMEs and startups with products ranging from 3D-printed bone implants to waste sorting robots and AI-powered brain injury scanners are this year’s (2024) winners of the c.
On November 22, 2024, WIPO member states had approved a new 28th WIPO Treaty that to make it easier, faster and more affordable for designers the world over to protect their designs both at home and abroad, marking a major step forward in empowering designers and fostering international collaboration in design.
WIPO Director General Daren Tang then welcomed the adoption of the Riyadh Design Law Treaty – so called in recognition of the city that hosted the final stage negotiations – congratulated negotiators on reaching agreement and praised the leadership of Conference President, Dr. Abdulaziz AlSwailem, CEO of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP).
Speaking at the end of the diplomatic conference that was hosted by Saudi Arabia at the King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, Mr. Tang had shared: “Treaty – the second adopted by member states in the same year – is not only a victory for designers but a boon for multilateralism.”
Mr. Tang emphasized the importance of the new pact for designers, noting: “The process of negotiations allowed us to really engage on a topic which WIPO had not put at the center of our work for some time – that of designs and designers and the gift they have in using color, form, shape, beauty and aesthetics to delight our senses, enrich our lives, promote our heritage and transform our culture.”
“Let this conference inspire us to a world where innovation knows no borders, where creativity flourishes and where IP serves as a powerful force for good. Together, we’ve made history. Together, let us continue to do so for the good of innovators and creators everywhere,” Mr. Tang had concluded.
Then, Dr. AlSwailem shared: “The name ‘Riyadh Design Law Treaty’ reflects Saudi Arabia’s pivotal role as a bridge between cultures and a hub for supporting global initiatives. Adopting this Treaty is a historic achievement highlighting Saudi Arabia’s cooperation and contribution to the international intellectual property framework. It opens new avenues for collaboration among member states. This Treaty will lay the foundation for vital legal frameworks that benefit designers and bolster innovation and creativity worldwide.”
The Riyadh Treaty will help to make the framework for design protection procedures more predictable and make the procedures themselves less complex and more affordable. It will be easier for designers to file applications in several different jurisdictions.
What the Treaty will do?
Set a maximum list of indications or elements that designers must submit with an application. Establishing a closed list of elements will help to create a predictable framework for design protection procedures: designers wishing to apply will know exactly what indications or elements may be required.
Allow applicants to choose how they represent the design in an application (drawings, photographs or, if admitted by the IP office, video).
Allow applicants to include several designs in a single application, under certain conditions.
Set out requirements for the granting of a filing date. Keeping the list of filing-date requirements for design applications to a minimum is crucial because, in the field of design, postponing the filing date can result in a definitive loss of rights.
Provide for a grace period of 12 months following a first disclosure of the design, during which such disclosure will not affect its validity for registration.
Allow applicants to keep their designs unpublished for at least six months after having secured a filing date.
Provide relief measures and offer some flexibility to applicants to prevent them from losing their rights if they miss a deadline. Without such measures, missing a time limit generally results in a loss of rights. In the case of designs, that loss is irreparable.
Simplify the procedure for requesting the renewal of a design registration.
Furthers the introduction of e-filing systems for designs and the electronic exchange of priority documents.
The Treaty foresees the availability of technical assistance to developing and least developed countries for the implementation of the Treaty.
Moreover, the Riyadh Design Law Treaty expressly interfaces design protection with the protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions. This is achieved through a provision under which contracting parties may require applicants to file information on traditional cultural expressions and traditional knowledge relevant to the eligibility for registration of the design.
The Treaty requires 15 contracting parties to enter into force.
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