If the look sells it,
the look needs protecting.
Design registration in India protects the shape, configuration, pattern and ornamentation of your product — fast, affordable, and devastatingly effective against copycats. It's the most underused right in Indian IP, and often the first one a hardware startup should file.
Cheap, fast, and copycats hate it
Months, not years
Unlike patents, design registration in India often completes within 6–12 months — an enforceable registered right while your patent is still in the queue.
The cheapest registered right
Official fees from ₹1,000 for individuals and startups. For consumer products, the protection-per-rupee is unmatched anywhere in IP.
Visual comparison, fast outcomes
Infringement turns on visual similarity — easier to demonstrate than patent claims, which makes cease-and-desist letters and injunctions land harder.
Design registration protects what your customer recognises from across the room.
Protect how it works, or how it looks — usually both.
A patent protects function; a design registration protects appearance. A water bottle's self-cleaning mechanism is patentable; its distinctive silhouette is registrable as a design. For physical products, the strongest position is typically a design filed immediately (it's fast and cheap) with a patent following for the functional innovation.
One critical rule shared with patents: novelty. Launch photos, a crowdfunding page or an exhibition stall before filing can destroy the design's newness. If launch is near, talk to us this week — filing first costs little; restoring lost novelty is impossible.
Verify everything at the source
Design registration in India — FAQs
The visual features of a finished article — shape, configuration, surface pattern or ornamentation — that appeal to the eye. Not the functional mechanism (that's patent territory), and not logos as such (that's trademark territory). GUIs and icons have been accepted in classes under the Locarno system, which matters for software hardware products.
Usually not for what's been disclosed — novelty is judged at the filing date. But product variants, next versions and yet-unreleased designs remain registrable. Bring us the roadmap and we'll protect what's still protectable.
Through civil action for piracy of a registered design — injunctions and damages. In practice, a registration certificate plus a firm legal notice resolves a large share of copycat problems without trial, because the visual comparison speaks for itself.
If the appearance is distinctive, file the design immediately — it's fast and cheap. If the function is genuinely inventive, layer a patent on top. A Startup IP Audit answers this for your specific product in a week.
Show us the product.
A photo or render is enough for a first read. Fixed-fee quote for design registration within 24 hours — and if launch is imminent, tell us, and we'll prioritise the filing.
Prefer chat? WhatsApp us — send the photo there.