The Designs Act,2000 provides for registration and protection of new and original industrial designs.'Design' means the features of shape,configuration,pattern,ornament or composotion of lines or colours applied to any article in two or three dimensional form by any industrial process or means which may be manual,mechanical or chemical and these features are reflected in the finished products by just looking at it.Designs which are essentially technical or functional are specifically excluded.

The Designs Act,2000 is the governing Act for Industrial Designs in India. Under the Act, the Controller-General of Patents,Designs and Trade Marks under Department of Industrial Policy and promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry is the Controller of Designs. The Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks directs and supervises the functioning of, Industrial Designs Wing. The registration of industrial designs under the Designs Act is done by the 'Industrial Designs Wing' of the Head Office of Patents located at Kolkata.

Any person who claims to be a proprietor of a new and original design can apply for registration of a design in Form No.1 accompained with the prescribed fee to the Controller-General of Patents,Designs and Trade Marks. 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. For registration, designs should be new and original and should not have been disclosed to the public anywhere in India or any other country. It should be capable of being distinguished from known designs or combinations of known designs. When an application for registration of a Design is in order, it is accepted and registered and then a certificate of registration is issued to the applicant. However, a separate request should be made to the Controller for obtaining a certified copy of the certificate for legal proceeding with requisite fee. The period of protection of industrial designs shall be ten years.

The registration of a design confers upon the registered proprietor ‘Copyright’ in the design for the period of registration. ‘Copyright’ means the exclusive right to apply a design to the article belonging to the class in which it is registered.