Designs Act, 1911
78A. Reciprocal arrangement with United Kingdom and other
Commonwealth Countries
(1) Any person who has applied for protection
for any design in the United Kingdom or his legal representative or assignee
shall either alone or jointly with any other person be entitled to claim that
the registration of the said design under this Act shall be in priority to
other applicants and shall have the same date as the date of the application in
the United Kingdom :
Provided that -
(a) the application is made within six months
from the application for protection in the United Kingdom ; and
(b) nothing in this section shall entitle the
proprietor of the design to recover damages for infringements happening prior
to the actual date on which the design is registered in India .
(2) The registration of a design shall not be
invalidated by reason only of the exhibition or use of or the publication of a
description or representation of the design in India during the period
specified in this section as that within which the application may be made.
(3) The application for the registration of a
design under this section must be made in the same manner as an ordinary
application under this Act.
(4) Where it is made to appear to the Central
Government that the legislature of any such Commonwealth country as may be
notified by the Central Government in this behalf has made satisfactory
provision for the protection of designs registered in India the Central
Government may by notification in the Official Gazette direct that the
provisions of this section with such variations or additions if any as may be set
out in such notification shall apply for the protection of designs registered
in that Commonwealth country.