This article is authored by Deepanshi Gupta, a second-year B.A. LL.B. (Honors) student at the Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad.

INTRODUCTION

In today’s world, aesthetics, appearances, and visual appeal have gained importance across sectors, but nowhere are these aspects as integral as in the fashion industry. This sector grows and thrives on creativity and originality, with designers investing considerable resources to bring fresh concepts to life each season. However, the pressure for novelty is marred by the rampant issue of design infringement. The concern over fashion design imitation has intensified with advancements in digital technology, making unauthorized replication of unique designs easier than ever.

Intellectual property law stands as the primary bulwark for safeguarding innovation, yet the Indian fashion industry’s IP protections remain limited in effectively addressing design plagiarism. To maintain continued growth and innovation within India’s fashion sector, strengthening these legal frameworks and promoting design activities becomes imperative, allowing designers to retain both ownership and recognition of their creative work.

UNDERSTANDING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND THE FASHION INDUSTRY

IP law decisively rejects imitation, which has been put in place to safeguard creators’ ownership and rights to their original work. It forms the legal basis against infringement underpinned by economic principles of ownership and control and reflects the cost of innovation and the disincentive caused by unregulated copying. Though traditionally the mind sets immediately turn to science, technology, art, literature, and music as sectors which would need most protection through IP, the industry that also features among IP-intensive sectors with constant innovation and commercialization of new ideas is fashion.

Further, division of IP rights into moral rights and economic rights is extended further by Article 27 Universal Declaration of Human Rights that entitles creators for a benefit out of such protection provided for their intellectual undertakings. In fact, even with their so-called permissive IP laws most fashion designers and companies tend to be open to this popularly referred idea, wherein the laws favour an exclusively applied right but only protect owners who formally register them. Key legislations in India include the Patents Act, the Trade Marks Act, the Copyright Act, and the Designs Act, while all these acts provide protection to budding designers, who use sales for sustenance; the enforcement is a weak link. Such protection helps support innovation in the rapid pace of the fashion world.

RELEVANCE OF PATENTS IN FASHION INDUSTRY

Patents are very important in the fashion industry. Patents give creators legal rights to original products, designs, or techniques; thus, patents enhance a competitive advantage. Fashion patents are shields that protect against imitation in order for fashion houses to gain from their investments. When the fashion company discovers a new material, product, or process, then patent protection is directly tied to its income since it protects its own innovation against unauthorized copying, selling, or usage. For example, patents allow fashion businesses to license their inventions to increase the return on creative investment.

There are two forms of patents that apply in fashion: utility patents and design patents. Utility patents cover the functional features of an invention—new materials, manufacturing processes, or product formulations, though less common—integral for innovations such as Nike’s automated lacing system (US Patent No. 8,769,844) or antiviral fabrics. However, the design patent focuses on visual appearances of the product where the industry has grown under the concept of visuals, just like in the fashion sector. Design patents under the Patents Act of India guarantee the ornamental features of products, whether the patterns of clothing or a design for accessories.

Innovations such as water-proof cotton, UV filter fabric or anti-viral clothing clarify how crucial a patent can be for identifying such products within an industry sensitive to rapid, high-speed production. Beyond clothing, patenting covers fragrances, cosmetics, and other lifestyle products. This is to illustrate that the industry relies more on patent protection to guard its growing list of novel assets. In other words, patenting allows the fashion business to own its creations; it prevents competitors from making copies or exploiting its inventions without permission.

FASHION LAWS IN THE DESIGN SECTOR

Design laws aim to ensure that unique and new designs do not get copied. There should be novel and unique design featuring on the final article, with a non-functional as well as ornamental feature that distinguishes it to the public. Through The Designs Act, 2000, governs designs are protected, provided they fulfil the above set criteria and are duly registered. Registered designs enjoy protection for ten years, which can be further extended for five years. The above registration protects the visual design aspect of products but not the material used. The law seems to miss this lacuna.

There is sometimes criticism against this Act on procedural delay to take registration that sometime goes as high as 6-15 months. The litigation cost also seems higher than the amount recovered as compensation, making the process unviable for the designers to obtain meaningful redress. The overlap of protection between designs and copyright is also a matter of contention. Under Section 15 of the Copyright Act, 1957, a design shall either be registered either in respect of its copyrights or design law, with exclusion from both simultaneously, respectively. A design protected and registered under the Designs Act cannot enjoy copyright, conversely, while being the case that the capability for registration of designs available that remain unregistered could hold copyright protection; if not, however, an aggregate of more than 50 copies of the respective designs are commercially produced.

In Rajesh Masuni Talitiani Design v. Rajesh Masrani, the Delhi High Court ruled that the patterns indeed formed copyrightable artistic works since only 20 units had been produced, under the 50-unit threshold required to qualify for copyright protection. This ruling thus prohibited any similar production, distribution, or advertising of identical fabric prints, reinforcing the copyright protection for the limited production. It highlights the safeguards in place for designers, with protection also available through the Copyright Act for limited production and the Designs Act protecting registered designs.

THE CHALLENGES

Knockoffs and counterfeiting are serious IP issues concerning the Indian fashion industry. The designs produced would be able to mimic exactly the style, color, or material of original garments and be produced at the lowest prices due to enhanced technology and globalization. However, replicas of this type, customized according to the preferences of mass markets, weaken the brand’s authenticity when these products are sold at low costs. Counterfeiting, however, involves the exact copying of brand names and logos, posing a more direct challenge to brand authenticity.

Further, Indian designers are unsure about which IP protections to pursue, often defaulting to trademarks or copyrights while overlooking design patents or other IP options. The overlap and confusion between the protection offered by copyright and design law contribute to the challenge. Additionally, patents related to fashion-innovations, however remain relatively unused in India one of the examples seen in the case of anti-gravity shoes worn for performance purposes by Michael Jackson.

SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

The Indian fashion industry needs a strong IP framework to protect the work of designers from counterfeiting, knockoffs, and unregistered copying. Strengthening design registrations through easier access and streamlined processes can encourage more designers to register their designs. Moreover, including specific protections for fashion innovations in design patents, can help safeguard aesthetics and technology alike, especially with the growth of smart clothing.

Social media platforms, for example Diet Prada or Diet Sabya proved successful in raising public attention through the exposure of forged designs and holding designers liable. Community-driven sites help draw attention to the principle of self-regulation through transparency. The legislations must make an attempt at specific protections dedicated to fashion, which would work both for the designers and the industry-in-fact. A proactive, designer-friendly IP regime will not only reduce infringement cases but also help the growth momentum of the fashion industry by developing an innovative and protective culture.