Riyadh Design Law Treaty: A Landmark Step Towards Easier Protection of Designs

24th February, 2025 - 6:36 am Categories: Design 0 Comments

The Riyadh Design Law Treaty presents a clear turning point for the development of design protection and is looking to address long-standing areas of trouble in the design environment that plague designers worldwide, including complexity in the registration process, very high costs, and little access to global markets. With its innovative features, the treaty promises to streamline and democratize the protection of designs for more innovation, economic growth, and international collaboration.

KEY FEATURES OF THE TREATY

The Riyadh Design Law Treaty introduces a few important provisions, harmonizing the process of registration and protection of industrial designs:

1. Simplified Procedures:

The primary objective of the Design Law Treaty is to make design protection less burdensome, especially for designers from developing regions or those with fewer resources. Important changes in procedures include:

• Less Formalities: A much more simplified application process with a lesser number of documents required, which makes it easier for a designer to apply for protection.
• More Flexible Representation: The new rules allow applicants to present their designs in various alternative forms drawings, photographs, or even videos treating applicants with more flexibility.
• Multiple Designs in one Application: It enables designers to file multiple designs in one application, hence easing administrative paper works and smooth out the process.
• Grace Period: The grace period is for 12 months to avoid accidental loss of rights, allowing designers to disclose their work to the public without any fear that their intellectual property would be compromised.
• Confidentiality: The treaty allows 6 month period of confidentiality before a design is published, allowing designers to keep their work private while seeking registration.
• Relief Provisions: The relief provisions ensure the restoration of design rights whenever the deadlines are missed.

1. Enhanced Accessibility

The Riyadh Design Law Treaty is taking some big strides to open access to design protection systems all over the world, but most especially for creators in developing and least developed countries. Among the measures it includes:

• E-filing Systems: The convention encourages online filing systems that should make the filing process simpler and should also increase the e-exchange of documents between states.
• Technical Assistance: It promises help and guidance from the side of developing and least developing countries on their way to implementing the treaty.
• Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions: The treaty acknowledges the role of traditional knowledge and cultural expressions in the design process. The acknowledgment will make designers consider and include these aspects while filing their designs.

Advantages to Designers

The Riyadh Design Law Treaty offers designers worldwide many advantages, which make it a key instrument for innovation and creativity development. Some of the advantages are as follows:

• Lower Costs: The treaty will significantly reduce the cost of design protection by streamlining the application process and eliminating unnecessary formalities. The registration of intellectual property rights will be easier and less expensive for designers, especially from developing countries, to prosecute at nominal costs.
• Greater Efficiency: The treaty will make the design protection system more efficient with easier registration formalities and reduced processing time. This will let designers focus more on innovation rather than complicated registration processes. The harmonized system allows these companies can seek protection in different jurisdictions and expose their work to more parts of the world, hence opening access to more potential markets.
• Empowering SMEs: Protection of intellectual property is usually very difficult for small and medium-scale enterprises. The Riyadh Design Law Treaty levels the playing field, making it easier and more affordable for design protection, and hence allows SMEs to compete effectively in the global marketplace.

The Importance of India in the Riyadh Design Law Treaty

With a rich cultural heritage, the Riyadh Design Law Treaty can bring a lot to the table for India, where design is an evolving sector. Its design ecosystem has changed in many ways during the last couple of years, particularly in fashion, industrial design, and digital products. The country is also host to many small and medium enterprises; quite a few of these will find the provisions under this treaty very helpful.

The treaty is aligned with India’s focus on fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and empowering its creative industries. The government of India has introduced several initiatives to nurture entrepreneurship: “Startup India” and the “Startups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP)” program among them. The Riyadh Design Law Treaty will thus give an impetus to the international registration of intellectual property by Indian designers in an efficient and cost-effective manner for better placing their products in the marketplace.

The recognition of traditional knowledge and cultural expressions under the treaty provides direct support to the rich tradition of craftsmanship in India, giving impetus to the design industry now burgeoning in India. Now Indian designers will have to take steps in securing their cultural designs unique by making them enter into the world marketplace and, thus, they can be guaranteed global recognition.

The Riyadh Design Law Treaty is a huge step forward, one that takes the lead toward simplification and harmonization of design protection. It makes the treaty helpful in allowing designers all across the globe to protect their intellectual property in a more effective and efficient way by cutting down administrative burdens and costs and making access easier. In countries like India, the treaty offers a good opportunity to further make its design industry globally competitive and extend protection by the creative works of its designers in a more practical way.

REFERENCES

1. https://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2024/article_0017.html
2. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2077272