Intellectual Property refers to the intangible creations of one’s mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic work. A simple example of this can be a poem written by a poet. This poem is the creation of the poet’s mind, and he gets the right to own it exclusively through copyright law. Nobody can reproduce or sell it without the poet’s permission. Another example is the iconic bitten apple logo of Apple Inc. or the four interlocking rings symbol of Audi, which are protected by trademark laws. These symbols cannot be used to represent any other company and are exclusively owned by the respective companies. The Utilitarian’s perspective of intellectual property was that it is a means to protect ideas and provide financial incentives, which encourages creators to invest their resources into producing more ideas, while the Non – Utilitarian’s perspective is that creators have a moral and inherent right to their work as an expression of their creativity.[1] There are around eight types of intellectual properties, namely, patents, copyrights, industrial designs, trademarks, trade secrets, geographical indicators (GI), layout designs for integrated circuits, and protection of new plant varieties.[2]
Intellectual Property is an essential concept in several fields, from simple art to a multi-billion dollar company, and the need to protect one’s rights has only kept growing. Internationally, multilateral agreements between countries involve international trade. Several reasons, such as to protect creations, promote global trade, balance nation’s interests, encourage technological advancements and issues like counterfeiting and piracy, and emphasize the need for intellectual property treaties.
The Riyadh Design Law Treaty[3] is a significant international agreement aimed at harmonizing and simplifying the registration processes for industrial designs across member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This step was adopted on 22 November 2024. This treaty has been successfully adopted after nearly two decades of negotiations and discussions beginning in 2005.[4] It simplifies and unifies the registration process for industrial designs, reducing complexity across different countries.[5]
II. THE FRAMEWORK OF THE RIYADH DESIGN LAW TREATY
The framework of this comprehensive international treaty is designed to address legal, procedural, and administrative aspects of design law. It consists of 34 articles and 18 rules in total. This document has been structured in a manner that emphasises transparency and accessibility and ensures global protection for industrial designs.
- Core Provisions of the RDLT
Here are a few important provisions from the treaty:
Article 3 introduces the scope and applicability of this treaty, says it applies to national and regional applications for industrial designs and covers industrial designs that can be registered or granted patents under applicable laws.
Articles 4 – 8 discuss the registration process, which includes filing, content requirements, filing date, grace period, etc. Article 4 simplifies the filing process by allowing multiple designs in a single submission. Article 5 outlines the requirements for appointing representatives, establishing addresses for service, and filing related notifications. Article 6 specifies conditions for assigning a filing date, including submission of essential elements such as the design representation and applicant identity. Article 7 is also known as the “GEM of DLT”[6] as it provides a 12-month grace period for filing an application after public disclosure of the design by the creator or an authorized part.[7]
Articles 9-12 talk about procedural flexibility, which includes amendment/division of applications, publication rules, electronic systems, and communications. [8]Article 9 allows the amendment or division of applications containing multiple designs, ensuring compliance with legal conditions. Article 10 addresses the publication of industrial designs, including provisions for maintaining designs unpublished for a specified period. Article 12 specifies the requirements for submitting communications to the Office, including language, format, and signature. Articles 12 -13 allow contracting parties to require a formal request and payment of fees for renewal. Article 13 defines the procedure for renewing the term of protection for an industrial design and the fees required for the same.
Article 15 Allows reinstatement of rights if an applicant or holder misses a time limit despite exercising due care or unintentionally. It provides a safeguard against unintentional loss of rights, ensuring fair treatment for applicants.
Articles 17, 18 and 21 provide details for recording licenses, changes in ownership, security interests, etc. Article 17 outlines the requirements for recording licenses related to the design, while Article 18 specifies the process for amending or cancelling the recording license. Article 20 states that failing to indicate a license does not affect the validity or protection of the design registration. Article 22 allows changes to the names or addresses of applicants or representatives to be made.
Article 25 provides all the rules and regulations given in this treaty, including Model International Forms and specific regulatory requirements.
Articles 26 and 27 talk about the administrative framework, which are Assembly and International Bureau, respectively, where the former defines the composition, roles, and voting procedures of the Assembly of Contracting Parties while the latter assigns administrative responsibilities to the International Bureau and WIPO Director General.
These core provisions of this treaty include the purpose and applicability, key provisions, procedural simplification, administrative framework, participation and amendments.
- Compliance and Enforcement Mechanisms
The mere adoption of the treaty is not sufficient for it to be a successful one. There has to be mechanisms to ensure that the provisions of the treaty are complied with. The Riyadh Design Law Treaty provides ways to ensure compliance and support for industrial design rules. It allows correcting mistakes in applications (Article 23) and gives extra time or continued processing if deadlines are missed (Article 14). Rights can also be restored if deadlines are missed unintentionally (Article 15), and priority rights can be fixed or reclaimed under certain conditions (Article 16). The treaty also promotes international cooperation by offering technical help, training, and support through the International Bureau (Articles 24–27). These measures help make the process fair and supportive for applicants and holders.
III. ADVANTAGES OF THE RDLT
The Riyadh Design Law Treaty provides several benefits aimed at enhancing the protection and management of industrial designs on an international scale.
The primary advantage is its objective of a simplified procedure for registration, which includes a digital transformation where applicants can submit their applications online, making it more efficient and convenient, a flexible grace period as well as the accommodation of diverse representations like digital formats. [9]
Secondly, this treaty will be hugely beneficial for designers and industries as it allows them to go through a simplified registration process and protect their work efficiently.
Lastly, this treaty allows countries to cooperate and work together to navigate the complex challenges of the intellectual property world. Additionally, it has relaxed time limits and provisions such as Article 15 to reinstate lost rights if there was a failure to meet the requirements within the time limit done intentionally or with due care. This treaty also allows applicants to keep their designs unpublished for six months after securing a filing date, which contributes to their objective of having a flexible registration process for the applicants.
India, being a member state of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), has adopted this treaty, pronouncing its interest in fostering intellectual property. The treaty’s emphasis on digitization supports India’s goal of upgrading its IP systems. By signing this treaty, India strengthens its stance on IP protection and is prepared to enhance its global competitiveness. Overall, it helps improve the status of intellectual property in India.[10]
IV. CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING THE RIYADH DESIGN LAW TREATY
This treaty is a huge step towards the protection and fostering of Intellectual Property. However, the plan required a lot of hustle and bustle. The initial proposal for this treaty dates back to 2005, which took almost two decades to implement successfully. There were several hurdles and hindrances in the way it was adopted, which caused it to take such a drastically long time.
The major challenges faced during the process of implementation are:
- Diverging National Laws – Each nation has a set of IP laws of its own with its priorities and procedures, which may differ from those of other nations. [11]This makes it difficult for them to comply with a treaty that is different or contrary to their IP laws. For eg: India faces several challenges in adopting the Riyadh Design Law Treaty (DLT). Updating laws like the Designs Act, 2000[12], to match the treaty’s rules, especially for graphical user interfaces (GUIs), is necessary. Protecting traditional knowledge requires better ways to record and safeguard cultural heritage. India’s IP offices need improvements in technology and processes to meet global standards, and small businesses and designers need more awareness to use the treaty’s benefits. Managing flexible rules like partial design protection and grace periods while handling costs and resource limits are also key issues. Solving these challenges is important for improving India’s IP system and making the most of the DLT.
- Administrative Preparation – Creating a global system requires national IP offices to make big changes, like improving their processes, upgrading technology, and training their staff.
- Cost factors – Less developed countries may not have the financial stability to implement new systems with advanced technology to accommodate the requirements of the treaty. This puts them at a disadvantage for countries as they may struggle to implement the necessary infrastructure and training programs due to resource constraints.
- Awareness and Education – Raising awareness and educating people about the necessity for this design law treaty is essential as to understand its objective and structure. Being aware makes it easier for designers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to protect their creations.
- Technology Gaps – The DLT, being very technologically advanced, focusing on digitalization of the registration process and other aspects, requires the member states to be technologically advanced as well. This means implementing the technical assistance as required.
V. CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC PRESERVATION UNDER THE RDLT
The Riyadh DLT focuses on honouring cultural and traditional preferences by allowing the applicants to include details about traditional cultural expressions or knowledge linked to their designs, but only if the local laws in their country require or allow it. This information helps determine if a design qualifies for protection, ensuring that cultural and traditional elements are properly acknowledged and respected. TK (Traditional Knowledge) and TCEs (Traditional Cultural Expressions) are vulnerable in global trade and IP because of inadequate legal protection and distorted use of current IP laws and mechanisms.[13]
The problem involves the fact that many laws do not acknowledge the collective nature of TK as this is anchored on individual property rights. So Indigenous people do not have documented rights here, which puts them at the risk of getting bio-pirated for natural cure or any natural product for commercial purposes without consulting, let alone paying back the Indigenous communities. Moreover, TK is frequently transmitted through word of mouth and, therefore, cannot be contained in the contemporary legal systems. The realization of Indigenous peoples’ rights concerning TK and TCEs is also obstructed by economic challenges and structural discrimination from colonial powers and other oppressors of Indigenous nations; global commercial liberalization of markets exacerbates the marginalization of Indigenous knowledge by gradually erasing or distorting the cultural and spiritual values of TK and TCEs.
In that respect, the use of indigenous human rights-friendly laws and systems is the solution to these challenges. On the same note, these efforts are facilitated by the Riyadh Design Law Treaty, under which applicants must declare TK and TCEs before registering designs. This measure defends traditions and cultural property since, for example, Phulkari from India shall receive the proper recognition and authorization of the initial communities.
This initiative accords with international trends such as WIPO’s Treaty on Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge that require such disclosure in patents. Thus, the transparent and accountable structure of the treaty assists in the development of such facilities as Traditional Knowledge Digital Libraries in order to record indigenous inputs. Such measures ensure that international IP laws respect and safeguard indigenous people’s culture and creativity.
VI. CONCLUSION
Therefore, the Riyadh Design Law Treaty is a major milestone in achieving formal and practical changes to address the issues Indigenous people have experienced while trying to protect their TK and TCEs. Therefore, by providing a condition in the treaty that all TK and TCEs should be declared during the design registration, Indigenous issues are protected from exploitation. This provision achieves the heinous aim of stopping bio-piracy while at the same time and at the same time creates conditions for nuance accountability and acknowledgement of cultural legacy.
In addition, the treaty cohesiveness with other global frameworks, including WIPO’s Treaty on Genetic Resources and Associated TK exudes an increasing global appreciation for equitable framing of systems of intellectual property. It becomes impossible for indigenous people not to lose their cultural assets through commercialization through the setting of such tools as Traditional Knowledge Digital Libraries.
Nevertheless, the effectiveness of the treaty is derived from compliance and action, integration of laws by member states that seeks to advance indigenous populations rights throughout the world. Therefore, the treaty becomes capable on correcting the systematic vices of exclusivity and misrepresenting the communal nature of TK and TCEs while advancing the cultural and creative economy of indigenous peoples. In conclusion, this approach is the solution towards unparalleled rights of intellectual property and impaired cultural difference around the world.
[1] Peter S. Menell, Property, Intellectual Property, and Social Justice: Mapping the Next Frontier, SSRN Electronic Journal (2016).
[2] (PDF) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE NEED TO PROTECT IT, ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267039883_INTELLECTUAL_PROPERTY_AND_THE_NEED_TO_PROTECT_IT.
[3] Riyadh Design Law Treaty, Nov. 22, 2024, WIPO Diplomatic Conference Document DLT/DC/26
[4] John C Evans & Vishal V Khatri, WIPO Adopts First Design Law Treaty, Jonesday.com (2024), https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2024/12/wipo-adopts-first-design-law-treaty (last visited Dec 25, 2024).
[5] Global Framework for Preserving Creativity: Analysing the Riyadh Design Law Treaty | LexOrbis, Lexorbis.com (2024), https://www.lexorbis.com/global-framework-for-preserving-creativity-analysing-the-riyadh-design-law-treaty/ (last visited Dec 25, 2024).
[6] The Riyadh Design Law Treaty: Bringing Design Law into the Future, AIPPI (2024), https://www.aippi.org/news/the-riyadh-design-law-treaty-bringing-design-law-into-the-future/ (last visited Dec 25, 2024).
[7] Design Protection Update: Riyadh Design Law Treaty, Crowell & Moring – Design Protection Update: Riyadh Design Law Treaty (2024), https://www.crowell.com/en/insights/client-alerts/design-protection-update-riyadh-design-law-treaty (last visited Dec 25, 2024); Riyadh Design Law Treaty – The Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia, The Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia (2024), https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/vesti/2024-riyadh-design-law-treaty/ (last visited Dec 25, 2024); Violeta Jiménez, WIPO Riyadh Design Law Treaty: a new boost for international design protection, ClarkeModet (2024), https://www.clarkemodet.com/en/legislative-news/wipo-riyadh-design-law-treaty-a-new-boost-for-international-design-protection/ (last visited Dec 25, 2024).
[8] Supra note 5.
[9] Riyadh Design Law Treaty, A New Era for Design Protection, CASCI (2024), https://www.casci.ch/riyadh-design-law-treaty-design-protection/ (last visited Dec 25, 2024).
[10] Global Design Standards and India – Embracing the Riyadh Treaty, Aippi.org (2024), https://www.aippi.org/news/global-design-standards-and-india-embracing-the-riyadh-treaty/ (last visited Dec 25, 2024); Intepat Interns, Analysing the Riyadh Design Law Treaty in the Indian Context – Intepat IP, Intepat IP (2024)https://www.intepat.com/blog/analysing-the-riyadh-design-law-treaty-in-the-indian-context/ (last visited Dec 25, 2024).
[11] Intepat Interns, Analysing the Riyadh Design Law Treaty in the Indian Context – Intepat IP, Intepat IP (2024)https://www.intepat.com/blog/analysing-the-riyadh-design-law-treaty-in-the-indian-context/ (last visited Dec 25, 2024).
[12] Designs Act, 2000, No. 16 of 2000, Act of Parliament, (2000).
[13] Protecting traditional knowledge and intellectual property, (2024), https://depenning.com/blog/ip-and-indigenous-communities-protecting-traditional-knowledge-and-cultural-heritage/.
Author: Swapna Haridas
Juris Centre 