Copyright v. Design Protection: Supreme Court Formulates Two-Pronged Approach To Address The Conundrum By Section 15(2) Copyright Act
The Supreme Court has formulated a two-pronged approach in order to crack open the conundrum caused by Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act so as to ascertain whether a work is qualified to be protected by the Designs Act. The Court examined the legal complexities surrounding the intersection of the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Designs Act, 2000, particularly concerning the protection of industrial designs. The Court dismissed Appeals against the decision of the Gujarat High Court, which rejected the application under Order VII Rule 11 of the CPC. The parties to the Appeal were embroiled in a dispute concerning the purported infringement of intellectual property (IP) rights in relation to the designing and manufacturing of the internal parts of Cryogenic Storage Tanks and Distribution Systems.