Fashion and Law in India

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This Blog is Written by Jayati Arod, 2nd Year, BA LLB, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur.

Blog 02 | Edition VIII

Fashion is not something new for humans because we are in this field from Indus valley civilization. Fashion was not only just textiles, embroideries or silhouettes, it also showed what was the occupation of that person, is he married or not, from which community does he belong to…and many more things. In 1990s movies like hum aapke Hain koun 1994 drove as consumer demand. Today India is the largest producers of silk, jute, and cotton. Now let’s dive into the blog of fashion with other laws.



Fashion and Intellectual Property Rights

IPR focuses on legal ownerships over creations of the mind. In all the global world. People use their minds to design new fashion with the generations which helps to express ourselves and have new thing to try inn our wardrobe. It gives people an authority on the designed they created. India doesn’t have any separate act for it but it does comprise of the Copyright Act 1957, the Design Act 2000, and the Geographical Indications Act 1999.

Copyright and Fashion

Copy right is protected under copyright act 1957. This act gives a legal right to any creator, youtuber, influencer control over its original work for how it is used, copied, and shared. This act provides a limited protection for fashion. In section 15 of the copyright act ,1957 says that if an artistic design is applied to a garment and reproduced more than 50 times through an industrial process, copyright ends. It must instead be registered as an industrial design. The copyright protects sketches, drawing. Surface prints, embroidery motifs, branding elements in fashion. The term of protection of a copyright is usually for the lifetime of the original creator.

Design and Fashion

In fashion the heart of the matter or I would say top priority is the design  and in India fashion is heavily elide upon the design act 2000 to protect the patterns, appearances, shapes which came from a individuals  creative mind . Design is not an inherent right but a statutory right . The act provides protection only to the designs that are registered . The term of protection of design is 10 year which can be renewed and can be extended to 5 more years.

Patents and Fashion Law

Patents is an  official legal right given by a government to an inventor .It stops other people  from making, using, or selling an invention without permission:

  • Usually for 20 years. 
  • It allows anyone owner to sue anyone who copies it . 
  • The creation or property becomes a public property when the time ends .
  • If I give an example from patented Hermes leather and its patented zipper mechanism offer great insights on how patents can help protect innovation in the luxury fashion industry.
  • Patents also help fashion expand their reach and capitalize on opportunities in new and markets that are yet to be explored leading to the growth of their brand.
  • It does have some cons too like it is every time-consuming procedure and the applications takes years to be reviewed and granted
  • In the field of fashion, the trend changes rapidly and one design can be can be innovative and popular in one season and outdated in another season.
  • And in creative industries it becomes extremely difficult to prove claims making it more difficult to litigate cases of infringement.

Trademark and Fashion

A trademark is a tagline, slogan, phrase, logo or design that companies use to make their product look unique and separate from other brands and generic goods. If I give an example if someone says “Kuch Metha ho jaye” and our brain automatically indicates to Cadbury dairy milk. And if anywhere we see the iconic ‘Amul girl’ we automatically know that this is a product of amul. Trademark in fashion industry is not just logos or slogans; they capture style and values making the trademark its visual representation, the brands unique identity making it different and separate from another brand. It not only attracts the costumers but also raises the brand loyalty. Trademarks also works as a consumer trust when people see brands with familiar trademark it gives them sense of trust and assurance of the quality and standards of the product. Trademarks also help in reducing the counterfeiting because many \local brands try to counterfeit the products of the original brand. With the help of trademark, it helps the original brand to safeguard the products and also for the consumer from purchasing any low-quality goods.

Case Laws

1. Ritika Pvt. Ltd vs BIBA Apparels Pvt. Ltd. (2016)

  • Issue: Coping for mass produced garments.
  • Facts: Ritika {Ritu kumari) sued competitor BIBA for coping its exclusive ethnic prints and design sketches.
  • Verdict: The Delhi high court that under sec 15(2) of the copyright acts ,1957 that if any design or sketch is applied industrially to fabric or garments than 50 times and is not registered under designs act losses its copyright protection.

2. Christian Louboutin SAS vs Pawan Kumar (2017)

  • Issue: protection of single -color position and non – conventional trademarks.
  • Facts: The iconic French luxury footwear designer sued local Delhi traders for high heeled shoes featuring copycat signature red outsole.
  • Verdict: The Delhi high court recognized the unique “red sole” as a trademark, awarding punitive damages showing that trademark can help in legal case.


(Write to the author at jayatiarod@gmail.com.)

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