New draft guidelines welcome but risk undervaluing dynamic designs by requiring frame-by-frame representation. A missed opportunity to recognize animation as a unified aesthetic.
India’s Draft GUI Guidelines Must Recognize Animated Designs
The Indian Designs Office has released the Draft Guidelines for Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) and Icons, 2026, marking a significant step toward modernizing design protection in digital interfaces. The move follows the Calcutta High Court’s landmark decision in NEC Corporation v. Controller of Patents, which affirmed GUIs as registrable under the Designs Act, 2000, provided they are applied to an article of manufacture.
While the guidelines clarify procedural aspects—such as acceptable views and the need for broken lines to indicate non-claimed elements—they impose a requirement to submit individual frames for animated icons. This risks reducing the assessment of a dynamic, time-based design to static components, potentially overlooking the cumulative aesthetic and functionality protected under Section 2(d) of the Designs Act. As critics note, the creative value of an animation often lies in its sequence and timing, not in isolated frames.
The guidelines also do not address duration of animation, looping behavior, or interaction triggers—key elements in user experience design. Compared to international standards, such as those in the US and EU, the Indian draft falls short in recognizing software-based visual innovations as holistic designs.
For IP practitioners, this means that applicants should now build stronger design portfolios by filing both static and incremental variations. However, the lack of recognition for unified animated registrations may lead to fragmented protection and enforcement challenges. The final guidelines should incorporate provisions that allow motion-based representations, perhaps through video submissions or standardized notation.
Citations
- Designs Act, 2000, Section 2(d)
- NEC Corporation v. Controller of Patents, FAO 123/2021 (Cal HC)
