22. Piracy of registered design.—(1) During the existence of copyright in any design it shall not be
lawful for any person—
(a) for the purpose of sale to apply or cause to be applied to any article in any class of articles in
which the design is registered, the design or any fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof, except with
the license or written consent of the registered proprietor, or to do anything with a view to enable the
design to be so applied; or
(b) to import for the purposes of sale, without the consent of the registered proprietor, any article
belonging to the class in which the design has been registered, and having applied to it the design or
any fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof; or
(c) knowing that the design or any fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof has been applied to any
article in any class of articles in which the design is registered without the consent of the registered
proprietor, to publish or expose or cause to be published or exposed for sale that article.
(2) If any person acts in contravention of this section, he shall be liable for every contravention—
(a) to pay to the registered proprietor of the design a sum not exceeding twenty-five thousand
rupees recoverable as a contract debt, or
(b) if the proprietor elects to bring a suit for the recovery of damages for any such contravention,
and for an injunction against the repetition thereof, to pay such damages as may be awarded and to be
restrained by injunction accordingly:
Provided that the total sum recoverable in respect of any one design under clause (a) shall not exceed
fifty thousand rupees:
Provided further that no suit or any other proceeding for relief under this sub-section shall be
instituted in any court below the court of District Judge.
(3) In any suit or any other proceeding for relief under sub-section (2), ever ground on which the
registration of a design may be cancelled under section 19 shall be available as a ground of defence.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in the second proviso to sub-section (2), where any ground or
which the registration of a design may be cancelled under section 19 has been availed of as a ground of
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defence under sub-section (3) in any suit or other proceeding for relief under sub-section (2), the suit or
such other proceedings shall be transferred by the Court, in which the suit or such other proceeding is
pending, to the High Court for decision.
(5) When the court makes a decree in a suit under sub-section (2), it shall send a copy of the decree to
the Controller, who shall cause an entry thereof to be made in the register of designs.
23. Application of certain provisions of the Act as to patents to designs.—The provisions of the
Patents Act, 1970 (39 of 1970) with regard to certificates of the validity of a patent, and to the remedy in
case of groundless threats of legal proceedings by a patentee shall apply in the case of registered designs
in like manner as they apply in the case of patents, with the substitution of references to the copyright in a
design for reference to a patent, and of references to the proprietor of a design for references to patentee,
and of references to the design for references to the invention.