The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on October 01, 2026, issued the Draft Guidelines for Registration of Designs relating to Graphical User Interface (GUI) & Icon, etc., under the Designs Act, 2000.
The following has been stated: -
•DPIIT has issued draft guidelines for registration and examination of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), Icons and similar designs under the Designs Act, 2000 and Designs Rules, 2001.
•The guidelines clarify that GUIs and Icons may be registrable when applied to or embodied in a specific article and are visually perceptible during normal use, subject to novelty, originality and other statutory requirements.
•Standalone GUIs/Icons without association with an article are not registrable.
•The guidelines prescribe requirements relating to titles, classification, representations, views, statements of novelty and disclaimers, including treatment of dynamic or animated GUIs.
•The guidelines are directory in nature and do not alter the existing statutory scope of design protection.
The detailed notification is given in the document below.
