Functionality Test Adapted by the Commercial Court for Distinguishing Copyright Protections from Design Registrations

In the matter of Cryogas Equipment Private Limited and LNG Express India Private Limited v. Inox India Limited and Others, the Commercial Court of Vadodara, Gujarat, applied a two-pronged approach to determine whether a work is qualified to be registered under the Copyright Act or the Designs Act based on the directions from the Supreme Court of India.

The dispute originated from a suit for infringement of copyright filed by Inox India Limited and Others (Inox) against Cryogas Equipment Private Limited (Cryogas) and LNG Express India Private Limited (LNG Express) before the Commercial Court at Vadodara, Gujarat. Inox sought a permanent injunction to restrain Cryogas and LNG Express from reproducing any Proprietary Engineering Drawings, or Literary Works, in addition to an award of damages amounting to INR 2 Crores. However, the Commercial Court rejected Inox’s plaint and its application for interim injunction.

Inox challenged the order before the High Court of Ahmedabad, where the High Court, through a common order, set aside the Commercial Court’s order and remanded the matter for fresh consideration, thereby restoring the Suit. The Commercial Court, however, once again rejected Inox’s plaint. Consequently, Inox reapproached the High Court, which restored the Suit to its original number, reviving Inox’s interim injunction application, and directed the Commercial Court to expedite its decision on the interim injunction application.

Cryogas and LNG Express filed appeals at the Supreme Court, against the orders of the High Court reversing the Commercial Court’s order of rejection of infringement suit filed by the Inox against the Cryogas and LNG Express. The Supreme 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. After considering contentions from Inox, the Supreme Court passed an order on 15^th April 2025, highlighting the importance of considering a two-pronged approach while differentiating a matter that ought to be protected under the Design Act, or the Copyright Act. Inox presented arguments to substantiate that the Proprietary Engineering Drawings owned by them are falling under the purview of Section 15(2) of the Copyrights Act rather than Section 2(d) of the Designs Act and therefore shall get protection accordingly.

The suggested two-pronged approach will test –

whether the work in question is purely an ‘artistic work’ entitled to protection under the Copyright Act or whether it is a ‘design’ derived from such original artistic work and subjected to an industrial process based upon the language in Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act;
if such a work does not qualify for copyright protection, then the test of ‘functional utility’ will have to be applied so as to determine its dominant purpose, and then ascertain whether it would qualify for design protection under the Design Act.

The expression “artistic work” has a broad spectrum, while the expression “design” is restricted to specific features such as shape, configuration, pattern, and ornamentation applied to an article through an industrial process, resulting in a finished product that appeals to the eye.

The findings by the Supreme Court address overlaps or intersections between the two Statutes and ascertaining whether a work would qualify protection under the Copyright Act for being an ‘original artistic work’ or whether it would earn protection under the Designs Act.

This finding helps minimise overlap between two distinct protections in the Intellectual Property Rights by establishing clear parameters to distinguish works eligible for protection under the Designs Act versus the Copyright Act.

The Commercial Court adopted the two-pronged approach and passed an order dated 11^th June 2025 in favour of Inox. The Commercial Court allowed ad-interim injunction against Cryogas Equipment Private Limited (Cryogas) and LNG Express India Private Limited (LNG Express) and restrained Cryogas and LNG from infringing Inox’s IP rights and confidential information till the final disposal of the suit.

The order clearly highlights that Proprietary Engineering Drawings can be considered both artistic and literary work, and gives clarity to apply the functionality test for distinguishing copyright protections from design registrations.