Summary
The Supreme Court of India developed a comprehensive two-pronged test to resolve complexities under Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act — clarifying when copyright in engineering drawings is extinguished by their industrial application as designs.
Background: Cryogas Equipment v. Inox India
The dispute concerned alleged infringement of engineering drawings and technical literary works related to Cryogenic Storage Tanks and LNG Semi-trailers. Inox India filed suit claiming copyright in its proprietary engineering drawings and written technical descriptions. The Appellants (Cryogas and LNG Express) argued the suit was barred under Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act, as Inox's drawings were capable of registration under the Designs Act — and given Inox's ₹122 crore revenue, more than fifty articles were clearly produced industrially.
The Two-Pronged Test Formulated by the Supreme Court
Prong 1 — Capability of Registration: Is the work capable of being registered as a design? This requires examining whether the work constitutes "features of shape, configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours applied to any article" — visual features not purely functional.
Prong 2 — Industrial Application: Has the work been applied industrially (i.e., to more than fifty articles produced by industrial process)? If both conditions are satisfied, Section 15(2) extinguishes copyright protection.
Significance
This test provides crucial clarity for engineering and industrial design cases, where the boundary between copyright (in drawings as artistic works) and design rights (in the manufactured article) has long been contested. Purely artistic works retain copyright regardless of industrial application. Engineering drawings that meet both prongs lose copyright protection and must be protected, if at all, through the Designs Act.