The WIPO Global Design Database is a free search tool that brings together international design registrations under the Hague System and the national and regional design collections of 43 participating offices. Searching it before you file is a quick way to find earlier designs, from India or abroad, that could block registration of your own.
This guide is written for applicants filing designs in India. Indian law refuses registration to a design already disclosed to the public anywhere in the world before the filing or priority date, so a search confined to Indian records leaves gaps. The database helps close them, within limits explained below.
Quick answer: Search the WIPO Global Design Database by product description and Locarno class, then check the Indian register, the registers of your export markets and online listings. A clean result is not clearance: some offices do not contribute, others send data late, and unregistered designs are absent. There is no image upload search yet.
What the WIPO Global Design Database Covers
The database covers more than 15 million designs, drawn from Hague System international registrations and the national or regional collections of participating offices, including China, the European Union, Japan and the United States. Access is free and searching needs no account. India’s national collection has been included since October 2020.
The Hague System is WIPO’s route for seeking design protection in several countries through one international application. When WIPO added India’s collection on 6 October 2020, it held over 58,000 design models and brought the number of contributing offices to 31. Further offices have joined since, most recently Croatia (October 2025), Sri Lanka (March 2026) and Norway (July 2026), bringing the total to 43.
Coverage is broad but uneven. Hague data is refreshed weekly, while each national collection is updated only when that office sends new data to WIPO. A record missing from the database may simply not have reached it yet, so a clean result says little about the most recent months of any national register.
Not every design office contributes data. Before relying on a search, check WIPO’s list of the collections in the database and their coverage, linked from the database FAQ, and plan a separate search of the national register of any market your product will be sold in that is not on it. The Source filter on the results page shows only the collections that returned hits for your query.
Why a Design Search for India Has to Look Abroad
Indian design law bars registration of a design disclosed to the public anywhere in India or abroad, by publication, use or otherwise, before the filing date or, where foreign priority is claimed, the date of the earlier foreign application. A design that is not significantly different from known designs, or from a combination of them, can also be refused.
That bar includes your own disclosures. A product launch, an online listing or a social media post before you file can count against your own application. The statutory exception for public display is narrow: it covers display at an exhibition the Central Government has notified, with prior notice to the Controller and an application filed within six months of first showing it.
The risk does not end at grant. Any interested person can petition to cancel a registered design at any time if it was published in India or in any other country before its registration date, which in India is the application date (or the earlier foreign filing date where priority is claimed). A foreign registration you did not find before filing can therefore surface years later, in a cancellation petition or as a defence to an infringement claim.
Consider a Bengaluru startup about to file a design for a charging case for wireless earbuds. A search of the Indian register turns up nothing similar. The same search run in the WIPO Global Design Database returns cases registered in China and the European Union two years earlier. Because a design can fail by being too close to a combination of earlier designs, the founders compare the closest few results together, not only the nearest one, and can then adjust the design or decide not to file before paying the fee.
For a fuller account of how the novelty test is applied, see our guide to novelty and originality of designs in India.
How to Search the Database, Step by Step
Start from the product. Enter what the product is in the indication of products field, add its Locarno class, then narrow by country or filing date. India classifies designs under the same Locarno system, so the class you would file in can be used directly as a filter in the database.
The Locarno Classification is WIPO’s international list that sorts products into numbered classes and subclasses. The WIPO Global Design Database organises its search screen into five tabs: Design, Names, Numbers, Dates and Country. A practical sequence for a pre-filing search is:
- In the Design tab, enter the product name and its common synonyms in the indication of products field, joined with OR, for example (“charging case” OR “charger case”) AND (earbud OR earphone).
- Add the Locarno class, either in the design class field or later as a filter.
- Run the query, then switch from List view to Grid view to scan the images quickly.
- If the result set is too large, narrow with the filters for source, designation (the countries a record is meant to cover) or Locarno class. To narrow by date, use the filing date field in the Dates tab: WIPO’s help page notes that the registration date filter removes every record without a registration date, including pending applications.
- Mark the closest records and save them to a record set. Sign in with a free WIPO account first if you want the set to remain after you leave the page.
The search syntax supports AND, OR and NOT, brackets for grouping, the wildcards * and ?, phrase searching in quotation marks, proximity and fuzzy matching. If you type several words with no operator between them, the database treats them as joined by OR, so use AND or quotation marks when every word must appear.
Synonyms matter because offices describe the same product differently: a bottle may appear as a flask, a container or a “drinking vessel”, so join the alternatives with OR and put multi-word terms in quotation marks. Wildcards catch variant endings of one word, such as bottle* for bottle, bottles and bottled.
There is no option to upload an image and find visually similar designs. WIPO lists image similarity search for the database as a project under development, not a live feature. Your search therefore depends on how each office worded the product description, which is the main reason to run several synonym searches and review results in Grid view. The Names tab searches holders, creators and representatives, which is useful for following a known competitor’s filings.
Reading the Results: What They Do Not Tell You
A hit shows that a design was filed or registered somewhere; it does not show that the design is still protected, or protected in the country you care about. Results also stop being navigable after the first 1,000 records, and downloads are limited to 100 records at a time, so broad queries need narrowing.
Treat each result as a lead to verify, not a conclusion. Three points cause most misreading:
| Field or filter | What it means for your search |
| Origin | Usually the office where the original applicant filed; it says nothing about current protection |
| Designation | The countries a record affects; WIPO cautions that its legal meaning is complex and each record’s details should be checked |
| Registration date filter | Drops every record with no registration date, including pending applications |
Whether a design is still in force matters for one question and not another. For a filing in India, any earlier public disclosure counts, so an expired foreign registration can still defeat a new Indian application. For selling abroad, the question is whether the earlier design is still protected in that market, which needs a check of that country’s register, and advice on its law, before you ship.
The database’s terms of use also prohibit automated searching and bulk downloading. Heavy use can trigger robot detection, which may block access from your network for up to 24 hours, so large search projects are better run as a series of focused manual queries at a measured pace.
Other Sources to Check Alongside It
The WIPO Global Design Database is a starting point, not a complete search. Pair it with the IP India design search for the Indian register, WIPO’s Hague Express database for international registrations, the national registers of your key export markets, and a check of unregistered disclosures such as product listings and catalogues.
The IP India design search portal (verified as of October 2026) lets you combine several criteria, including article name, design class, applicant and priority details. It has no image search, covers applications from April 1997 with the years 2005, 2006 and 2008 not yet available, and states that its results are not valid for legal proceedings. Where an answer has to stand up, confirm it with the Designs Office directly.
Hague Express holds bibliographic data for international registrations and, for registrations under the 1999 and 1960 Acts of the Hague Agreement dated from 3 January 1985, reproductions of the designs. WIPO also suggests checking other sources, such as online magazines. Under Indian law that matters, because a design sold or published without ever being registered is still a prior public disclosure.
Whoever runs the search, keep a record of the sources searched, the Locarno classes and search strings used, the date range, the unregistered sources checked and the date of the search. That record shows later what the search could and could not have found.
For the filing process once the search is done, see our guide to industrial design registration in India, and for what can be protected at all, our explainer on registrable and non-registrable designs. If you also clear logos and brand marks, our comparison of image-based trademark search tools at EUIPO and WIPO covers the brand side.
What Would Change If India Joins the Hague System
India is not yet a member of the Hague System, so an applicant whose only connection is India cannot use it. A January 2026 concept note published by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) proposes joining, alongside a full 12-month grace period. These are proposals; none has been enacted as of October 2026.
Entitlement to file through the Hague System follows nationality, domicile, habitual residence or a real and effective business establishment in a member country. An Indian business with an establishment in a member country may therefore be able to file through it today. The concept note says joining would let Indian applicants seek protection in several countries through one international application, and would let foreign applicants designate India; for searching, that would likely mean more designs protected in India appearing in Hague data and, through it, in the Global Design Database.
The concept note proposes a full 12-month grace period, without preconditions and regardless of how the design was disclosed, and describes the current exhibition rule as very limited in scope. It also proposes letting applicants ask, at filing, to defer publication of a registered design for up to 30 months, so the design stays confidential before launch. Today, designs are published on registration; if deferral is enacted, some registered Indian designs would be absent from every search for up to 30 months.
Our articles on the proposed amendments to the Designs Act and the Riyadh Design Law Treaty in the Indian context cover the reform proposals in more detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the WIPO Global Design Database free to use?
Yes. WIPO describes the database as a free public service, and searching needs no registration. A free account adds saved searches and record sets that persist between visits. The database is not for sale, because WIPO’s agreements with contributing offices preclude redistribution, and its terms of use bar bulk downloading.
Does the WIPO Global Design Database include Indian designs?
Yes, but check how current they are. India’s national design collection was added on 6 October 2020, with over 58,000 design models at that time, and later updates depend on when the Indian office sends data to WIPO. Confirm recent Indian filings through the IP India design search before relying on a result.
Can I search the database by uploading an image of my design?
Not at present. WIPO lists image similarity search for the Global Design Database as a project still in development. Searches rely on product descriptions, Locarno classes, names, numbers, dates and countries, with Grid view used to scan the images in the results by eye.
What should I do if the search finds a similar design?
Compare it, and the next closest results, with your design feature by feature, because a design too close to one earlier design or to a combination of several can be refused. Then decide whether to change the design, focus the statement of novelty on the features that differ, or not file. A professional opinion helps where the comparison is close.
Is a clean search enough to file with confidence?
No search can rule out every earlier disclosure. Contributing offices update at different speeds, some offices do not contribute, and designs published without registration do not appear. A clean result lowers the risk of a novelty objection or later cancellation; it does not remove it, which is why the search record should note its scope and date.
This article explains the law on design searches in India as at October 2026 and is for general information only. It is not legal advice. Government fees, forms, and procedures change; confirm current figures with the Patent Office (Designs Wing) before you file. For advice on your specific design, consult an IP professional.