Intellectual property in India

Clients report that a hallmark of Khaitan & Co. is its attention to client care, allowing clients to feel ‘a valued customer’. A full service firm, it can provide corporate/commercial advisory, competition and disputes expertise to IP clients and more specifically, its IP expertise extends to copyrights, plant varieties, domain names, geographical indications, and trade secrets. Based primarily in Mumbai and New Delhi, the firm now also has a presence in Chennai and Singapore. It also employs a range of technologies to ensure clients’ IP assets are tracked and protected.  The highly experienced Adheesh Nargolkar has extensive skills ranging from patent drafting and enforcement matters to related transactions and Nishad Nadkarni also has extensive experience across all IP assets, combined with media and entertainment and commercial litigation expertise. Other senior practitioners include Smriti Yadav (disputes/litigation) and Shailendra Bhandare  (transactional and prosecution matters). Based in New Delhi, Ankur Sangal's work includes high-profile copyright disputes in the music industry. Nirupam Lodha, who joined the team in May 2021 from L&L Partners Law Offices, adds additional strength in IP disputes/litigation. All lawyers are in Mumbai unless otherwise stated.

At R. K. Dewan & Co. Mohan Dewan, the principal, and his teams offer a ‘a one stop solution' across IP protection and enforcement. It serves clients in an extensive range of technical and consumer sectors including electronics, telecoms, pharma and biotech and has an especially strong trade marks and anti-counterfeiting practice. It protects and enforces trade mark rights in both India and globally for multinationals and smaller concerns. It has also been successful of late in overturning Madrid Provisional Refusals. Niti Dewan heads the patents side of the firm; she is also a certified patent valuation analyst, and Disha Dewan (based in Pune), who is a registered patent attorney, handles a range of advisory and patent litigation cases; she is also considered to be the ‘next generation‘ of leaders at the firm. Litigator Nirbhay Bhardwaj heads the Delhi office and Dinesh Nair (Pune) leads the international trade marks work. Other core lawyers include Amar Prakash Singh and Rakesh Singh. All lawyers are based in Mumbai unless otherwise stated.

A long-established and sought-after IP firm, Remfry & Sagar is a ‘go-to' for multinationals and India-based clients. Managing partner Ashwin Julka leads a ‘flexible and agile' team that includes Devika Mehra who is a trade marks specialist assisting clients with brand protection in both India and Asia and beyond and Samta Mehra whose focus is trade mark and design prosecution. More than 55 attorneys and technical experts have backgrounds in technology, electronics, chemistry and biotech, thus providing specialised patent protection advice. The practice is noted for its deft handling of IP disputes, especially patent litigation, work which is led by CA Brijesh. Pankaj Soni is also highlighted for this work while Gaurav Mukerjee is noted for his dispute resolution skills in trade marks, copyright and unfair competition. For patent drafting and prosecution, Ritushka Neg is a specialist who often appears before the Patent Office and Intellectual Property Appellate Board on cases involving the technology, pharma or telecoms arenas. The firm is also committed to a number of initiatives to promote and educate on IP matters from its offices in Gurugram, Bengaluru and Chennai.

AZB & Partners is cited for its ‘modern‘ approach and for being ‘creative and coming up with business-oriented solutions‘. It combines expertise in the protection and exploitation of IP assets, especially trade marks, with expertise in comparative advertising, data protection and parallel imports. As a full service firm, it also advises on licensing, co-branding, franchising and technology transfer agreements in the context of transactions such as acquisitions or mergers. On the contentious side, its expertise extends to obtaining injunctions and Anton Pillar orders and cases up to the Supreme Court. Akhilesh Kumar Rai (Delhi) and Nandan Pendsey (Mumbai) co-head the practice and offer experience in diverse sectors including pharmaceuticals, consumer goods and financial services.

Long-standing clients cite Chadha & Chadha IP for offering ‘top notch responsiveness and customer service'. From its head office in Gurugram and nine offices across India, it also offers dedicated desks for numerous Asian jurisdictions. It serves clients, many of which are global, household names, in areas ranging from biopharma and technology to luxury goods in the domestic and global protection of their IP assets. It has an exceptional trade marks service combined with patent and design protection and related transactional matters. It also provides notable pro bono initiatives; it is a listed facilitator for IP for start-ups and is associated with Wheelchairs Of Hope, which designs and manufactures wheelchairs for children. Trade mark specialists Chetan Chadha and Tarun Gandhi (who heads the patents prosecution practice) are acknowledged for being able to ‘solve any prosecution matter referred to them' and providing ‘a great return of investment for clients’ while Sonal Madan is noted as an ‘exceptional lawyer' for trade mark protection and related corporate transactions. Shivarpita Nailwal heads the patents/life sciences practice and Nidhi Anand is a patents specialist with a focus on biotech and life sciences. Gopal Trivedi is a litigator across all types of IP and includes a specialism in electronics patents.

Mehta & Mehta Associates (MehtaIP), which is highlighted by clients for its ‘capacity to handle complicated cases', offers a comprehensive range of IP expertise across trade marks, designs, patents and copyrights. It acts for  household name brand and patent owners through to start-ups, government and educational organisations. The team includes technical experts across sciences, electronics, telecoms, engineering, AI, and biotech and is skilled in drafting through to litigation. Based in Gurgaon, the esteemed Ramesh Kr. Mehta  and the ‘excellent’ Ankush Mehta are sought out for their skills in non-contentious and contentious IP matters and Abhilasha Niroola is noted for assisting clients, especially in the media and entertainment industries for both patent and trade mark prosecutions and related regulatory issues. Akshay Mehta advises on IP in the context of corporate/M&A transactions.

Essenese Obhan, who is the managing partner of Obhan & Associates, is a also a patent attorney with a mechanical engineering degree. He has particular expertise in the areas of technology, software, telecoms, agriculture/plant varieties, and pharmaceuticals. His work ranges from patent prosecution to disputes and litigation in a range of tribunals and courts. Aparna Kareer heads the patent filing and prosecution work and has a focus on biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and nanotechnology, and patent attorney Charul Yadav's expertise includes life sciences and biodiversity; she routinely assists clients with the protection of their global patent portfolios. Taarika Pillai has broad trade mark experience ranging from trade mark portfolio management to infringement and passing off actions, often part of the team acting for well-known brand owners. The firm is notable for being made up of 50% or more women and on corporate responsibility; it provides a range of pro bono advice, promotes local artists and donates computers to assist underprivileged children to take online classes.

Based in New Delhi, the Singh & Singh Law Firm LLP practice combines its IP expertise with media and telecommunications, competition and drugs regulatory laws. It also provides a start-up hub to assist India’s growing start-up community. Sudeep Chatterjee‘s wide-ranging expertise encompasses infringement actions relating to copyright, trade marks and domain-name issues and anti-counterfeiting, often involving high-profile clients. Bitika Sharma has extensive experience handling complex patent litigation, particularly in the bio-tech, pharma and chemicals sectors, including those concerning biologics/bio-similars. With a background in physics, Saya Choudhary focuses on patent litigation and is also experienced in negotiating and executing FRAND licensing deals. Meanwhile, Tejveer Singh Bhatia‘s focus is litigation in the telecoms and broadcasting arenas, including regulatory aspects and also handles civil and criminal raids relating to anti-counterfeiting.

Beruar & Beruar has an established track record in the media/publishing sectors, especially in respect of copyright infringements. It also assists clients in areas such as healthcare, the automotive industry and consumer goods. It provides domestic and international clients with assistance on contentious and non-contentious issues relating to trade marks, designs and patents in addition to its expertise in media, entertainment, sports and general commercial laws. Based in New Delhi, Nidhi Jain and managing partner and co-founder of the firm Rahul Beruar co-head the team; the latter has experience of the protection of all types of IP and is well-known for his copyright expertise.

A relatively young firm, Ediplis Counsels is spearheaded by the seasoned Nishant Kewalramani who is valued for ‘brainstorming IP strategy' with clients. A patent and trade mark attorney, his experience also extends to media law. The team assists clients on patent and trade mark protection – this includes freedom to operate searches and comparative advertising matters. Also a founding partner, Ashima Chalia leads on IP transactions and strategic alliances; she is also focused on pro bono work for female entrepreneurs. Senior partner and a  ‘top choice‘ for IP, Aditi Verma Thakur joined the team from IndusLaw in June 2021. She has a broad practice that spans IP due diligence and audits, acquisitions, joint ventures and licensing transactions, in addition to data privacy cases. Senior associates in the team include patents expert Neha Balekundri and Rohini Kumar, an IP litigator. Lawyers are based primarily in Bangalore with an office in Mumbai.

Fox Mandal & Associates is home to ‘agile experts’ who provide a full range of IP maintenance and exploitation services, with an emphasis on the IP aspects of transactions such as acquisitions together with patents cases in the electronics and IT sectors. Santosh Vikram Singh‘s skills range from corporate advisory matters and portfolio management to enforcement and disputes. He is also known for his handling of sports, media and entertainment law matters such as the production, acquisition and distribution of media contents. Rajesh Vellakkat also covers a broad range of IP matters, especially in the IT/tech sectors, data privacy and e-commerce. Sripirya Padmanaban, who heads the Bengaluru office, is highlighted by clients for her IP expertise combined with broader commercial work.

IndusLaw provides comprehensive expertise across trade marks, copyright and patents in conjunction with commercial advice which provides ‘unique business perspectives’ to clients. Suneeth Katarki is advising clients on acquisitions and investments, including multinational and Indian brand owners and online marketplace and e-commerce companies. Partner Bharadwaj Jaishankar (who joined the team in June 2021 from Diageo) has rich experience in the protection and enforcement of IP assets combined with the management or commercialisation of IP assets in the context of corporate/commercial transactions, while Lomesh Kiran Nidumuri and Amit Jajoo (Mumbai) focus on disputes. On the corporate responsibility front, the firm has been involved in the mass vaccination drive by the Max Hospital and the Covid taskforce group to help provide hospitals with oxygen cylinders and medicines. Aditi Verma Thakur departed the firm in May 2021 to join Ediplis Counsels. All lawyers are based in Bengaluru unless otherwise stated.

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan offers dedicated IP and technology law teams that secure and enforce patent rights for both global and Indian businesses and this includes areas such as plant variety protection, licensing and valuations. It is especially skilled in drafting patent specifications including for international, US and EU applications that can be filed directly. Malathi Lakshmikumaran has decades of experience in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology with an expertise in plant genomics, DNA fingerprinting and genetic transformation and heads the life science group. Konpal Rae heads the IP group in Bangalore and focuses on patent and design protection for multinational, domestic and start-up clients. Other partners, including Prashant Phillips and Srinivasan T, provide deep experience in areas such as organic and inorganic chemistry, pharmaceuticals and engineering while other partners including Sudarshan Singh Shekhawat have a focus on patent and trade marks litigation in a variety of tribunals and courts including the Supreme Court of India.

RNA Technology and IP Attorneys is acknowledged by clients for combining  ‘great client service' with ‘practical, commercial advice'. It has a track record for the protection and commercialisation of trade marks, and through a network of associates, it does so in some 47 countries. Its skills cover IP audits, negotiating licensing and franchising agreements for domestic and global companies and the team includes investigators and researchers. ‘Smart and proactive' Ranjan Narula, who founded the firm, has extensive experience of IP protection matters including litigation and Rachna Bakhru, who heads the dispute resolution team, combines IP litigation with advisory work. Rahul Sethi is experienced in investigations and anti-counterfeiting work for brand owners while Rajiv Suri heads the prosecution practice which he combines with transactional work. Senior associate Swati Dalal is noted for her trade mark prosecution work.

Royzz & Co. Attorneys at Law's roots are in TMT where it assists an array of  IT and technology clients with transactions and dispute resolution. In this context, it has developed a robust trade mark and copyright practice. It advises on the life cycle of trade marks, from searches/watch services and filings through to litigation, as well as transactional work such as licensing and assignments. It has an extensive copyright practice including litigation and other disputes and advisory matters such as celebrity endorsement agreements. The ‘brilliant’ Mahua Roy Chowdhury advises Indian and international clients on all aspects of brand protection including disputes relating to software. Other senior leaders of the practice include Muthu Pandi and Manjari Mukherjee. Managing associate Leena Desai brings considerable experience of trade mark and copyright registration and enforcement – she joined the team in 2021, while Vidit Desai assists with contentious trade mark cases in the computer science arena. All mentioned lawyers are based in Mumbai.

Dev Robinson heads a team at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co which provides a range of IP protection assistance combined with corporate work and transactions such as technology transfers and licensing. Example work includes acting for Vodafone Idea Limited on the launch of its new brand identity and the application for registration of a motion trade mark. Other key team members include JV Abhay, Rosalyn Malik and Paazal Arora.

Dipak Rao and Sonil Singhania  in New Delhi head the team at Singhania & Partners LLP. Rao has deep experience of IP management in addition to expertise in the related area of food laws. Singhania’s skills range across all types of IP assets from registrations to oppositions and infringements. Bhawna Sharma, who heads the patents and design work, is skilled in areas including bio-medical devices, bio-chemicals, life sciences, and clean energy innovations. Junior team member Sana Singh assists in advising domestic and international businesses on a range of IP matters including matters before the IP Office Appellate Board.

Kaushik Moitra heads the IP team at Bharucha & Partners which offers a broad range of expertise, particularly in the areas of trade marks, copyright and trade secrets. Its skills cover prosecution work, transactions and litigation including interim injunctions, Anton Pillar orders and the more rare John Doe orders in connection with pursuing infringements. Its media-related work extends to breach of privacy or personality rights and defamation. It also supports a number of non-profit organisations and small businesses on a pro bono basis. Karnika Vallabh works in tandem with Moitra on the gamut of advisory work and infringement cases.

Fidus Law is acknowledged as ‘a young team led by extremely intelligent and qualified managing partner’ Shwetasree Majumder. Her highly rated practice focuses on litigation, including trade mark and copyright infringement actions, in addition to advisory work in connection with trade secrets and advertising issues, often in the realm of e-commerce. Diva Arora Menon also has far-reaching expertise on all facets of IP protection, strategy and enforcement. Other core team members include IP litigators Tanya Varma and Prithvi Singh, who can provide a range of enforcement strategies to their technology, healthcare and luxury goods clients. Also a key member is principal associate Astha Negi whose focus is trade mark portfolio management, prosecution matters, oppositions and cancellation actions before the Indian Trademark Office. The team is based in Noida.

Krishna & Saurastri Associates LLP acts for an impressive range of well-known domestic and international clients in the protection of their IP assets. The lead partners; Sunil B. Krishna, Manish Saurastri and Anshul Sunil Saurastri in Mumbai and Richa Pandey  in Delhi head a substantial practice with expertise in the drafting, filing, prosecution and enforcement of all types of IP; it handles and coordinates a large number of patent, trade mark and design application filings and enforcement actions across Europe and Asia. Its disputes work extends from actions at the IPO to High Court litigation and includes anti-piracy actions.

Majmudar & Partners provides trade mark and patent filing and prosecution services including oppositions and renewal matters. It undertakes some infringement work and on the transactional front assists clients with areas such as assignments and licences. The team is headed by N. Raja Sujith and Neerav Merchant.

Based in Chennai, Rohan George heads the team at Samvad Partners which has a highly rated TMT practice, especially in the IT and media arenas. It is practised in negotiating content in the media/streaming space, together with connected litigation. In addition to handling a range of work in these areas, such as technology licensing and copyright infringement, it also has a strong patents practice; it assists clients in areas including pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Its trade marks practice extends from filing and prosecution work to assignments, licences and disputes.

A substantial team at S&A Law Offices provides a complete range of patent, trade mark, copyright, design and domain name and geographical indications expertise. Its focus is on searches, applications, prosecution and renewal matters together with transactions such as licensing, assignments and franchising agreements. Its client roster includes US clients requiring trade mark or patent protection in India, often in the fields of chemistry and pharmaceuticals. Managing partner Daizy Chawla also heads the the corporate and tax teams; her extensive practice includes assisting start-ups under the government scheme aimed at assisting new businesses with trade mark protection. Shrimant Singh leads on much of the patent and design work; he has a background in electronics and communications while founding partner Manoj Kumar Singh continues to spearhead the litigation side of the practice.

Solomon & Co. Advocates & Solicitors in Mumbai provides solid services in the filing, prosecution, registration and enforcement of IP rights, particularly relating to protection of brand names and get-ups. It also covers transactional matter such as acquisitions, joint ventures/collaborations, licensing and technology transfers. It has an established focus on the aspects of media and entertainment law and broadcasting rights. Komal Solomon's roster of clients includes film festivals, production companies, entertainment channels and advertising agencies, while Germaine Pereira specialises in biotechnology and marine sciences but advises clients on IP protection in numerous other sectors. Senior associate Jinisha Shah is a registered patent and trademark attorney with a science background whose experience includes international IP protection.

Spice Route Legal is a relatively new firm with an initial focus on corporate and technology law but with an increasingly strong practice relating to IP transactions and disputes expertise. It also works with two external patent consultants (engineers). Its work typically relates to licensing, acquisitions and sponsorship deals and protecting brand names; it has undertaken high-profile cases concerning the misuse of IP assets online – acting for a number of leading social media platforms and technology corporates, work that includes disputes regarding adwords. It also has expertise in areas such as healthcare and advanced tech/fintech, for example the use of drones and AI. Mathew Chacko is the highly rated head of the practice.