Intellectual Property

We advise on the full lifecycle of trademark matters, from clearance searches and filing strategies through prosecution, opposition, and enforcement. We handle registrations across India and coordinate international filings through the Madrid System. We advise on brand architecture, classification, and defensive strategies. When brands are threatened, we pursue infringers, counterfeiters, and squatters through court proceedings, customs enforcement, and platform-level takedowns. We have secured well-known trademark declarations across multiple sectors. We also advise brands on combating parallel imports and grey market goods, including litigation strategy, customs recordal, and the application of trademark exhaustion principles in India.

We advise on copyright ownership, registration, and the structuring of rights, particularly in collaborative and multi-contributor environments. We represent clients in copyright enforcement actions covering unauthorised reproduction, adaptation, and digital exploitation. Our copyright practice intersects closely with our technology and media work. We regularly advise on copyright issues arising from AI, digital platforms, streaming, publishing, and content licensing.

We advise on patent strategy, prosecution, and enforcement across the life sciences and technology sectors. We conduct global prior art searches, advise on patentability, and manage prosecution before the Indian Patent Office. For clients seeking protection beyond India, we advise on international filing strategies using the PCT route and coordinate filings across jurisdictions through our global network. On the enforcement side, we handle patent infringement actions and compulsory licensing matters. We also advise on patent strategy in contested areas such as AI, blockchain, and computer-related inventions.

We advise on the protection of industrial designs in India, covering design searches, registration before the Design Office, and enforcement against unauthorised copying. We help clients identify which aspects of their products qualify for design protection, advise on the interplay between design registrations, copyright, and trade dress, and pursue enforcement through court proceedings and customs measures. We also advise on international design filing strategies.

Geographical indications protect products whose quality, reputation, or characteristics are linked to their place of origin. We advise producers, cooperatives, industry bodies, and government agencies on GI identification, registration, and enforcement in India. We help clients navigate the GI application process under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, structure producer and stakeholder associations required for registration, and enforce GI rights against misuse and misappropriation. We also advise on the intersection of GIs with trademarks, trade dress, and branding strategies.

We help clients protect their brands in the digital environment, from domain name squatting and cybersquatting to impersonation and misuse on digital platforms and social media. We manage domain name disputes before WIPO and the NIXI, advise on new gTLD acquisitions and defensive strategies, and work with platforms on enforcement against online infringement.

We help businesses build, maintain, and strategically structure their IP portfolios, covering filing, prosecution, renewals, watch services, and periodic audits. We advise on IP consolidation across group entities and jurisdictions, internal IP policies, employee IP assignments, and the design of licensing strategies that align IP ownership with commercial objectives. For startups and growing businesses, we advise on IP structuring from inception to ensure a clean position for fundraising, licensing, and exit.

We act on both sides of software licensing. For software publishers, we handle enforcement against unlicensed use, covering investigation, audit, demand, negotiation, and court proceedings. For end-user businesses, we advise on software licence compliance, reviewing existing licence positions, identifying gaps, and helping companies structure their software procurement and usage to avoid liability. Our approach on both sides is practical and commercially calibrated.

We advise on the protection of confidential business information, including proprietary processes, algorithms, customer data, formulas, and strategies, through confidentiality agreements, non-compete clauses, employee exit protocols, and internal security policies. When trade secrets are misappropriated, we pursue enforcement through interim injunctions, Anton Piller-type orders, and civil and criminal proceedings.

IP is not just a shield. It is an economic asset. We advise on IP licensing, franchising, and technology transfer arrangements. We structure royalty models, cross-licensing agreements, and co-development arrangements. We advise on the use of IP as collateral for lending, IP valuation for investment and M&A, and IP-leveraged financing. We also advise on IP enforcement cost insurance, infringement defence insurance, and IP representations and warranties in transactional contexts.