Pravin Anand is the Managing Partner and Head of Litigation at Anand and Anand. Awarded the AIPPI Award of Merit, INTA’s President’s Award, recognised as the “Most Innovative Lawyer” by Financial Times and the first Indian to be inducted in the IAM IP Hall of Fame, Mr Anand has an experience of appearing in over 2500 cases and successfully resolving many hundreds in over 43 years of his practice as an IP lawyer.
Leading from the front, Mr Anand has strengthened India’s IP jurisprudence with practice encompassing all facets of IP. To his credit are patent lawsuits that have transformed the pharmaceutical and bio-technology enforcement regime in India including Merck Vs. Glenmark; Roche Vs. Cipla; the Monsanto case; and a large number of other suits on behalf of Pfizer, BMS, AstraZeneca, etc.
Mr Anand had broken new grounds in Indian IP jurisprudence with India’s first Anti-suit injunction (InterDigital v Xiaomi); Nokia-Lenovo multi-technology multi-year agreement; Software Patent law suit conferring protection (FeridAllani case); development of damages culture in large number of cases that recognised not only punitive, but compensatory, exemplary and aggravated damages (Philips Vs. AmazeStore); India’s first post-trial SEP judgement (Philips Vs. Bhagirathi); development of unique remedies such as the “Tree Planting Order” (Merck case); and order benefiting adolescent girls (Hermes case).
Recognised as India’s IP trailblazer and a “living legend” by leading publications, Mr Anand’s distinguished career has included India’s first Anton Piller order (HMV Gramophone Case); India’s first Mareva injunction order (Philips Case); India’s first Norwich Pharmacal order (Hollywood Cigarettes Case); Pioneer Overseas Corporation Case paving the way for DNA testing for disputed IPR in plant variety; India’s first order under the Hague Convention for collecting overseas evidence in India (AstraZeneca Case), and the Glenfiddich case against McDowell protecting trade dress in India, With his significant understanding of trademarks, he has secured declarations of well-known status for several trademarks like 3D shape of ZIPPO, Red-sole of Christian Louboutin etc.
Hari Subramaniam is a Managing Partner at Subramaniam & Associates. Hari Subramaniam is an Attorney-at-Law and a Registered Patent Agent with a background in physics, chemistry, biological and life sciences, and medicine. He is the Managing Partner of Subramaniam & Associates, a leading IP boutique firm founded in 1998, and has been in practice for the last 40 years, specializing in all aspects of intellectual property laws.
In the course of his career, Mr. Subramaniam has filed, prosecuted, defended, opposed and/or enforced - directly or in a supervisory capacity - over 45,000 patent matters in India and abroad, relating to all areas of technology. He was the first person to initiate black-box (mailbox) applications for pharmaceutical products in India under the GATT/TRIPS Agreement, which formed the basis for subsequent amendments to the Indian Patents Act. He has advised the Governments of India, Mauritius, Bangladesh, China and Nepal on their IP laws. He has been called upon several times as an expert witness before the Joint Parliamentary Committee for the amendment of patent laws in India.
Mr. Subramaniam is the longest serving Council Member from India in the Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA), and has spearheaded the Patent Committee of the Indian Group on the APAA Standing Committee on 4 different occasions over 2 decades. He has served as International Vice-President of APAA for several years, and is also part of the Advisory Council of APAA International. In addition, he is part of the Workshop Committee of APAA International, and was co-Chair of the Organising Committee for the APAA Council Meetings in 2005 and 2018, attended by delegates from over 65 countries. He is the only person to have been elected President of the APAA India Chapter twice.
Mr. Subramaniam is regularly invited as faculty or speaker at several seminars and conferences and patent awareness workshops conducted by the Government of India, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the American Bar Association, the Minneapolis Bar Association, the Indian Patent Office, patent offices and universities across the world, and international organisations such as APAA and the Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle (AIPPI). He has been on the Pharma and Biotech Committees of AIPPI for many years and has been invited a number of times as a speaker at AIPPI Pharma workshops. He has authored several papers relating to key aspects of intellectual property laws, as well as chapters on the Indian jurisdiction for leading global publications and books which are featured in the libraries of premier law colleges and Ivy League universities.
Hemant Singh is an IP Litigator, Founding, and Managing Partner of the Intellectual Property Law Firm INTTL ADVOCARE located in Delhi and Mumbai. He is also a registered patent agent. He was admitted to Bar in 1984 and has handled over 2,500 IP litigations in various courts all over India involving contentious and complex issues in the areas of trademarks, patents, designs, copyright, trade secrets, geographical indications, and competition laws, and so on. Mr. Singh has done Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Delhi University (1979–1982).
With a diverse worldwide clientele, he represents several Fortune 100 and 500 Companies in pharmaceuticals, foods, and beverages, liquor, garments, cosmetics, FMCG, fashion accessories, computer software, telecommunication, media, electronics, automobiles, biotechnology, and so on. He has been actively participating in the growth of valuable jurisprudence in the field of IP through various amicus briefs as well as through leadership of various IP committees of various international IP associations globally. Mr. Singh embarked on his journey with a vision to establish a practice where the protection of clients’ interests would be the grundnorm. In 1991, he established Inttl Advocare. He always had a vision of an inclusive and professionally managed law firm, with a true passion for intellectual property. Inttl Advocare is the result and is one of the leading IP firms in India, with a team of more than 100 people.
He has handled more than 2,500 IP cases across India for a diverse worldwide clientele. He has been actively participating in the growth of valuable jurisprudence in the field of IP through various amicus briefs, as well as through leadership of various IP committees of various international IP associations globally. He is the president of the AIPPI’s India Group and was on INTA’s board of directors from 2016 to 2018. He is chair of INTA Anti-counterfeiting Committee, South-Asia Subcommittee, co-chair of INTA India Global Advisory Council, APAA council member, a member of MARQUES, and a member of the IP Rights Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Mr. Singh has continuously been involved in contentious and complex issues in the areas of trademarks, patents, designs, copyright, trade secrets, geographical indications, competition laws, etc. with a diverse worldwide clientele, he represents several Fortune 100 and 500 Companies in the field of pharmaceuticals, foods, and beverages, liquor, garments, cosmetics, FMCG, fashion accessories, computer software, telecommunication, media, electronics, and automobiles, biotechnology, etc. Mr. Singh has been fortunate to argue more than 2,500 cases, with a few hundred reported judgements.
Mr. Singh represented Blenders Pride in the case, which established that the rights of overseas brand owners looking to enter India must be protected on the basis of international first use. Further, in 2014, one of the Pharma giants approached Mr. Singh. This was when the patent landscape was relatively new and Mr. Singh was able to secure injunctions in over 100 matters, thereby reinforcing the faith of the patent holders in the Indian legal landscape. Another important case concerned a liquor giant’s mark in India, where registration had lapsed on account of non-renewal by the agent, which only came to the company’s knowledge after 11 years! Mr. Singh eventually filed a writ petition and obtained a successful order directing the renewal of the mark. All of these cases clarified the law in several aspects.
Debolina Partap, a Gold Medalist in Masters of Law, is a Senior Vice President, Legal and Group GC, Wockhardt. With an experience of 28 long years in banking, finance, pharma and healthcare, her responsibility includes all corporate legal work, M&As, IP management, licensing deals and Litigation Management, legal compliance, transactions management amongst others. She has widespread proficiency in advising top management on legal risks to the organization as well. Her contribution to Covid-19 vaccine contracts is huge. Inclusion of her main accomplishments are, inter alia, successfully handling and concluding complex M&A structures and deals, settling complex financial cases and arbitrations filed against Wockhardt Limited, multi-jurisdictional arbitrations on commercial disputes and settling intricate derivatives suits filed against Wockhardt group worldwide.
Wockhardt is a leading pharmaceutical, biotech and healthcare provider, all combined. She takes care of legal issues concerning complex and composite global regulatory matters related to Wockhardt Group. She is one of the very few general counsels globally who tackle forensics and data analytics. International and national recognized legal organizations have bestowed several accolades to her and her team.
In her current assignment, Ms. Partap is responsible for driving the legal corporate governance, legal regulatory management and compliance system in Wockhardt, legal aspects of banking, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, legal strategy, legal risk management, litigation management, brands and IP management, contracts, properties, finance documentation, supporting value growth and expansion of the Wockhardt group across geographical locations in India and strengthening the international presence across 52 countries.
Ms. Partap has been in the legal field for about two decades and has established a niche in the field of legal compliance system, legal regulatory management, legal solutions management and brands safety and development. In her career spanning approximately 28 years in banking, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, she has held several positions of increasing responsibility as head of departments, functions and zones. Her expertise in banking, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, legal strategy, legal regulatory risk management, legal risk management, litigation management, brands and IP management, business analysis and successfully integrating business, compliance, risks, strategy, operations and management through well integrated legal systems and legal technology has set benchmarks in legal solutions management in Wockhardt group.
Ms. Partap is a Gold Medalist in LLM from Bombay University and began her career in 1990 as an advocate. Her journey in the corporate sector commenced with IDBI in 1993 and then she shifted to pharma and healthcare in 2006. She is an active legal member of FICCI and an avid speaker in various legal forums and in many international forums like Terrapin, Biopharma, IBC Asia, International Bar Association, SIAC, etc.
Ms. Partap and her team has been awarded more than 100 awards, all at international and national levels.
Manisha Singh is a Founder and Partner of LexOrbis. Manisha Singh, is an exceedingly reputed lawyer in the profession for more than 25 years. She has been involved in emerging global portfolios of patents, designs and trademarks for many Indian companies and research institutions. To reinforce India’s IP protection and enforcement system, she ardently pursues accomplishments to line up with international standards and work thoroughly with the industry associations and the government.
Manisha had started her professional journey when Indian IP laws and practices were undergoing considerable change pursuant to the country’s obligations to fulfil the TRIPS agreement. She has played a crucial role in advising and explaining Indian policy and lawmakers on global standards associated with intellectual property administrative and enforcement systems.
Recognised for her in-depth understanding of corporate, banking and financial services laws, Manisha is also the Standing Counsel for the Reserve Bank of India at the Delhi High Court. Being creative, she has contributed chapters in Indian IP laws to many leading publications including Mondaq, IP Media Group, Vantage Asia, Managing IP, Asia IP, CTC Media to name a few. Consistently recognised for her contribution to the IP field by world-renowned organisations, she is also the member of several international intellectual property associations like AIPLA, AIPPI, APAA, ECTA, FICPI, INTA, LESI, MARQUES and takes part enthusiastically in committee work for APAA, AIPPI and INTA.
In addition to lead a growing firm of over 250 personnel and managing offices in 3 cities, Manisha passionately works for indigenous art and handicrafts promotion which are dying with time. Her association with Haath ka Bana (Made By Hand), a social enterprise that endorses traditional folk art and crafts of India, is aimed to promote crafts which are protected as Geographical Indications.
Anubhav Kapoor is the Director, Legal Affairs at Ford India, Pune. He is responsible for intellectual property rights, regulatory compliance and corporate governance practices and policies for the entities of the Company in India. As an in-house counsel, he has 29 years of experience, which spans various industries including information technology, automotive, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, food, banking and insurance software and engineering.
He has handled multifarious areas such as mergers and acquisitions, arbitration and litigation management, structuring large business contracts, intellectual property rights and global compliances. Passionate about innovation, he has assisted large corporates including Tata Technologies, Cummins, Domino’s Pizza India and Polaris in devising their intellectual property creation and monetisation strategies.
Anubhav has also handled contracts and litigations involving complex IP issues, including during mergers and acquisitions, spin-out and joint venture deals. Having done his Master’s in Law from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, he did his MBA in Finance & Information Technology from the Institute of Management Technology. He was listed in the Intellectual Asset Management Strategy 300 among the World’s Leading IP Strategists and was awarded the Star General Counsel (2017) of the Year by Legal Era. He also figured among the top 100 General Counsels in India by Business World (2021). He was a part of the Elite BW Legal World Top 100 General Counsels of India by Business World (2021). He was awarded the CSR Leadership Award 2018 by World CSR Congress. Best Automotive Lawyer – Individual Category by India Business Law Journal In-house Counsel Awards - Dec 2021. Best Leading Lawyer 2022 by World Intellectual Property Forum Intellectual Professionals LLP -Jan 2022.
Mamta Rani Jha has also considerable experience in the allied and emerging fields of Information Technology, Telecommunications, Media, and Anti-trust Laws. Her past experience of over 7 years in both civil and criminal litigation has equipped her with a unique approach to addressing complex issues and providing holistic solutions. Besides, litigation, she actively advises clients on IP licensing, auditing, contract drafting and negotiation, business venture evaluation, due diligence, online and offline anti-counterfeiting and border control measures, and regulatory compliances.
She has represented leading global pharmaceutical companies, as well as electronic and telecommunication giants in key patent litigation cases. She has also successfully handled trademark and design litigation for Fortune 500 companies across various sectors and advised clients on contentious matters pertaining to copyright law. She has also deeply emerged in the field of technology and is representing giant tech companies in the industry.
She has a rich background in the field of science and is a Gold Medalist in B.Sc. (Zoology) and LLB. She is a regular speaker at various IP fora. She has also authored several articles on emerging and contentious IPR issues.
Ms. Jha joined Inttl Advocare as an IP practitioner in 2007, after having practiced law for more than 7 years in various fields of law, such as constitution, land acquisition, service matters, banking and securitisation, criminal matters, family disputes, etc. Being a science student with a gold medal in Zoology (Hons.). Also, Patent Law being one of the niche fields of IP and requiring thorough knowledge in the field of science, attracted her to opt for this field of law.
She has had the privilege of briefing stalwarts like Mr. Gopal Subramanium and other seniors and has benefited greatly from their wisdom and experience. She has completed over 120 Patent Litigations with a 100 percent success rate. She is a regular speaker at various IP fora and has also authored several articles on emerging and contentious IPR issues. Particularly, she had the privilege of authoring the India Chapter of the AIPPI-Wolters-Kluwer Practitioners’ Guide to Anti-body Patenting. She is also presently the Chair of the INTA Oppositions and Cancellations Sub-Committee, India Representative of APAA Anti-Counterfeiting Committee, India Member of the AIPPI Biotechnology Committee and India Leader – AIPPI Study Question on Inventorship of inventions made using AI.
Ms. Jha is acting for Google LLC in several dynamic and critical aspects pertaining to Information Technology Law such as Right to be Forgotten, Data Privacy, and Compliance. She is also currently defending Nestlé against ITC allegations that it was passing off, under common law, the use of instant noodles sub-brand name ‘Magical Masala’. She has also represented various leading global pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis AG and has obtained various patents for the company. She has also represented one of the leading Indian Music Company in India before the Hon’ble Intellectual Property Board (IPAB) in the hearings pertaining to the fixation of statutory royalty rates for the radio broadcast of musical works and sound recordings and underlying works, under Section 31D of the Copyright Act.
Justice A K Sikri is a Judge of the Supreme Court of India. He has an excellent academic record. Justice Sikri conducted cases of all types with specialization in Arbitration and Commercial matters, Constitutional cases and Labour – Service Matters. He was Counsel for numerous Public Sector Undertakings, Banks & Financial Institutions, Educational Institutions, and various Private Sector Corporations. Justice Sikri was also part-time lecturer in Campus Law Centre, Delhi University (1984-89); Vice-President, Delhi High Court Bar Association in 1994-95; Member of the Governing Body of various colleges from time to time; Designated as Senior Advocate by Delhi High Court on September 30, 1997; and Appointed as Judge of Delhi High Court on July 7, 1999. As a Judge, Justice Sikri has dealt with all kinds of jurisdictions. He has sat on the Commercial Bench, IPR Bench, and Insolvency Bench for a number of years and gave many landmark judgments.
Justice Sikri was chosen as one of the 50 most influential persons in Intellectual Property in the world by a leading prestigious international organization for the year 2007 in recognition to his contribution to the growth of Intellectual Property Laws through his judgments.
Justice Sikri became the Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on October 10, 2011 and was elevated as the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court on September 23, 2012. Justice Sikri was elevated as Judge of the Supreme Court of India on April 12, 2013.
Senior Consultant (IPR Law), Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India
Jyothi V K is the General Counsel and Vice President ( Legal) of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited, India’s leading fashion conglomerate known for its brands Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Pantaloons, Tasva, Sabyasachi, etc. A senior leader with over two and half decades of chequered experience in legal practice and in-house legal, she oversees legal risk management, and international brand acquisitions across diverse businesses of ABFRL. She advises on privacy and technology laws, civil, consumer, criminal, and company matters, real estate, POSH law, intellectual property laws, and brand licensing.
Her passion for continuous learning and staying updated in the profession led her to complete a resident master’s course at London in technology law from the prestigious Queen Mary University of London in 2022. She leads a team of 25 lawyers across India. Beyond her role, she serves as a member of the core advocacy committee of the Retailers Association of India. Earlier, she served as the Co-chair of the International Association of Privacy Professionals, Bangalore Chapter, in 2020-2021.
Jyothi speaks on IPR, technology, and privacy issues in national and international fora. In recent events, she has spoken on cybersecurity law, new age fraud, privacy law in D2C businesses, Digital Transformation and IP issues, metaverse, The Digital India Act, and Algorithmic collusion and anti-trust issues.
Jyothi is constantly driven by her passion for innovation; she has extensively introduced digitalization across verticals of the legal function starting in 2010. She devises innovative strategies and legal processes to forecast and mitigate legal risks. Automation of audit processes, video-based training, and certification of legal compliances, automation of approvals are a few. She wJyothiVK-high resolution-pic.jpgas recognized as an exceptional leader for functional excellence by ABFRL in 2020, GC of the Year by the Indian National Bar Association in 2019, and one of the most powerful women in IP by the World IP Forum in February 2023.
Having been into long-distance running for more than ten years Jyothi has participated in more than a dozen half-marathons and one full marathon, she is passionately engaged in yoga, running, and gymming. She also encourages her legal team to engage in a healthy lifestyle and creative hobbies and inspires them to give their best.
Panduranga Acharya is a seasoned legal professional and a veteran in the ecommerce industry. He is solution-oriented and a great decision maker. He has led complex transactions and highly performing teams in his career. His vast experience on sectoral regulatory issues is outstanding. Mr Panduranga has built high performance teams and has demonstrated great legal leadership in various organisations.
Mr Panduranga is a Law graduate from Bangalore University. After a brief period of court practice, he worked for various corporations. He carries 18 years of post-qualification experience as in-house counsel and has been associated with MobileStore, Videocon, Vodafone, Flipkart, Swiggy and CarDekho Group. His core competence includes, M&A Transactions Advisory, Business Structuring, Regulatory Compliances, Policy Advocacy and Real Estate Transactions.
He is a regular speaker on diverse legal topics and has been co-chair for FICCI Online Food Aggregator Working Group and currently Executive Committee Member, e-Commerce Law Section at INBA and member of CII National Committee on Regulatory Affairs.
Sonal regularly speaks at various reputed forums and educational institutions including IIM Bangalore and has been a faculty member for a seminar course on ‘Cloud Computing’ at the National Law School, Bangalore. Sonal has also co-authored a write-up on ‘Bitcoins’ and ‘Data Science to Drive Good Governance’ which were published in international journals.
Sonal, an active volunteer with an NGO that emphasizes the importance of children’s education, holds a BLS, LLB degree from Government Law College, Mumbai and a post-graduate diploma in Intellectual Property Rights Laws from the National Law School of India University. She has a Master of Laws degree in Corporate and Commercial Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She has also completed her executive leadership program from Cornell University, USA.
With several articles authored by her on IT and outsourcing to the credit, Sonal has been recognized as one of the top General Counsels in India for two consecutive years by BW Legal World and listed amongst the finest in-house counsels by the Indian Corporate Counsel Association.
