The Role of IP Law Firms in India : Safeguarding Intellectual Property Rights

Innovation and retaining a competitive edge is key to drive business now, which is a shift from brick and mortar. With the new competitive and innovative global economy, one of the most important structures that should be implemented is intellectual property rights to facilitate the protection of individuals’ ideas and businesses from innovation. Conversion of new and original ideas to assets, from new/novel art pieces to unique logos, or maybe some new/improved technology to improve human’s day to day life, can be achieved by protecting intellectual property. This way innovation is encouraged, and there is fair play in the market as well. This ethos should be adopted in every business. Here, specialized  IP law firms in India come into play. These firms help individuals and organizations acquire, manage, and protect their intellectual property rights so that their creative and commercial interests stay well-protected.

Assets which are not physical, create an innovative human mind and has commercial value in the market are called intangible assets, that is intellectual property. Some examples are:

• Patents for inventions

• Copyrights for artistic, literary works including Software Coding, Sound Recording

• Trademarks for brand /service identity

• Trade secrets for exclusive business secrets including formulations, business methods etc.

• Industrial Design which also provides a competitive edge by protecting the shape and aesthetic look of an industrial product.

More importantly, they aim to grant monopoly power over the property for a certain time to its proprietor to monetize the same.  Thus, intellectual property owners get rewarded by having a monopoly for a certain period in lieu of spending resources on research and development on something and not wanting others to exploit it without their permission.

Intellectual Property is a territorial right, that is country specific. The complexities of IP laws generally make it very unlikely for any individual or organization to chart its course of navigation through this minefield of the law from one jurisdiction/country to another. In that sense, what becomes an important connective link between the complexity of the law and its practical dispensation are the roles of the IP law firms and lawyers in India and elsewhere in the world.

IP law firms also employ personnel having engineering and science backgrounds. They are thus also typically dual qualified lawyers, thereafter, they specialize in patent drafting, patent/design prosecution, copyright or trademark and related services that centre around the idea of protecting and managing intellectual properties, enforcing intellectual property by litigation and or arbitration. Some key activities that usually take place are these:

The primary work of IP Law Firms will most likely be to provide clients with convenience in obtaining intellectual property protection by way of registration. Like Patent and Design registration are mandatory. Trade Mark registration though not mandatory but critical for day to day business operation and a registration helps in enforcing against third parties and competitors. Such services include Prior Art Searches and then filing patents or provisional patent application at early stage of innovation, registering trademarks and copyrights, and industrial designs, and following the statutory compliances to maintain the IP Portfolio. As most inventions are technical, such an activity requires people qualified in both law and technology.

Enforcement of IP should be done and taken seriously as mere registration is not enough. Enforcement of IP can be done by sending first Cease & Desist notice. Thereafter, if the notice doesn’t help it should be promptly followed by litigation.  IP also can be enforced through Arbitration, if dispute is between an IP Licensor and Licensee. IP law firms in India defend their clients in infringement cases and ensure that the rights of their clients are continued to be protected either through the courts, mediation or by arbitration. The firms are engaged for managing the IP portfolio which includes monitoring trademark, copyright infringement, or even analysing patent infringement by conducting patent search or defending patent infringement by conducting patent invalidity searches, to protect their client’s rights.

It is also a legal right and a business asset. The companies assist their customers in monetizing intellectual property by licensing, technology transfer, and strategic alliance. In this way, it is possible to generate income without sacrificing ownership of an invention.

·        IP Valuation & Commercialization

As all assets are assessed and a dollar value is fixed to the same, IP also needs to be valued not only to justify the resources spent on research and development (R&D) but it also assist in bringing in investment in business, and even while disinvesting and/or Merger & Acquisition, Joint Venture of technology etc.

In the new internationalized economy, situations require border protection of intellectual property. Intellectual property law firms help the businesses of the clients to coordinate the international IP office and the law firms which will successfully bring protection through several jurisdictions wherein rights are recognized throughout the world, and enforced internationally.

Many businesses either do not know their actual intellectual property assets or may have missed renewing the IP by filing annuity that is annual maintenance charges. IP law firms help them do so through not only tracking the portfolio for IP compliances but by IP audit as well. This may include updating your intellectual properties and also determine potential risks, as well avenues for commercialization of IP.

Due Diligence should also be done before launching a product in the market by conducting a Freedom to Operate Search (FTO search) for the purpose of ruling out the probability that third party patents are not infringed and later on the company is faced with litigation and injunction against selling the product in the market.

The new areas in technology include artificial intelligence, blockchain, and biotechnology, which make the intellectual property protection aspects more complex. This will similarly be even better managed by firms specializing in IP law that take up technology. This is because such firms are more efficient in providing clients with the best solution that can be delivered faster and more effectively owing to advanced tools for research, analysis, and case management.

This will protect such rights to help work on the goal of commercialization practice with an IP law firm specializing in such issues and with considerable experience in such cases. In this respect, it will be helpful both for companies and individuals alike in ensuring that patents and registered rights are sorted out, in addition to solving trademark and copyright disputes over these.

Experience and innovation mark the right partner for your intellectual property needs. This has created a niche where our firm with its dual-qualified tech-lawyers will advise and assist technology-based companies across any sector: IT, engineering, automobile, fintech, media, software, telecommunication, alternative energy, formula and formulations, process of manufacturing etc. Our IP Lawyers are updated with recent technologies and technological evolutions, thereby we can focus on ensuring weaving in our technological knowledge while giving practical legal advice. Our IP Lawyers think and strategies on a technological level and understand the tech languages well. We thus can assist our clients in not only patent infringement disputes or litigation but also in technology acquisitions and joint ventures.

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