Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property at LKS

Our a multidisciplinary team comprising attorneys, scientists, and engineers with advanced degrees from esteemed institutions worldwide offer,

• Consulting, wherein we act/support In-House counsels enabling IP functions within the organization.
• Filing and Prosecution.
• Litigation, including Appeals against orders from the IP offices.
• Portfolio Creation and Management.
• Strategic Consultancy including, but not limited to, Tax & Valuation, Regulatory, EXIM, or other issues involving IPR.
• Third party adversarial actions (e.g. oppositions).
• Transactions and advisory.

We deal with all the laws governing intellectual property rights in India – Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Designs and Plant Variety Protection, covering both, filing & prosecution, and litigation & enforcement.

Patents

• Drafting of patents.
• PCT filing – One of the largest filers in India.
• End-to-end service.
• Drafting work done in information technology, automotive engineering, electronics, including IC related technology, machine learning and artificial intelligence, telecommunications, semiconductors, agri-business, chemistry, pharmaceuticals, bio technology, quantum engineering, and medical devices.
• The firm serves several research centers and institutes including the Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Space Research Organisation, the Indian Institute of Science, the Defense Research and Development Organisation, Council of Scientific & Industrial research, and National Institute of Immunology.
• Multi-disciplinary expertise (ranging across different fields like law, science, and engineering) and skills (including drafting and formulating the best Intellectual Property strategy).
• Working closely with associates in other jurisdictions to obtain patent rights outside India for our clients.

IP Litigation

• Since 2012 we have handled about 100 major litigation cases.
• Spread across patents, trademarks, designs, and protection of plant varieties.
• These litigations include:
  • Infringement suits.
  • Appeals from orders of Courts before the High Courts and the Supreme Court.
  • Invalidation actions such as patent opposition, revocation, trademark rectification or design cancellations.
  • Appeals against refusal orders by the Patent, Trademarks, or Design office before the respective High Court.
• Technical Areas involved in litigation include Power electronics, Automotive engineering, Telecommunication, Aeronautical engineering, Civil engineering, Mechanical engineering, Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology, and Plant breeding.
• We have been instrumental in establishing the jurisprudence in many key areas of Patent law, including in respect of patentability of computer related inventions and interpretation of key provisions of patentable subject matter exclusions.
• We handled one of the first SEP suits for Ericsson in India before Delhi High Court.
• We are adept at handling trademark, designs, and copyrights infringement suits.
• We are one of the few law firms with experience in handling litigation matters pertaining to Plant Variety Protection and Biological Diversity, with in-house subject matter experts in this regard.

Trademarks

• Trademark Portfolio Management:
  • LKS aids clients in effectively managing their trademark portfolios in India.
• Prosecution and Enforcement:
  • The firm supports clients in all stages of prosecution and enforcement, encompassing:
    • Registering trademarks.
    • Handling oppositions and rectifications.
    • Facilitating renewals.
    • Providing litigation support for infringement/passing off actions.
    • Conducting investigations.
• Customs Registration and Domain Name Disputes:
  • LKS assists in registering trademarks with customs authorities and resolving domain name disputes.
• Transactional Advice:
  • The firm provides strategic guidance on transactional matters, including:
    • Conducting IP due diligence.
    • Facilitating assignments.
    • Developing general acquisition strategies for trademarks.

Copyright

The Copyright Team assists clients in registering and licensing copyrights, providing legal opinions and handling disputes before different forums. The firm also handles copyright enforcement. The work encompasses all forms of copyright materials such as computer programs, visual, literature, art and music.

Designs

Design differentiation provides a powerful way of differentiating between products on the aesthetics front. The designs team at LKS provides complete support for registration and cancellation of designs besides representing clients in litigation relating to designs. The designs team at LKS also works closely with associates in other jurisdictions to obtain design rights outside India for their clients.

Plant Variety Protection

The plant variety protection (PVP) laws are designed to provide protection to breeder’s right over plant varieties as an alternative to patent protection. The firm has an experienced team providing composite services related to drafting, prosecution and contentious litigation in this area. LKS is the largest filer of PVP applications in India.