LISTEN TO THE Keynote Speakers
Justice Dipak Misra
Presentation of bouquet of profiles of distinguished lawyers, at first glance, may seem to be quite easy buy when one reads them with studied keenness and a sense of objective understanding, the nuanced analysis of each individual protagonist in the field of law makes one feel that he is in the company of people who have acted with immense-rigour and passionate concern for development of law and als to ensure that the cause of justice is served. they remind all how they have served the majesty of law with consistency.
The profession of law commands a noble bearing that is both individualistic and representative of collective values that the lawyers as a community enjoy. Alexis de Tocqueville reminds:
“The profession of law is the only aristocratic element which can be amalgamated without violence with the natural elements of democracy, and which can be advantageously and permanently combined with them.”
Justice A. K. Sikri
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.
LISTEN TO THE Event Speakers
Justice A. K. Sikri
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.
Shri G. R. Raghvendra
Senior Consultant (IPR Law), Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India
Pravin Anand
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
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.
Vineet Vij
Vineet Vij is serving as the Global General Counsel of Tech Mahindra Group. Leading a team of 100 passionate and business-focussed lawyers spread across the globe with presence in India, US, Mexico, UK, Netherlands, Israel, and so on, Vineet and team is responsible for taking care of the legal and regulatory aspects to support the organisation’s growth in due compliance with applicable laws that involves supporting multi-billion cross-border commercial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, disputes and litigations, global compliances, legal policy and regulatory, IPR, strategic legal support with the overall responsibility to safeguard the legal & business interests of the company and its principal officers. As part of the overall department structure, the legal teams of group companies worldwide, namely, Comviva Technologies, Born Group, Target Group, Tech Mahindra Business Services, LCC also work under Vineet’s supervision and guidance.
Vineet has worked for over 27 years at established IT, ITeS, Engineering, Banking & NBFC corporations. As an independent practitioner he has also worked across variety of practice areas including Commercial and Contract law, Litigation and Dispute resolution, Cross-border M&As, Global regulatory compliances, Financial and Banking laws, Real estate SEZ and STPI regulations, Company law, IT, Data protection, Privacy, Cyber and IPR laws, Criminal law, Telecom, Arbitration, Employment, Bankruptcy, Competition and Indirect tax laws. Vineet has bagged several awards and accolades by prestigious publications & institutions, including Forbes Powerlist Top India GCs 2020 and 2021; Business World’s Top 100 GCs 2020 and 2021; Global General Counsel 2021-22 by Legal Era; General Counsel IT Services 2021 by IBLJ; General Counsel 2020 by IDEX Legal; General Counsel (Male) 2019 by Legal Era; Shining Star of Indian Legal Fraternity 2019 by CCAI; General Counsel 2019 by INBA; General Counsel 2018 by ICCA, Legal Excellence Award 2017 by Legal Era among others.
Rajeev Chopra
Rajeev, currently in his 30th year of his career, has been previously associated with several law firms and national and multinational corporates which has shaped his illustrious career. He started his career with private practice in the Delhi High Court, before moving to law firms in corporate commercial practice. He has been the General Counsel and led legal teams in LG, Airtel and Dell, before joining Accenture in 2007. Rajeev believes that fostering a culture of inclusion, fairness, equality and ethical conduct is critical to building strong teams and fostering innovation.
Rajeev has led several transformational and change management projects at Accenture.
Rajeev was recently recognised by Legal Era as the General Counsel of the year – South East Asia region in 2021. He also bagged several other recognition in the past and is acknowledged as one of the leading “General Counsel” in India. Notably, he was awarded Cheavening Scholarship by the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 1996. Rajeev is also (i) Chair of the General Counsel Sub Committee and (ii) Member, Task Force on International Legal Services constituted by Confederation of Indian Industry.
Dr. Vivek Mittal
Dr. Vivek Mittal is currently the Global General Counsel at Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited (DRL), an NYSE, NSE, and BSE listed multi-locational global generic pharmaceutical giant.
At DRL, he leads a team of about 75 lawyers and professionals covering a gamut of activities like domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, in-licensing, out-licensing, commercial agreements, domestic and complex cross-border civil and criminal litigation, arbitration, ethical and statutory compliances, data privacy, and data protection.
In addition to his existing role Global General Counsel, Dr. Mittal is also designated as DPO of DRL, he also oversees IPR, employment laws, regulatory issues, and corporate commercial advisory among others.
Dr. Mittal has a very diversified and successful multi-industry career spanning over 23 years with the latest stint being at Danaher Corporation, where he was Regional Counsel - METAI for Diagnostics Platform, Head of Legal at Lupin Limited and has been instrumental in critical roles at Reliance, Radico Khaitan, IndiaBulls, Caparo India and Mount Shivalik.
Dr. Mittal has been recognized and honored with multiple accolades from prestigious institutes like Legal Era, BW Legal World, INBA, and Legal 500. He is a regular speaker at such events and places.
On the academic background - he is a Ph.D. in commerce, a member of ICSI, a post graduate in commerce, and a graduate in law.
Hemant Kumar
Hemant Kumar is the Group General Counsel at Larsen & Toubro Limited. Skilled in strategic advisory, board management, enterprise risk and compliance, complex transactions and litigation, cross functional leadership, change management, public policy and government relations. Bring a global mindset and strong execution to grow businesses in challenging regulatory environments. Hemant is also a prolific writer and has written several articles on various aspects of corporate law and Industrial laws, Mr Kumar has given several presentations at international & National forums on Arbitrations, ADR, cross-border acquisitions, negotiation of JVs etc. He has strong domain knowledge of various corporate laws of India and also has sound working knowledge of laws of different jurisdictions including USA, England, Australia, Africa France, and European & Middle East. He has extensively travelled abroad for various assignments and has sound understanding of the laws and practices in different jurisdictions of the world. Kumar has considerable expertise in foreign investment and FEMA regulations for both in-bound and out-bound investments.
He is a gold medalist in LLB and started his journey as an advocate by conducting many high-profile cases, especially related to the Members of Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assemblies. He was the defence counsel in the Bhagalpur Blinding Case. Earlier, he held senior positions at the State Bank of India; the Steel Authority of India; JSW Steel (formerly, Ispat Industries); President - Legal – Reliance ADAG; and Group General Counsel - Essar Group. He was also empanelled as a faculty with distinguished MBA and engineering colleges and was also a paper-setter and examiner for the diploma course in Safety Engineering Examinations. Hemant has been awarded as Chambers GC Influencers Award, India by Chambers and Partners, London, UK (2019); Legal Icon of India by Legal Era (2020); and BW Legal World Top 100 General Counsel Award (2020), a recipient of several prestigious awards including the Jawahar Award (BSP-SAIL’s highest individual honors); Business Excellence Award by Legal League Counsel; General Counsel of the Year by Legal Era (2013); and Corporate Counsel India (2013). Under his leadership, the Corporate Legal Department of Larsen & Toubro, was awarded the Best Legal Department in India by RSG London (2019).
Amit Bhasin
Amit Bhasin is the Chief Legal Officer & Group General Counsel at Marico Limited. As a part of the Executive Committee, he is responsible for legal and corporate affairs functions at Marico’s Indian and international markets and also leads the corporate social responsibility functions.
Anubhav Kapoor
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.
Debolina Partap
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.
Deepak Acharya
Erstwhile Chief Risk Officer and General Counsel at Wipro, Deepak Acharya has joined Aditya Birla Group as its Global General Counsel.
Deepak Acharya is a certified Corporate Trainer for various Corporate Training Programs like Corporate Athlete, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Coaching for Success. A law graduate from the Government Law College-Mumbai, Deepak is a Fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and also an Associate Member of the All India Management Association.
Practicing for more than 25 years in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Industry, an experienced lawyer, Deepak has previously worked in various positions for The Procter & Gamble Company in India, Asia Pacific, Greater China, Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and African Regions.
While working as the Chief Risk Officer & General Counsel of Wipro Limited, Deepak was responsible for Legal & Compliance, Enterprise Risk Management, Enterprise Cyber Security, Global Data Privacy and Global Government Relations functions for Wipro Limited.
Manisha Singh
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.
Dhwani Rao
Dhwani Rao is a Head Legal, IP, Digital & Human Resources at Nestle, South Asia. Before joining Nestle she started working from 2004 in a Law Firm for about 8 years. She started her journey with Nestlé as a Regional Legal Specialist for business units in 2012. Since then, she has supported South Asia Region markets in a wide variety of legal issues and dealing with contentious legal matters. She is also the Head of Data Privacy for the Region and a part of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council and focusses on embracing the diversity of gender, generation and culture.
She has also handled a wide variety of digital legal issues including privacy, crowd-sourcing, e-commerce, cloud computing, robotics, artificial intelligence, drones, augmented and virtual reality. Dhwani is appreciated by business and legal teams for the implementation of anti-counterfeiting measures in the SAR Region. She has also been integral in rolling out varied employment law-related policies across the organisation.
Before joining Nestlé, she worked at a law firm for almost eight years, advising several esteemed international and national clients on both domestic and international businesses on a wide variety of legal issues. She is currently a member of Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy, International Technology Law Association, International Trademark Association and Inter Pacific Bar Association. Dhwani was awarded in the Rising Star category (under the age of 40 years) for varied initiatives by Legal Era (2016); was specially mentioned at The Asia Pacific Legal 500 for the works delivered to the clients (2009-2010); awarded for varied initiatives in legal functions around IP litigation strategies, data privacy and managing cyber-bullying by Global Nestle Legal Awards.
