Intellectual property

Intellectual Property

We protect, manage and monetise our clients’ most valuable assets: their ideas.

Protecting, managing, enforcing and monetising trade marks, patents, copyright, designs and trade secrets, in India and for Indian businesses abroad.

Intellectual property is where BRB Legal began, and it runs through most of what we do. A licence is a contract. An infringement is a dispute. A customer database can be a trade secret, and a brand is usually the asset an investor values most. Our partners are registered patent and trade mark agents before the Indian Patent Office and the Trade Marks Registry, and our managing partner is an engineer by training.

The full life of an IP asset

Strategy and audits. What you own, what you only think you own, what it is worth and where the gaps are, before a funding round, a launch or a sale.
Prosecution and registration. Trade marks, patents, designs, copyright and geographical indications, in India and abroad.
Contentious work before the IP offices. Oppositions, rectifications, revocations and appeals.
Enforcement. Infringement and passing-off actions, urgent injunctions, marketplace takedowns, domain disputes and customs recordals.
Commercialisation. Licensing, assignments, technology transfer, franchising and IP-backed transactions.

For overseas law firms and applicants

We act as Indian associates for foreign law firms and applicants: PCT national phase entry (31 months from the priority date), Paris Convention applications, Madrid Protocol designations of India, responses to examination reports, hearings, oppositions and rectifications, and foreign filing permission under section 39 of the Patents Act where an inventor is resident in India.

Where Indian IP work happens

The Patent Office has its head office in Kolkata and branches in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. The Trade Marks Registry sits in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad. The Geographical Indications Registry is in Chennai and the Copyright Office in New Delhi. Since the Intellectual Property Appellate Board was abolished in 2021, appeals and revocations go to the High Courts. The Delhi, Madras, Himachal Pradesh and Calcutta High Courts have notified rules for dedicated Intellectual Property Divisions. The Controller General’s headquarters moved from Mumbai to Dwarka, New Delhi in February 2025. See Across India.

Key laws

Trade Marks Act, 1999
Patents Act, 1970
Copyright Act, 1957
Designs Act, 2000
Geographical Indications of Goods Act, 1999
Commercial Courts Act, 2015

Frequently asked questions

How long does intellectual property protection last in India?

A patent lasts 20 years from the filing date, subject to annual renewal fees. A trade mark registration lasts 10 years and can be renewed indefinitely. A registered design lasts 10 years, extendable once by 5 years. Copyright in literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works lasts for the author’s lifetime plus 60 years. A geographical indication registration lasts 10 years and is renewable. A trade secret lasts as long as it is kept secret.

Does a foreign applicant need an Indian agent to file in India?

An applicant with no place of business in India must give an address for service in India. In practice that is the address of a registered patent agent, trade mark agent or advocate, who then handles the filing and correspondence with the office.

Which courts hear IP disputes in India?

IP suits are commercial disputes, heard by the Commercial Courts and by the Commercial Divisions of the High Courts with original jurisdiction. The Delhi High Court (since 2021) and the Madras High Court (since 2023) have dedicated Intellectual Property Divisions, and the Himachal Pradesh and Calcutta High Courts notified rules for theirs in 2024. These divisions also hear the appeals and revocations that the Intellectual Property Appellate Board used to handle.