Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (L&S) is a full-service Indian law firm with over 370 professionals and 47 partners. Founded by V Lakshmikumaran and V Sridharan in 1985, the firm has offices across India in 11 locations – New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Gurgaon and Allahabad. The firm also has an office in London. L&S provides advisory and litigation services in IP, tax, corporate, environmental and trade remedy law.
L&S has an established top-tier IP practice in India. The IP team has expertise in all areas of IP law, including patents, designs, trademarks, copyright, geographical indications and plant variety protection. The team consists of technology experts with advanced degrees in engineering and life sciences and experienced attorneys who work closely with clients in litigation, preparation, prosecution and opposition, licensing, valuation and IP management. The team has handled several high-profile patent litigations and provides filing and prosecution services to some of the world’s leading companies.
In the areas of copyright and trademarks, L&S has handled several infringement and passing-off litigations. The firm has extensive experience in filing applications under the Patent Act, the Copyright Act, the Trademark Act, the Design Act and the Plant Variety Protection Act. The firm is well-known for its high ethical standards, superior work quality and transparency in all business dealings, while according top priority to maintaining the confidentiality of client information.
Trademark expertise and services
L&S believes that a trademark is worth a thousand words and is an organisation’s best salesperson, and that a strong trademark is invaluable as competition intensifies with each passing day. The firm has a strong team of highly qualified attorneys with varying levels of seniority and experience, as well as extensively trained paralegals. It advises and assists a wide spectrum of clients – including domestic companies, Fortune 500 companies, research institutes, universities, government organisations and individuals across diverse sectors – in protecting their trademarks in India and abroad. The firm has sophisticated software for docketing and managing timelines.
For prestigious clients, L&S is a one-stop shop for the management of their entire trademark portfolios. Besides litigation, the firm provides the gamut of trademark prosecution services, including:
- local and international due diligence through trademark searches;
- filing and prosecution of trademark applications in India and various other jurisdictions and under the Madrid Protocol;
- oppositions and rectifications before the Trademarks Registry;
- rectifications and appeals before the Intellectual Property Appellate Board;
- investigations and market surveys before taking civil or criminal action;
- infringement, passing-off, trade dress and unfair competition suits;
- anti-counterfeiting actions;
- compromise and out-of-court settlements;
- domain name registration and cancellation before the World Intellectual Property Organisation and the INRegistry;
- post-registration services, including trademark watching and renewal;
- assignments, licensing, franchising and portfolio management; and
- registration of trademarks with customs authorities.
The trademark team offers stellar quality because L&S has developed extensive IT infrastructure which forms the backbone of its automated processes and – coupled with the in-house database – ensures that human error is totally obviated, deadlines are maintained, costs are reduced and client confidentiality is prioritised.
The trademark attorneys at L&S help to spread awareness of trademark protection by speaking at various industry forums and writing articles in national and international journals and newsletters.
Clientele
L&S’s clientele comprises both international and domestic corporations from all commercial and business sectors, including several large technology companies, international and domestic clothing and fashion houses, retailers, automobile companies, global software giants, fast-moving consumer goods companies, educational institutes, international and domestic publishers and media houses, infrastructure companies and pharmaceutical companies, to name a few.