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K&S

Organisation’s Information

Founded in 1994 as a four-member team, K&S Partners is India’s top tier Intellectual Property (IP) boutique firm, serving clients in all areas of IP including patents, designs, trademarks, copyrights, geographical indications, plant varieties and other related laws. With over 150 professionals and an overall strength of over  350, spread over seven locations across India including Bangaluru, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune, K&S serves a large repertoire of Indian and global corporations, including Fortune 500 companies, research institutes and universities, with a technology-focused approach.

At K&S, we create client-focused teams to manage the portfolios. These teams, supervised by partners, work in a seamless and coordinated fashion with a focus on quality, ethics and promptness. Besides serving clients, K&S Partners is also recognized for its outreach in the area of policy making and contribution to the drafting of legislation in various areas of Intellectual Property Rights.

K&S assists clients in obtaining and enforcing IP rights in india’s neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan through a network of associates in these countries. The firm has one of the largest portfolios of foreign patent filings for Indian clients in foreign countries including in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, European Patent Office and Japanese Patent Office.

We are a leading full-service Intellectual Property (IP) law firm providing advice on complex matters to our clients around the world. Unmatched in our in-depth domain expertise, we assist our clients in protecting and enhancing the value of their IP assets. Our client focused teams are uniquely placed to service client needs critical to their businesses.

IPs facilitated by K&S Partners

1) Patents, Designs & Plant Varieties
K&S Partners has been a trailblazer in creating a highly skilled professional team to handle patent matters on emerging complex technologies ranging from stem cell therapy to artificial intelligence and business analytics. 90% of our patent attorneys have advanced technical degrees, giving us a unique advantage in protecting the dynamically developing innovations of our clients. K&S Partners is the pioneer in India
in building a practice focused on specific technology and science disciplines. Some of the significant areas of technology where the firm has dedicated resources include:

• Lifesciences: – biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, molecular biology, immunology, plant genetics, agriculture, natural products, food; chemistry, polymer technology, nanotechnology, crystallography
• Engineering: – mechanical engineering, software, artificial intelligence, blockchain, information technology, electrical engineering, electronics engineering, semiconductors, telecommunications and integrated circuits
• Design – The design practice at K&S has highly experienced attorneys. They provide
  strategic guidance and end-to-end services including advisory/opinions, portfolio management, filing, prosecution, maintenance, and enforcement of design(s) to secure protection for design creations.
• Plant Variety : K&S has experienced professionals to assist clients in filing and protecting their new or extant plant varieties in India with the Plant Variety Authority of India. Our practice areas in this spectrum include but are not limited to:
• Advising and assisting clients in registration of plant varieties, seeking clearance from plant variety registry, searches in the official journal of plant varieties, fulfilment of registrability criteria
  1. Filing notices of opposition/cancellation against application /registration of infringing varieties on behalf of clients
  2. Assisting clients in enforcing rights in their registered plant varieties
  3. Advising clients on various matters pertaining to plant variety protection
  4. Advising the Govt. of India on issues related to protection of plant varieties.

2) Trademarks, Copyrights & Geographical Indications (GIs)
Our trademark team has members whose experience ranges from one to four decades. The trademark team handles the entire spectrum of services in areas comprising advisory and transactional, protection, enforcement (civil, and criminal) as well as policy formulation. Geographical indications (GI) and border enforcement of IPRs are two such areas where we not only represent the crème de la crème of clients in India and abroad, but also assist the Government in policy making. They also handle prosecution matters across the globe through their network of associates in various jurisdictions. Our experienced professionals assist our clients at every stage of trademark prosecution such as availability searches, classification of
goods, filing of trademark applications, reviewing and responding to examination reports and provisional refusals, attending hearings in connection therewith, examination reports and advisory work relating to Madrid filings. The firm is often noted as a pioneer in the practice of GIs as well as for its niche
experience in handling multitude of Indian and foreign GIs.

• Trademarks and related aspects Clothing, footwear, food & beverages, consumer goods, pharma, engineering &
  technology, entertainment, sports, art
• Copyrights K&S advises clients on advisory, transactional and enforcement issues relating to copyright. The firm has been assisting clients on copyright issues in the areas of software, motion pictures, literary and artistic works, photographs and musical works, both in the physical and digital contexts. The firm also has experience in advising clients on copyright issues relating to social media networks.
• Niche practice – GI: both foreign and Indian GIs, such as Scotch Whisky, Champagne, Darjeeling Tea and Basmati Rice, to name a few.
• Tech frauds: Combating tech frauds through criminal action by collaborating with Indian and international investigation and enforcement agencies and the police.

3) Litigation, Advisory & Transactional Work

K&S has a strong litigation practice with highly experienced litigators equipped to handle all aspects of enforcement of IP rights through civil and criminal proceedings as well as border enforcement measures. The firm represents both domestic and international clients across all sectors of business and has been involved in landmark precedent setting cases in the areas of intellectual property law. Our patent litigators have technical qualifications – giving them an edge in complex patent litigation.

The team also regularly deals with enforcement agencies and is known among clients for its capabilities in internet monitoring, investigations and surveys, actions against cyber frauds by filing complaints with cyber cells, actions against online counterfeiters, conducting raids, negotiations in plea bargaining proceedings and obtaining successful judicial convictions.

Our affiliation with one of the largest corporate commercial firms in India, J. Sagar Associates (JSA), enables us to provide comprehensive IP strategy with regard to the transactional elements impacting protection, enforcement, and commercialization of intellectual property.

K&S is also well recognised in handling variety of IP transactional matters involving drafting agreements of all kinds including due diligence, licensing, assignment, and related services.

IP Policy and drafting of Legislation

Besides serving clients, K&S is recognized for its outreach in areas of policy making and active participation in and contribution to drafting of legislation in various areas of Intellectual Property Rights.  Through our various initiatives and co-operations with the Government as well as key Industry Chambers of India, we also regularly contribute towards raising IP awareness.

IP Service Portfolio & USP

• Clientele & portfolio: K&S Partners has a wide array of clients in industry sectors such as engineering, life sciences, chemistry, electronics, software, food and beverages, FMCG, pharma, entertainment industry, art, clothing, footwear etc. The firm is known for its partner-led service delivery and portfolio focus. On the patent side, the firm is uniquely placed with its wide range of domain expertise.
• Absolute meritocracy: K&S Partners believes in absolute meritocracy and has no glass ceilings when it comes to professional growth of its members. This is reinforced by the fact that there is absolutely no family participation in the management of the Firm. Our unique structure empowers and nurtures personal and professional growth of our people. Our partnership model is based on trusteeship and not ownership and is based on professionalism and collegiality. In K&S Partners, talent, merit, and genius matter and not genes and lineage.
• Diverse and strong technical expertise: The firm has been a trailblazer in building its patent practice to handle emerging complex technologies ranging from stem cell therapy to artificial intelligence and business analytics. The firm is future-ready to handle the dynamics of innovations around the world.
• Niche area expertise: GIs and border enforcement of intellectual property rights are two such areas where we not only represent the crème de la crème of clients in India and abroad.
• Service delivery: We are paperless and are constantly upgrading to be digitally equipped both in terms of internal processes as well as service delivery.

Our Values

At K&S, we choose the following five values as our “core” values because each one of us shares and believes in these values. These five core values are close to our hearts and bind us together as an institution. Each one of us in K&S Partners lives these values in our pursuit of excellence.

• Client First – We recognize that we exist because of our clients; we strive to serve them beyond their expectations.
• Learning Organization – We value intellect and knowledge; we recognize that continuous learning is a key to the growth of our people and organization.
• Integrity – We are honest, fair and ethical in and accountable for all our actions; we do what we say. Our people are our biggest assets; we treat our people with respect and dignity, providing them with opportunities and a congenial environment to fulfil their aspirations.
• People Care – Our people are our biggest assets; we treat our people with respect and dignity, providing them opportunities and congenial environment to fulfil their aspirations.
• Socially Responsible – We recognize our responsibility to contribute and give back to society and protect the environment.

New Technology Areas

K&S Partners is the pioneer in India in building a practice focused on specific technology and science disciplines. Some of the significant areas of technology where the firm has dedicated resources include Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals, Crystallography, Molecular Biology, Immunology, Plant Genetics, Plant, Natural Products, Molecular Science, Organic Chemistry, Polymer Technology, Nanotechnology, Mechanical Engineering, Software, Information Technology, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Semiconductors, Telecommunications and Integrated Circuits. The firm handles all aspects of prosecution, litigation, advisory and transactional work relating to these areas. State-of-the-art Infrastructure

K&S relies heavily on technology and with expanding businesses across locations in India and abroad, we have strong web security mechanisms and document management systems. Constant upgradation of our technology-based infrastructure coupled with quality assurance checks at various stages help us manage our practice efficiently.

Learning organization
K&S invests heavily in learning and development of its professional as well as support staff.  Professional trainings in the areas of substantive skills as well as leadership and soft skills are a routine in the Firm.

Expansion of IP Practice Areas:
We have expanded our practice areas into Digital Law and Patent & Design Valuation to cater to the evolving needs of our clients to ensure that they receive all IP- supporting services within one roof. Within existing patent practices, we have increased focus on emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and biotechnology, ensuring that we remain at the forefront of cutting-edge IP issues.

CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)
One of the core values of K&S Partners is being “Socially Responsible”. Being socially responsible to us means that people and the organization must behave ethically and with sensitivity towards social, cultural, economic and environmental issues and contribute our resources – financial, time, effort and energy – towards the betterment of the community and society.

Journey of the institute to emerge as an innovation and IP driven organization The pre 1990s era had non-existent opportunities in a closed and inward-looking economy. The handful of law firms that existed mostly as relics of the British Raj were all family-controlled​ sole proprietorships with litigation-oriented practices. ​ Intellectual Property (IP) law practice was essentially post box practice focused on simplistic prosecution work. With the economic liberalization in 1991, winds of change started. FDI controls shrunk, and newer growth sectors emerged. India’s accession to the World Trade Organization followed in 1995 and IP started assuming greater importance. Fortuitous confluence of circumstances brought Mr. Jyoti Sagar together with three other founders, and Kumaran & Sagar (now K&S Partners) was born in September 1994 as a boutique IP law firm. The Firm was founded as an antithesis to the then existing law firms with frozen partnerships and family managed structures.

Achievements/Success Stories

• Successfully challenged and cancelled the ‘Turmeric’ and ‘Basmati’ patents in the US on behalf of the Government of India.
• Protection and enforcement of the rights in ‘Basmati’ and ‘Darjeeling GIs’ in India and around the world.
• Represented the winning parties in the path-breaking judgements of Myspace Inc. Super Cassettes India and Microfibers v. Girdhar
• The firm and its attorneys are consistently ranked and recognized as top-tier in various rankings and surveys conducted by publications.