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K&S

Organisation’s Information

Founded in September 1994 as a four-member firm, K&S has established itself as a top tier IP law firm in India. With more than 110 professionals and staff of 140 spread over six offices (Gurgaon, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi) across the country, K&S handles the entire spectrum of IP rights including patents, designs, trademarks, copyright, geographical indications, plant varieties, trade secrets and related matters.

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 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.

K&S Partners also 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. K&S Partners also 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 law firm providing advice on complex matters to 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 business.

 

State of the art Infrastructure

We rely 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 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.

 

IPs facilitated by the organisation

 

• Patents, Designs & Plant Varieties
  • Biodiversity; Contractual and Commercial IP

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

 

• Trade Marks, 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 trade mark 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 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

Prosecution, advisory and transactional work in copyright involving authors, artists and production houses

• Niche practice
  1. GI: both foreign and Indian GIs, such as Scotch Whisky, Champagne, Darjeeling and Basmati, to name a few
  2. Tech frauds: Combating tech frauds through criminal action by collaborating with Indian and international investigation and enforcement agencies and the police

• Litigation, Advisory & Transactional Work
  • Dispute resolution

 

The firm 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 firm in India, JSA, enables us to provide comprehensive IP strategy with regard to transactional elements impacting protection, enforcement, and commercialisation of intellectual property.

K&S Partners 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 trail-blazer 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.

 

Journey of the institute to emerge as an innovation and IP driven organisation

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.