For foreign counsel

Your associate in India.

IP firms around the world instruct us to handle their clients' filings, prosecution and disputes in India and across the subcontinent. This page sets out how that works in practice.

Acting as your associate

When a firm abroad instructs us, the client relationship stays where it belongs — with you. We act on your instructions, report to you, and work to your format. Your client sees your name on the advice.

Most of our instructing firms came to us through the international associations we belong to, or through a colleague's recommendation. Those relationships tend to last, which is why we would rather explain how we work than describe ourselves.

How we work with instructing firms

Instructions and reporting
We confirm receipt, flag anything that looks off before acting, and report in the form you ask for. If your docketing system needs particular fields or reference numbers, tell us once and we will use them.
Deadlines
Indian deadlines are unforgiving — several cannot be extended at all. We diarise against the official record rather than the instruction, and we tell you well before a date falls, not on it.
Conflicts and confidentiality
We run a conflict check before accepting instructions and will say so plainly if we cannot act. Client information stays with the people working on the matter.
Who does the work
The person who reports to you is the person handling the matter. Patent work is done by attorneys qualified in the relevant technical field, not passed to a general pool.
Working across time zones
Our hours are Indian Standard Time, which overlaps the European working day and the early morning in North America. Urgent matters are answered outside those hours when a deadline requires it.
Language
Filings, prosecution and litigation in India are conducted in English, so nothing needs translating for you to follow a file or read a judgment.

What we usually need to act

Requirements vary by right and by matter, and we will confirm what applies to yours. In most cases it is a short list.

A power of attorney, simply signed — Indian practice does not require notarisation or legalisation.
The applicant's full name, address and legal status as they should appear on the register.
For a convention filing, the priority details and a certified copy of the priority application.
For a trademark, the mark as it is to be filed, the goods or services, and details of use if any.
For a patent, the specification as filed, the inventors' details, and the corresponding applications filed elsewhere.

Where we learn, contribute and meet people

We are members of the leading international IP associations, and we take part rather than simply subscribe — sitting on committees, speaking, and meeting colleagues at the annual meetings. A good deal of what we know about practice outside India came from those rooms, and so did most of the firms we work with.