Saikrishna & Associates

We are pleased to share that Saikrishna & Associates has been recognised as a Tier 1 firm for Intellectual Property and Highly Recommended for Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai in the Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific Rankings 2026. https://lnkd.in/gwDtgXnS #BenchmarkLitigation #Litigation #IntellectualProperty #Rankings

Last week, we shared highlights from our flagship conference, “𝗡𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗚𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗬 𝟰.𝟬.”, celebrating 25 years of the Firm. As promised, we begin our session-wise recap focusing on the panel - 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗘𝗿𝗮. The big question - ‘𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙩 21𝙨𝙩-𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 20𝙩𝙝-𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙮 "𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙧" 𝙡𝙖𝙬?’ The 𝟱 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 from the discussion: 𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 "𝗕𝘂𝘁-𝗙𝗼𝗿" 𝘃𝘀. "𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆" 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁  • Under Section 2(d)(vi) of the Indian Copyright Act, the author is the person who "causes" the work to be created.  • ⁠But-for the human prompt, would the work exist? If the prompt is too basic, is the output "reasonably foreseeable"?   • ⁠In law, legal causation is about remoteness. If the AI does the "heavy lifting" of creativity, the human might just be a bystander, not an author. 𝟮. 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲  • Our laws are built on human intellect. They do not recognize "machine intellect." Until the statutes change, the "creative spark" must be traceable back to a biological source to gain protection. 𝟯. 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝘀. 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆  • AI thrives on prediction and patterns. But human art and invention often gains recognition because it breaks the pattern.  • The audience is unforgiving. Over-reliance on AI risks flooding the market with "mediocre" outputs.  • ⁠True artistry remains the "something different" that a pattern-matching algorithm can't yet simulate. 𝟰. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅  • In Patent law, we look at who "conceived" the idea and who "reduced it to practice."  • ⁠If an AI agent does both autonomously, we face an "inventorship vacuum." Without a named human inventor, high-value AI discoveries could fall straight into the public domain. 𝟱. 𝗔 "𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗯𝗮𝗶𝘁" 𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗦𝘂𝗶 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗺𝗲?  • We need a new category, whether it’s in the form of Neighbouring Rights (similar to how we protected performers and broadcasters) or Sui Generis Safe Harbors (protecting the digital agents that drive our workflows).  • An alternate idea is to confer a form of juristic personhood by treating AI like a "perpetual minor" with a human manager (Shebait) to handle the IP. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲: An engineer’s incentive is to solve a problem; an artist’s is to disseminate art. They don’t create for the IP, but IP is the engine that allows them to survive while doing it. We thank our speakers Adarsh Ramanujan, FCIArb, Sai Shravanam, Charu Miglani Grover and Akshat Agrawal, and our moderator Sneha Jain for their insightful thoughts. #AI #IntellectualProperty #Law #IndiaTechLaw

25 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 To mark a quarter-century of practice, Saikrishna & Associates was proud to host its flagship conference, "𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐘 4.0: 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄, & 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐈 𝐈𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐀," on 25th April 2026. The conference brought together judicial luminaries, policy experts, and industry leaders to dissect the legal architecture of the AI era. The compelling Keynote Address by 𝐇𝐨𝐧'𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐫. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐒. 𝐑𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚 𝐁𝐡𝐚𝐭 (𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐝.), 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 set the tone for the riveting discussions on AI governance that followed. The 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐀.𝐈. 𝐄𝐫𝐚 by 𝐇𝐨𝐧'𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐫𝐬. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐚 𝐌. 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡 (𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞, 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐡𝐢 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭) shared vital insights into the evolving legal landscape of AI ownership. The 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐭 between 𝐇𝐨𝐧'𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐫. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐦𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧 (𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞, 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐧'𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐫. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐚𝐮𝐥 (𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐝.), 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 on “𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐈 & 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐬”” provided a valuable roadmap on the issue. The Conference had four Sessions:   a) 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 1 - 𝐀𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐰: 𝐀 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 moderated by 𝐇𝐨𝐧'𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐫. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐃𝐫. 𝐒. 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐫 (𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐝.), featuring Prof. Arul George Scaria, Ms. Meghna Bal, Mr. Sidharth Chopra, and Mr. Akshat Agrawal. b) 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 2 - 𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: Moderated by Ms. Sneha Jain, with panellists Mr. Adarsh Ramanujan, FCIArb, Mr. Sai Shravanam, Mr. Eashan Ghosh, Ms. Charu Miglani Grover, and Mr. Akshat Agrawal. c) 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 3 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤: 𝐀 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬 moderated by Mr. Devvrat Joshi, featuring Mr. Chander Lall, Mr. Gaurav Pachnanda SA, Ms. Kavitha KK, Mr. Kazim Rizvi, and Prof. Nikhil N. d) 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 4 - 𝐀𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Moderated by Ms. Suvarna Mandal, featuring Ms. Vrinda Bhandari, Mr. Rakesh Maheshwari, and Mr. Nikhil Pahwa. We extend our deepest gratitude to our speakers and guests for making this flagship event a resounding success. Stay tuned to our page over the coming week as we share a session-by-session breakdown of critical takeaways from each panel. We will also be releasing a detailed Event Report. #SaikrishnaAt25 #Industry40 #AIInIndia #WorldIPDay #LegalInnovation #SupremeCourtOfIndia #DataPrivacy #IPLaw

We are delighted to share that Saikrishna & Associates has been recognised as a Tier 1 firm for Intellectual Property by Media Law International. https://lnkd.in/dXsWtmbH #𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐤𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐧𝐚&𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 #𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐚𝐰 #𝐓𝐌𝐓𝐋𝐚𝐰 #𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐋𝐚𝐰

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞: 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 "A SYMPHONY OF DISCORDANT NOTES NAVIGATING EVOLVING TECHNOLOGIES, COPYRIGHT LAW, AND AGE-OLD INDIAN MUSIC" at India International Centre. We regret to inform you that due to unavoidable circumstances, we are unable to proceed with the Event scheduled for 27th April, 2026. We are actively working on next steps and will provide a formal update regarding rescheduling. Please keep an eye on our LinkedIn page for information regarding new date for the event. Thank you for your continued support and understanding.

Save the Date: A Masterclass in IP & Music Law. What happens when generative technology meets age-old musical traditions? We’re diving deep into the legal "discord" created by the digital revolution. Saikrishna & Associates is delighted to host to a special session at the India International Centre featuring a stellar lineup of speakers featuring Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Mr. Ameet Datta, Mr. Neel Mason, and Mr. Adarsh Ramanujan. Come and be a part of the conversation as we navigate the future of copyright in India. Venue: Conference Room 1, Indian International Centre

We’re excited to share that Saikrishna & Associates will be attending the INTA Annual Meeting in London! Representing the firm will be Partners Pushpam Jha, Surya Kumar P. and Gaurang Gautam, along with Senior Associate Ritika Sharma. If you’re attending, we’d love to schedule a conversation!

We are proud to share that our Managing Partner, Saikrishna Rajagopal and Partner (Practice Lead – IP Prosecution), Pushpam Jha, have been included in the IBLJ A-List 2026. Adding to this milestone, Saikrishna Rajagopal has also been recognised as an IBLJ ICON, a distinction that celebrates consistent excellence, leadership, and long-term impact in the legal profession. These recognitions reflect not only individual achievement, but also the collective strength of our IP practice—built on technical rigour, commercial insight, and a deep commitment to client success. Congratulations to both on this well-deserved recognition. We thank our clients, colleagues, and peers for their continued trust and support. #IBLJAList2026 #IBLJICON #IPLaw #IPProsecution #Leadership #LegalExcellence #Saikrishna&Associates

We are happy to share that Surya Kumar P., Partner at Saikrishna & Associates, has been featured in the list of India's Future Legal Leaders 2026 published by India Business Law Journal. This recognition reflects his client-first approach, focus on business friendly advice and continued contribution to the legal profession. We congratulate Surya on this well-deserved honour.

Day 5 of our DPDP Act and Rules - QuickGuide Series focuses on Consent Managers - their registration framework, obligations, and compliance requirements under the Act and Rules. This guide highlights: • Who is a Consent Manager - A registered entity acting as a single point of contact for Data Principals to give, manage, review, and withdraw consent through an accessible, transparent, and interoperable platform. • Registration Requirements - Mandatory registration with the Data Protection Board; applications assessed against conditions in the First Schedule, including technical, operational, and financial capacity, minimum ₹2 crore net worth, and conflict-of-interest safeguards. • Obligations – – Maintain an interoperable platform consistent with the Board’s standards, – Keep records of notices, consents, withdrawals, and data sharing for at least 7 years, – Ensure personal data shared via the platform is not readable by it, – Act in a fiduciary capacity toward the Data Principal, – Avoid conflicts of interest with Data Fiduciaries, – Take reasonable security safeguards, and – Provide grievance redressal mechanisms and publish responses within 90 days. • Board Oversight - The Board may inquire into non-adherence, require corrective measures, and suspend or cancel registration in the interest of Data Principals. For businesses, the Consent Manager model reinforces the need for transparent consent operations, interoperability, and strong governance standards, especially for organisations engaging third-party consent platforms. Part 5 is now live. Suvarna Mandal Saloni Neema Aikansh Jain #DPDPAct #ConsentManager #PrivacyCompliance #DataProtection #SaikrishnaAssociates #IndiaDataProtection #DigitalGovernance #DPDPRules