1. Dr. Malathi Lakshmikumaran, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan


Photo courtesy: Global Intellectual Property Convention

https://www.iprconference.com/gipc/2019/speaker-detail/MalathiLakshmikumaran-93

Dr Malathi Lakshmikumaran is a Director and Practice Head of Lakshmikumaran and Shridharan, a well known IP firm in India. She is an accomplished professional who has a Doctrate in Biochemistry,is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (FNASc) and a registered Patent agent in India. She has won many awards and accolades during her professional career. She has been listed as Patent Leaders in WIPR 2017 for Patents, is recipient of the National Young Women Scientist Award by Department of Biotechnology in March 2000, was recognized as Individual Expert in Patent Prosecution in IAM PATENT 1000 for the years 2016 and 2017, was recognized as Top Women Entrepreneur, recipient of National Science talent scholarship, and is the recipient of the prestigious Fogarty Visiting Research Associate ship from National Institute of Health, Bethesda, USA.

Prior to joining her current firm, she searves as Hed, Centre for Bioresource and Biotechnology Division in The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI). She has over 30 years of experience in biochemistry and molecular biology with plant genomics, DNA fingerprinting and genetic transformation expertise. In the area of Plant Molecular Biology, she has successfully supervised several PhD students and published more than 100 publications in Indian newspapers and a number of International newspapers as well.

Dr Malathi also does extensive work for Start-ups and Incubates in C-CAMP and IIT Delhi by giving them advice on Patents and Freedom to operate opinions. She is a registered patent agent and she actively participates in the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent applications both in India and abroad. Her main work involves patent applications in biotechnology, pharmaceutical and chemical. She gives clients advice on how to protect and register plant varieties as well as Biodiversity and Traditional knowledge.

2. Pratibha Singh, Singh & Singh


Photo courtesy: https://barandbench.com/missing-women-scientific-research-justice-prathi...

Justice Prathiba M. Singh was elevated to the bench as a permanent Judge of the High Court of Delhi on May 15, 2017. Before then, she has 20+ years of experience practicing as an Intellectual Property litigator and a managing partner of Singh & Singh law firm until 2013.
Over the years, she has been one of the top lawyers in intellectual property rights (IPR) and won one landmark patent case involving a life-saving drug case of Cipla against Novartis. Other cases that she handled during her practice involved internet laws, patents, copyright, plant varieties, designs, and trademarks. In at least three matters relating to IP laws and administration, she was appointed as amicus curiae to assist courts and was appointed by the Delhi High Court as a Senior Advocate in December 2013.

She conducted her law studies at University Law College, Bangalore where she graduated as the first rank holder which earned her the ODASSS scholarship by the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust to study for her LL.M. at Cambridge University, UK. As a member of India's IPR Think Tank, Justice Singh also helped draft India's first National IPR Policy.

She enrolled with the Bar in 1991 and during her practice she was invited as an expert to present views on amendments to the Patents Act, the Copyright Amendment Act and the Geographical Indications Act to the Parliamentary Committees.

3. Vinita Radhakrishnan, BananaIP

Photo courtesy: https://www.bananaip.com/vinita-radhakrishnan/
Vinita Radhakrishnan is a Senior Partner at BananaIP (BIP) Counsels, a leading IP firm in India, with fifteen years of experience in the field of Patent Law in the Life Sciences Sector. She heads the company's pharmaceutical, biotechnology and chemistry practice and is one of the few patent attorneys in India holding specialized Masters degree in both Intellectual Property Law and Health Sciences.

She studied at Munich Intellectual Property Law Center, Germany where she graduated with an L.L.M in Intellectual Property degree and has also worked as a research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for IP and Innovation. Her understanding of the science and her vast experience and knowledge in Indian, US and European Patent Law makes her one of the most sought after Patent attorneys in the Country today. Her experience as an In-house IP counsel at a dedicated research firm has enabled her to provide high-end strategic IP advice to her cleints, in line with their Business goals.

She assists startups in designing their IP strategy to match their business goals and also provides probono services to women entrepreneurs. She is a registered patent agent with extensive experience in drafting, filing and prosecution. She also regularly provides IP due diligence and advisory services to VCs and investors.
She is the author of ‘Indian Patent Law and Practice’ published by Oxford University Press which is one of the most read Patent Law books in the country and has published several articles in the field of Patent Law and Life Sciences. As a visiting faculty, she teaches Patent Law at National Law School of India University, Bangalore and has been instrumental in training many Patent professionals during her career.

4. Jaya Murthy, Eaton India


Photo courtesy: http://ipskillssummit.com/team_member/dr-jaya-murthy/

Dr. Jaya Murthy is a manager at Eaton’s Intellectual Property Center of Excellence (IPCoE). She has over ten years of experience in IP. Her international experience in USA, UK, the Netherlands and India lies in creation, protection, management and monetization of IP. She has used her knowledge to create top notch IP and has applied the concepts in several situations.

She is a registered US Patent Agent with a PhD in Chemistry from University of Mumbai, and a Masters’ in Intellectual Property (IP) from University of New Hampshire, USA.

Some of the organizations she has worked for include University of Mumbai, University of California, Thomson Reuters, GE, Chevron and Law Firms.

She has published articles, been invited in seminars and workshops on intellectual property worldwide. Besides that, she has provided probono services to humanitarian-based agricultural technologies patent landscape projects for PIPRA (at UC-Davis), which assisted a member win a $3 million funding to improve the nutritional needs in sub-Sahara countries of Africa.

5. Chitra K Iyer, Philips

Photo courtesy: https://in.linkedin.com/in/chitra-iyer-3203674

Chitra Iyer is Head of Intellectual Property & Standards at Philips- India and has over 15 years of experience across Europe, ASEAN, ANZ and India in various leadership positions managing different teams. She is an expert in IP and Law and has worked in law firms including in-house practice.

Her specialization includes IP Licensing, IP due diligence, IP enforcement (litigation, civil, criminal matters), transactional matters including contract negotiation (commercial & R&D), and IP Strategy.
She has studied organic chemistry, holds a LLB degree from Bangalore University, Patent law diploma from NALSAR and courses from other institutions. She is a member of associations such as ICC, FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM and keenly gives her support to IP advocacy matters.

She has received recognition for her work for playing part in the evolving IP landscape in India in 2019: The first GIPC Award and the Legal Era Award “IP Star Woman of the Year”. Also, she has been listed among the "top 100 powerful women in law" by the World IP Forum.

Author's Bio: 

rahul