Practices · Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property Counsel, From First Idea to Enforced Asset

LawCrust runs the full IP value lifecycle: patent and trademark filing and prosecution, copyright and trade-secret programmes, design protection, IP contracts and licensing, portfolio management at managed-service scale, IP due diligence on transactions, and enforcement from cease-and-desist through High Court infringement actions. We treat IP as a balance-sheet asset, not a registration certificate: what you own, what it is worth, what it earns, and what it costs to lose. One desk from creation to commercialisation to courtroom, with AI-era questions, training data, AI-generated works, deepfake and personality rights, handled as core work, not novelties.

Map Your IP Assets How we engage Delivered via Counsel ALSP LPO

Scope of Work

What We Deliver Under Intellectual Property.

The named, recurring work an enterprise client engages us for in this practice. Adjacent matters are common, scoped on the call.

IP strategy and asset mapping: ownership audit, protection-gap analysis, filing prioritisation across jurisdictions, and budget-mapped protection plans
Patents: searches and opinions, drafting, prosecution, PCT filings and national-phase entries, oppositions, and software and AI inventions under the CRI Guidelines 2025
Trademarks and brand protection: clearance, filing and prosecution, oppositions and rectifications, Madrid Protocol, watch services, trade dress, and domain and marketplace enforcement
Copyright, designs, and content: registration, licensing, and the design-copyright overlap that decides fashion, packaging, and consumer-goods disputes
Trade secrets: identification, access controls, employment and vendor confidentiality architecture, exit protocols, and misappropriation response
IP contracts and licensing: assignments and work-for-hire deeds, licensing and franchising, technology transfer, and royalty structures, with our Commercial Contracts desk
AI, data, and personality rights: training-data provenance, output ownership, AI clauses, and protection of name, voice, and likeness against deepfakes
Transactions and monetisation: IP due diligence on M&A and funding rounds, chain-of-title repair, holding-structure advice, and portfolio sale or licensing
Enforcement and disputes: graduated response from takedown through infringement suits, interim injunctions, John Doe orders, and civil search-and-seizure before the High Court IP Divisions, via panel advocates

How we compare

The Difference Is the Operating Model, Not Just the Price.

Variable	Specialist IP houses	Low-cost filing platforms	Generic law firms	The LawCrust way
Buyer fit	Built for marquee litigation and high-volume multinational filings.	Forms and filings, no strategy or enforcement depth.	IP as an occasional add-on.	Mid-market enterprises, founders, and brands treating IP as an asset, at proportionate cost.
Business integration	IP in isolation from deals and contracts.	None.	Weak IP-specific depth.	IP wired into contracts, M&A diligence, funding readiness, and licensing through one group.
Portfolio operations	Premium docketing pricing.	Registration-only, renewals missed.	Not built for volume.	Managed docketing, watch, and renewal desk on LPO/ALSP infrastructure with SLAs.
AI-era issues	Emerging coverage.	Not covered.	Not covered.	AI training-data, AI-generated-work, and personality-rights counsel as standing capability.
Enforcement economics	High-cost litigation model.	No enforcement.	Fragmented advocate hand-offs.	Graduated enforcement via panel advocates, with FundMyCase finance on qualified matters.
Cross-border	Strong but premium.	Domestic only.	Ad-hoc.	India-side execution with PCT/Madrid routes and local-qualified counsel abroad.

Who it's for

The Buyer Profile.

Technology and SaaS companies; consumer brands and D2C businesses; pharma, manufacturing, and engineering groups; founders and creators; foreign companies protecting IP in India; M&A acquirers and investors; and US and UK law firms and in-house teams using the managed docketing desk.

Regulators & Frameworks

Bodies and frameworks we operate under.

Indian Patent Office
Trade Marks Registry
Copyright Office
High Court IP Divisions
PCT / Madrid Protocol
Customs IPR

Technology & SaaS Companies

Software and AI patent strategy under the CRI framework, source-code trade-secret programmes, open-source compliance, and IP clauses in every customer and vendor contract.
Consumer Brands & D2C Businesses

Trademark strategy and prosecution, trade dress, marketplace and domain enforcement, anti-counterfeiting, and franchise-ready brand architecture.
Pharma, Manufacturing & Engineering Groups

Patent portfolios, process and design protection, employee-inventor frameworks, and licensing.
Founders & Creators

First-time IP done right: founder assignments, brand clearance before launch, and content and personality-rights protection in the deepfake era.
Foreign Companies Protecting IP in India

India filings and enforcement for overseas rights holders, including customs recordals and marketplace takedowns.
M&A Acquirers & Investors

Target-IP diligence, ownership-chain verification, and the IP representations and indemnities behind every technology deal.
Law Firms & In-House Teams (LPO)

Managed docketing, watch services, and prosecution support for US and UK buyers on ISO-certified infrastructure.

The framework

The IP Asset Value Framework: Six Lenses Before Anything Is Filed.

01 · Ownership

Chain of title: assignments, work-for-hire, founder and contractor IP, and the gaps that surface in diligence.

02 · Protection Coverage

What is registered, where, in which classes and jurisdictions, and what the business actually uses versus what it has protected.

03 · Contractual Control

How IP moves through your contracts: employment clauses, NDAs, licences, and vendor and technology agreements.

04 · Secrecy & Security

Trade-secret programmes, access controls, and confidentiality architecture for what should never be registered at all.

05 · Enforcement Readiness

Evidence trails, use records, watch services, and the pre-positioned record that makes an infringement action fast instead of forensic.

06 · Monetisation Potential

Licensing, franchising, and transaction value: what the portfolio could earn, and what it adds to enterprise valuation and funding readiness.

Critical areas

Where IP Value Leaks.

The assignment that never happened

Founders, employees, and contractors create IP the company never formally owns. It surfaces in funding or exit diligence and prices itself into the deal. We audit and repair chain of title before someone else finds the gap.

The brand built before the search

Years of brand equity invested in a mark that was never cleared, then a conflict notice arrives. Clearance before adoption costs a fraction of rebranding after.

The renewal nobody owned

Portfolios lapse quietly on missed deadlines, and marks without use records are vulnerable to non-use cancellation. Docketing with SLAs exists because calendar failure is the cheapest way to lose an asset.

Trade secrets with no programme

Confidential information claimed after the employee leaves, without access controls or contracts to prove it was ever treated as secret. Courts protect programmes, not intentions.

Licences that leak

Field, territory, exclusivity, sublicensing, and improvement clauses drafted loosely transfer more than intended. We draft licences that keep what you meant to keep.

The design-copyright trap

Copyright in an industrially applied artistic work can cease once reproduced beyond the statutory threshold, a rule reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in 2025. We choose the right regime before production, not after.

AI questions answered by default

Training data ingested without provenance, AI-generated assets with unresolved authorship, and contracts silent on AI outputs. With the fair-dealing question pending before the Delhi High Court and no text-and-data-mining exception in Indian law, silence is the riskiest position.

Enforcement without readiness

The infringement action that stalls while evidence is reconstructed. Pre-positioned records, watch services, and a graduated response plan make relief fast, and Indian courts now move quickly.

Engagement & retainer models

Structured, Scoped Models Instead of Open-Ended Hourly Billing.

IP Strategy Counsel

Framework assessment, asset mapping, and protection planning.

Filing & Prosecution Desk

Patents, marks, and designs via Counsel and Vetted productized routes.

Managed Portfolio Desk (LPO/ALSP)

Docketing, renewals, watch services, and quarterly reviews, typically for 50+ asset portfolios.

Brand Protection & Enforcement Desk

Graduated enforcement from takedown to High Court action, with FundMyCase available on qualified matters.

Technology & AI IP Desk

Software/AI patents, trade-secret programmes, and AI-era contract terms.

Transaction IP Desk

Diligence, chain-of-title repair, and deal support with our M&A practice.

How we engage

From Scoping Call to First Deliverable.

01

Scoping call

A 45-minute conversation to understand your matter, jurisdictions, and operating cadence. Initial calls are nominal.
02

Engagement letter

Scope, fees, escalation paths, and SLAs in writing within 2-5 business days.
03

Onboarding

Secure document handover, system access, named counsel allocated.
04

Delivery & reviews

Filing and prosecution milestones tracked against office-action calendars; docketing SLAs on managed portfolios; quarterly portfolio reviews on retainers.

Procurement-ready

Built to Clear Your Procurement Desk.

Committed response standard

Urgent matters, opposition deadlines, injunction windows, and takedown escalations acknowledged within 2 hours via tech-driven intake.

Confidentiality & conflicts

Formal conflict checks before onboarding; executed NDAs/DPAs before substantive work.

Security & compliance

ISO-certified, DPDP/GDPR-aligned systems on the LPO and ALSP desks; vendor, KYC, and audit documentation on request.

Delivery model

Strategy, prosecution, and portfolio operations delivered by LawCrust; High Court and tribunal advocacy through panel advocates under our oversight, BCI-compliant; productized filings via Vetted; litigation finance via FundMyCase on qualified enforcement matters.

Intellectual Property, Frequently Asked

Questions buyers ask before engaging.

Do you file Indian patents and PCT applications?

Yes. Patentability searches and opinions, drafting, prosecution before the Indian Patent Office, PCT filings and national-phase entries, and oppositions, including software and AI-related inventions under the CRI framework and compliance under the amended 2025 rules.

Can you run a trademark or patent portfolio as a managed service?

Yes. The Managed Portfolio Desk covers docketing, renewal calendars, opposition tracking, watch services, and quarterly reviews on LPO infrastructure with SLAs, typically for portfolios of 50+ assets, for corporates and for US/UK law-firm buyers.

What is the IP Asset Value Framework?

A structured six-lens assessment, ownership, protection coverage, contractual control, secrecy, enforcement readiness, and monetisation potential, applied at the start of every mandate to produce a written asset map and prioritised plan before anything is filed.

Do you litigate IP infringement?

Yes. Graduated enforcement from cease-and-desist and marketplace takedowns through opposition and cancellation to infringement suits, interim injunctions, John Doe orders, and civil search-and-seizure before the High Court IP Divisions, delivered through panel advocates under our oversight. Qualified enforcement matters can be financed through FundMyCase.

Can you handle AI-related IP questions?

Yes, as standing capability: training-data provenance and licensing posture, ownership of AI-generated works, AI clauses in product and vendor contracts, and personality, voice, and likeness protection against deepfakes, an area where courts now grant trademark-style relief.

Do you support IP in M&A and funding rounds?

Yes. Target-IP diligence, chain-of-title verification and repair, IP representations and indemnities, and portfolio presentation for investor diligence, coordinated with our M&A practice.

Can foreign companies use you to protect IP in India?

Yes. India filings, prosecution, customs recordals, marketplace enforcement, and litigation coordination for overseas rights holders, working alongside home-jurisdiction counsel.

General questions on engagement, security, and procurement live on the FAQ page.

Related Practices

Buyers of Intellectual Property Often Also Engage On.

Commercial Contracts

CounselALSPLPO

Drafting, redlining, negotiation, abstraction, and obligation tracking across MSAs, NDAs, SaaS and technology contracts, distribution and channel-partner agreements, vendor and supply-chain documentation, and cross-border frameworks, with DPDP-compliant data clauses. Delivered bespoke, productized through Vetted, or as a managed CLM, with Legal Protect 360 cover for contract-related legal risk.

Mergers & Acquisitions

CounselALSPLPO

Buy-side and sell-side M&A across India, the UAE, the USA, and global corridors. Deal structuring, legal due diligence, SPA/SSA/SHA documentation, regulatory approvals (CCI, FEMA, NCLT, SEBI), earn-out and indemnity structuring, distressed and IBC acquisitions, and 100-day post-merger integration. Strategic parent-group deal advisory is delivered by group brand Solvencis.

Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT)

CounselALSP

Sector-specific advisory for tech, SaaS, e-commerce, fintech, ed-tech, OTT, and telecom, IT Act compliance, intermediary safe-harbour, content regulation, telecom licensing, and the regulatory layer that intersects with data, IP, and consumer protection.

Data Protection & Privacy

CounselALSP

India DPDP Act, EU GDPR, UK GDPR, and sector frameworks (HIPAA, PCI-DSS where in scope). Data-protection-impact assessments, DPA negotiation, cross-border transfer mechanisms (SCCs / DPDP equivalents), and incident-response playbooks.

No fees to talk · reply within one business day

Tell Us What Your Business Needs. We'll Call You Back

Share a line or two about your matter, a counsel from the Intellectual Property desk reviews it and calls you back. Confidential, and there is no charge for this conversation.

Bring Us the Intellectual Property Matter.

First conversation is nominal. Engagement letter in 2-5 business days. NDAs / DPAs returned within two business days.

Map Your IP Assets → inquiry@lawcrust.com