Intellectual Property 2026 Comparisons

Patent protection in India is governed by the Patents Act, 1970 and the Patents Rules, 2003, with the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 introducing significant procedural reforms. India is TRIPS-compliant but retains public health flexibilities. Judicial precedents from the Supreme Court and dedicated Intellectual Property Divisions across various High Courts constitute an important secondary source.

Patentable Subject Matter

Under Section 2(1)(j) of the Patents Act, 1970, an invention must be new, involve an inventive step, and be capable of industrial application. Novelty is assessed worldwide from the priority date.

Key Exclusions

Section 3(d) bars the patentability of the mere discovery of a new form of a known substance unless it demonstrates enhanced therapeutic efficacy – the basis for the Supreme Court ruling in Novartis AG v Union of India (2013). Section 3(k) excludes mathematical methods, business methods and computer programmes per se. Section 3(j) excludes plants and animals but permits micro-organisms. Section 3(p) excludes traditional knowledge, to prevent biopiracy.

Software and AI Inventions

The exclusion under Section 3(k) does not bar computer-implemented inventions. In Ferid Allani v Union of India and subsequent decisions, the Delhi High Court has held that inventions demonstrating a technical effect beyond the abstract algorithm may qualify for protection. The assessment is highly fact-specific.

Utility Models

India has no utility model or petty patent system. All patents are examined against the full inventive step threshold.

Competent Authority

Patent applications in India are examined and granted by the Indian Patent Office (IPO) under the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM), functioning under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

Filing and Examination

Patent protection may be sought through an ordinary application, convention application, PCT international application or PCT national phase application. Applicants may initially file a provisional specification and submit the complete specification within 12 months. After filing, applications are ordinarily published after 18 months, although early publication may be requested.

Substantive examination is initiated only upon filing a Request for Examination (RFE). For applications filed on or after 15 March 2024, the RFE must be filed within 31 months from the priority/filing date. The IPO then issues a First Examination Report (FER) identifying formal and substantive objections. The applicant must place the application in order for grant within the prescribed period, including responding to FER objections and attending hearings where required. Expedited examination is available for eligible applicants, including start-ups and certain Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applicants.

Opposition and Grant

Any person may file a pre-grant opposition after publication and before grant, while a post-grant opposition may be filed by an interested person within 12 months of grant.

Timelines, Costs and Representation

Patent grants typically take two to five years, depending on complexity, examination backlog and opposition proceedings. Official fees vary by applicant category, with start-ups, natural persons and small entities benefiting from significantly reduced fees. Foreign applicants generally appoint an Indian Patent Agent and provide an address for service in India, although representation is not mandatory for applicants acting through a valid local address.

Rights Conferred

Section 48 of the Patents Act, 1970 grants the patentee the exclusive right to prevent third parties from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the patented product, and equivalent rights in respect of process patents. Rights are strictly territorial.

Term

Under Section 53, every patent has a term of 20 years from the filing date. India does not provide patent term adjustment for prosecution delays, and has no supplementary protection certificates or term extensions.

Renewal

Renewal fees are payable from the third year, escalating annually. The 2024 Rules introduced a 10% discount for advance e-filed renewal payments covering at least four years. Non-payment results in the patent ceasing to have effect. Restoration may be applied for within 18 months of cessation under Section 60 if the failure was unintentional.

Working Requirement

Form 27 working statements now need only be filed once every three financial years under the 2024 Rules, and no longer require disclosure of revenue. False declarations or non-filing may attract penalties under Section 122 and are relevant to compulsory licensing proceedings.

Under the Patents Act, 1970, a patent application may be filed by the true and first inventor, an assignee, or the legal representative of a deceased entitled person. Ownership of employee inventions is governed primarily by contract; inventions created in the course of employment or using employer resources generally belong to the employer, although clear assignment provisions are advisable. India has no specific legislation governing university inventions; ownership is usually determined by institutional IP policies or research collaboration agreements.

Patent assignments, licences, mortgages and other interests must be in writing and duly executed. To ensure enforceability against third parties, such transactions should be recorded with the IPO within the prescribed period. While unrecorded licences may remain valid between the parties, registration is strongly recommended to protect rights against subsequent assignees, licensees and third parties.

Direct infringement occurs where, without authorisation, a person makes, uses, sells, offers for sale or imports a patented product, or uses a patented process and deals in products obtained directly from that process. India does not have a dedicated statutory regime for indirect or contributory infringement, although courts may impose liability on parties acting jointly to facilitate infringement under common law principles.

The scope of protection is determined primarily by the patent claims, construed purposively in light of the specification and drawings. Indian courts recognise both literal infringement and the doctrine of equivalents, under which infringement may be found where an accused product or process performs substantially the same function, in substantially the same way, to achieve substantially the same result, notwithstanding minor variations.

Key defences include:

• invalidity challenges, including lack of novelty, inventive step, patentable subject matter or sufficient disclosure;
• prior user rights, where the defendant was already using the invention before the patentee’s priority date;
• the Gillette defence, where the alleged infringing activity merely follows prior art teachings;
• the Bolar/research exemption, permitting use of patented inventions for research, experimentation and obtaining regulatory approvals;
• educational use exceptions;
• government use and public purpose exceptions;
• exhaustion of rights, permitting dealings in lawfully marketed patented products; and
• compulsory licensing provisions where statutory conditions are met.

In standard essential patent (SEP) disputes, Indian courts recognise FRAND-based defences and assess whether parties have acted as willing licensors or licensees. Courts have increasingly balanced patent enforcement with competition and public interest considerations, particularly in the telecommunications sector.

Jurisdiction and Enforcement Forums

Patent infringement and revocation actions are primarily heard by the Commercial Divisions of the High Courts, particularly the specialised Intellectual Property Divisions (IPDs) established by the Delhi, Madras and Calcutta High Courts. Following the abolition of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board in 2021, patent appeals and revocation proceedings are now adjudicated by the High Courts. The Delhi High Court’s IPD Rules and Patent Suit Rules have introduced streamlined procedures, technical expert assistance and robust case management.

Timelines and Validity Challenges

Patent disputes are governed by the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, which imposes strict procedural timelines. Interim applications are often heard within a few months, while complex infringement trials generally conclude within two to four years. Patent validity may be challenged through post-grant opposition, revocation petitions or counterclaims in infringement proceedings. The Supreme Court’s decision in Alloys Wobben v Yogesh Mehra clarified that parties cannot pursue parallel revocation proceedings and counterclaims simultaneously.

Interim Relief

Indian courts routinely grant interim injunctions where the patentee establishes a prima facie case, balance of convenience and irreparable harm. Ex parte injunctions, search-and-seizure orders, the appointment of local commissioners and evidence preservation measures are available in cases of urgency. In SEP disputes, courts have also developed innovative mechanisms such as interim security deposits in lieu of injunctions.

Remedies and Costs

Available remedies include interim and permanent injunctions, damages, accounts of profits, and the delivery-up, seizure and destruction of infringing goods. Indian courts have increasingly awarded substantial damages, including approximately USD29 million in Ericsson v Lava (2024) and over USD27 million in Communication Components Antenna v Mobi Antenna (2024). Under the Commercial Courts regime, successful parties may also recover reasonable attorneys’ fees, expert fees and litigation costs, reflecting a growing trend towards realistic cost awards.

Trade mark protection in India is governed primarily by the Trade Marks Act, 1999, the Trade Marks Rules, 2017, and the common law tort of passing off. India is also a member of the Paris Convention, the TRIPS Agreement and the Madrid Protocol.

The statutory definition of a trade mark is broad and covers:

• words;
• names;
• logos;
• labels;
• devices;
• signatures;
• numerals;
• letters;
• combinations of colours;
• shapes of goods;
• packaging; and
• other source-identifying features capable of distinguishing one trader’s goods or services from another’s.

Sound marks are registrable and have gained increasing commercial significance with the growth of digital and audio branding.

Indian courts have also afforded protection to trade dress, including packaging, colour combinations, product get-up and overall visual appearance where such elements function as indicators of origin. In 2025, India witnessed a significant smell mark application involving a rose-like fragrance on tyres by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, reflecting the expansion of sensory branding beyond traditional categories.

Unregistered trade marks are recognised and enforceable through passing off actions, allowing businesses to protect goodwill and reputation even in the absence of registration.

The primary requirement under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 is distinctiveness: the ability to distinguish one trader’s goods or services from those of another. India follows the classic spectrum from inherently strong marks (coined, arbitrary or suggestive) to weaker marks (descriptive, laudatory or generic).

Descriptive terms routinely face objections unless supported by evidence of acquired distinctiveness. India follows a hybrid approach recognising both prior registration and prior use – a prior user may defeat a subsequent registrant, making commercial use records legally significant.

Acquired Distinctiveness

Descriptive marks may become protectable once consumers exclusively associate them with a particular source. Evidence includes duration of use, advertising expenditure, consumer recognition, market share, and social media engagement.

Well-Known Marks

India expressly protects well-known trade marks. Indian courts have recognised trans-border reputation even without local commercial operations, acknowledging that global media, social platforms and streaming create international awareness. The Trade Marks Office maintains a formal list of well-known marks.

Registration is not mandatory, but provides statutory exclusivity, evidentiary presumptions and broader remedies. Passing off protects unregistered marks.

Procedure

Applications are filed under the Nice Classification; both single-class and multi-class applications are permitted. The process involves substantive examination, responses to objections, advertisement, opposition proceedings, and registration.

Timelines

Examination reports are typically issued within eight to 12 months, depending on the Trade Marks Office backlog. Unopposed applications may register within approximately 12–16 months. Opposition proceedings can substantially extend timelines. Expedited examination can produce reports within weeks.

Costs (Indicative)

Official fees are prescribed under the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 and are generally modest by international standards. Concessional fees are available for individuals, start-ups and small enterprises, while higher fees apply to other applicants.

A registration is valid for ten years from the date of application and is renewable indefinitely for successive ten-year periods. A six-month grace period permits late renewal upon the payment of a surcharge. A removed mark may be restored within one year.

Under Section 47 of the Patents Act, 1970, a mark may be removed on grounds of non-use for a continuous period of five years and three months. Genuine use is interpreted qualitatively; even limited use may suffice if it reflects a real commercial intention. Mere registration does not maintain indefinite rights absent active commercial exploitation.

Registration under Section 28(1) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 confers the exclusive right to use the mark in relation to registered goods or services, and to obtain relief under Section 29. Key defences include:

• descriptive fair use (Section 30(2)(a)) – indications regarding the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose or geographical origin in accordance with honest commercial practices;
• referential use (Section 30(2)(d)) – use to identify the registered proprietor’s goods or services;
• exhaustion (Sections 30(3) and 30(4)) – further dealings in genuine lawfully acquired goods do not constitute infringement unless goods are materially altered, as confirmed in Kapil Wadhwa v Samsung Electronics (2012);
• own name defence (Section 35) – honest use of one’s own name;
• prior user rights (Section 34) – a continuous prior user cannot be restrained, as affirmed in S. Syed Mohideen v P. Sulochana Bai (2016); and
• acquiescence (Section 33) – enforcement may be limited where the proprietor has knowingly acquiesced for five years.

Trade mark infringement in India is governed principally by Section 29 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. Infringement occurs where a registered trade mark, or a deceptively similar mark, is used without authorisation in relation to identical or similar goods or services, resulting in a likelihood of confusion, association or deception amongst consumers.

Dilution is recognised under Section 29(4) and protects reputed marks against use that takes unfair advantage of, or is detrimental to, their distinctive character or reputation, even in relation to dissimilar goods or services.

Passing off protects unregistered marks and requires proof of goodwill, misrepresentation and damage. The distinction between infringement and passing off was established by the Supreme Court in Kaviraj Pandit Durga Dutt Sharma v Navaratna Pharmaceutical Laboratories (1965), while Cadila Health Care Ltd. v Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (2001) remains the leading authority on consumer confusion.

Trade mark disputes are heard by Commercial Courts, District Courts and High Courts exercising commercial jurisdiction, with specialised IPDs established in certain High Courts.

India has evolved into a robust enforcement jurisdiction. Civil remedies include:

• interim and permanent injunctions;
• Anton Piller orders;
• Local Commissioner-led search and seizure operations;
• delivery-up and destruction of infringing goods;
• damages or account of profits; and
• dynamic injunctions against evolving online infringement and rogue websites.

Criminal remedies are available for counterfeiting and falsification of trade marks under Sections 103–105 of the Act. Courts have also shown an increasing willingness to award substantial damages, exemplified by the Delhi High Court’s award of approximately INR340 crore (USD39 million) in Lifestyle Equities CV v Amazon Technologies Inc. (2024), although the award is currently under appellate challenge.

In addition, rights holders may record registered trade marks with Customs under the Intellectual Property Rights (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007, enabling the detention and seizure of suspected counterfeit imports, as part of India’s active anti-counterfeiting regime.

Copyright protection in India is governed by the Copyright Act, 1957 (significantly amended in 2012) and the Copyright Rules, 2013. India is party to the Berne Convention, the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Protected Works

Under Section 13 of the Copyright Act, copyright subsists in original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, as well as cinematograph films and sound recordings. Software is expressly recognised as a literary work. Neighbouring rights protect performers and broadcasting organisations.

The 50-Copy Rule

Section 15 of the Copyright Act provides that copyright in an artistic work capable of being registered as a design ceases once the work is applied industrially to more than 50 articles. This provision generates substantial litigation in fashion, furniture, packaging and consumer goods, and was reaffirmed in Cryogas Equipment v Inox India (Supreme Court, 2025).

AI and Copyright

The Copyright Act does not expressly address AI-generated works or training datasets. The ongoing case of ANI Media Pvt Ltd v OpenAI Inc (2024) is India’s most significant AI copyright case. An Indian government expert panel is examining dedicated statutory provisions.

Copyright requires originality and a minimum degree of creativity, skill and judgment originating from the author. The “sweat of the brow” doctrine is insufficient following Eastern Book Company v D.B. Modak (2008). Copyright is automatic on creation; registration is voluntary but creates prima facie evidence.

Under Section 2(d) of the Copyright Act, 1957, authorship varies by work category. For computer-generated works, the author is the person who causes the work to be created; whether prompting or operating an AI system satisfies this requirement is yet to be resolved.

Joint authorship under Section 2(z) requires inseparable or interdependent contributions from two or more authors; ideas or funding alone are insufficient.

First Ownership

Section 17 generally vests first ownership in the author, subject to exceptions for works created during employment (vesting in the employer) and commissioned photographs, portraits and films (vesting in the commissioner). Independent contractors retain copyright, unless copyright is expressly assigned in writing.

AI-Generated Works

Purely AI-generated works without meaningful human creative contribution are unlikely to attract copyright protection. The Copyright Office’s initial recognition of the RAGHAV AI system as co-author was subsequently withdrawn.

Economic Rights

Under the Copyright Act, copyright owners enjoy exclusive rights of reproduction, distribution, communication to the public, adaptation and commercial exploitation. Economic rights may be licensed or assigned in whole or in part; assignments must be in writing and specify the scope, duration, territory and consideration.

Moral Rights

Section 57 recognises the right of paternity (to claim authorship) and the right of integrity (to restrain derogatory treatment). Moral rights are personal to the author, survive assignment of copyright, and are not freely assignable.

Indian courts have applied Section 57 to AI-driven harms in the following cases:

• in Arijit Singh v Codible Ventures LLP (Bombay High Court, 2024), AI voice cloning was restrained; and
• in Jaikishan Kakubhai Saraf v The Peppy Store (Delhi High Court, 2024), a chatbot was restrained from commercially using an actor’s persona.

For literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, copyright subsists for the author’s lifetime plus 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year following death. Cinematograph films, sound recordings, photographs and government works are protected for 60 years from first publication. Performers’ rights subsist for 50 years from performance; broadcasting rights for 25 years.

Assignments without specified duration are deemed valid for five years; assignments without specified territory are limited to India. The 2012 amendments introduced inalienable royalty entitlements for authors and composers of works incorporated in films or sound recordings.

India follows a fair dealing framework under Section 52 of the Copyright Act, 1957, rather than an open-ended fair use doctrine. Permitted purposes include:

• private or personal use (including research);
• criticism or review;
• reporting of current events; and
• specified educational and instructional activities.

The most contested issue is whether training AI models on copyrighted content qualifies as fair dealing. The DPIIT has taken the position that no automatic fair dealing defence exists for commercial-scale AI training. In ANI Media v OpenAI (Delhi High Court, 2024), the Court identified four unresolved questions:

• whether storage for AI training constitutes infringement;
• whether generating responses from stored content is separately infringing;
• whether any of this qualifies as fair dealing; and
• whether Indian courts have jurisdiction over foreign servers.

Infringement

Section 51 of the Copyright Act, 1957 defines infringement as any unauthorised exercise of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights, including reproduction, distribution, communication to the public, adaptation, performance, and importation of infringing copies.

Civil Remedies

Under Section 55, available remedies include:

• interim and permanent injunctions (including ex parte, Anton Piller-style, John Doe and dynamic orders);
• damages based on actual loss;
• account of profits (as an election); and
• delivery-up.

Dynamic+ injunctions protect content before public release. The 2026 IT Amendment Rules require platforms to take down deepfake content within 36 hours, label AI-generated content, and embed traceable identifiers; non-compliance risks loss of safe harbour.

Criminal Remedies

Under Section 63, knowing infringement is punishable with imprisonment of six months to three years and fines. Software piracy (Section 63B), possession of infringing plates (Section 65) and circumvention of technological protection measures (Section 65A) also attract criminal liability.

Courts assess substantial copying qualitatively rather than quantitatively, focusing on whether the defendant has appropriated protectable expression embodying the author’s creativity. Even a small portion can constitute infringement if it represents an essential or distinctive aspect of the original. For software, courts recognise non-literal copying of structure, sequence, organisation and overall program architecture as potentially infringing. The idea-expression dichotomy limits protection; functional concepts, algorithms and elements dictated by technical necessity remain unprotected.

Copyright societies – namely IPRS, PPL and ISAMRA – administer rights and collect royalties under Section 33 of the Copyright Act, 1957. Tariff schemes under Section 33A must be fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory. Statutory licensing mechanisms include Section 31D (broadcasting), Section 31C (cover versions) and Sections 32 and 32A (educational use and translation).

None of the existing statutory mechanisms contemplate the use of copyrighted works as AI training data. The DPIIT Working Paper on Generative AI and Copyright (December 2025) signals movement toward a structured blanket licensing framework for AI training data.

Industrial designs in India are governed by the Designs Act, 2000 and Designs Rules, 2001, protecting the visual appearance of products that appeal solely to the eye, such as shape, configuration, pattern, ornamentation, colour combinations and packaging. Protection extends to product shapes, containers, decorative features and aesthetic layouts, provided they are new or original and not previously disclosed. Functional features dictated solely by technical necessity remain excluded.

Trade dress is protected under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 through infringement and passing off. Although not expressly defined, it encompasses product shape, packaging, get-up, colour combinations and the overall “look and feel” of goods or services that function as source identifiers. Protection depends on distinctiveness, whether inherent or acquired, and does not extend to purely functional features.

Overlap Between Design and Trade Dress

Indian law permits overlap between design and trade dress protection. While design rights safeguard novel aesthetics for a limited term, trade dress may endure indefinitely upon acquiring distinctiveness. In Carlsberg Breweries v Som Distilleries and Mohan Lal v Sona Paint, the Delhi High Court confirmed that design and passing off claims may coexist, provided the product appearance has evolved from merely aesthetic to source-identifying. This dual protection has become increasingly significant for packaging- and design-driven industries.

Industrial Designs

Protection under the Designs Act, 2000 requires a design to be new or original, visually appealing, and capable of industrial application. The design must not have been previously published or disclosed anywhere in the world before the filing or priority date. Only aesthetic, non-functional features such as shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation are protectable; features dictated solely by technical function are excluded. India follows a registration-based regime, and unregistered industrial designs do not enjoy statutory protection.

Trade Dress

Trade dress is protected under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and common law passing off. Protection requires distinctiveness (inherent or acquired) and non-functionality, enabling the product’s appearance, packaging, get-up or colour scheme to identify its commercial source.

Unregistered Rights

Unlike designs, unregistered trade dress is enforceable through passing off by establishing goodwill, misrepresentation and resulting damage. Registration strengthens enforcement but is not essential for trade dress protection.

Design applications are filed before the IPO, examined for novelty and registrability, and published in the official journal. There is no pre-registration opposition mechanism.

Protection subsists for an initial term of ten years from registration (or priority date), extendable for five further years, with a maximum term of 15 years. Lapsed registrations may be restored within the prescribed period, subject to statutory requirements being met.

Industrial Designs

Design infringement under Section 22 of the Designs Act, 2000 occurs where a registered design or an obvious or fraudulent imitation is applied to articles without authorisation. Courts apply an overall visual impression test rather than a technical comparison. In Relaxo Footwears Limited v Aqualite India Limited (2022), the Delhi High Court granted interim protection to visually distinctive footwear designs, while Crocs Inc. USA v Bata India Limited (2019) highlighted key defences such as prior publication, lack of novelty and functionality. In UST Global (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. v Controller of Patents and Designs, the Calcutta High Court recognised that graphical user interfaces (GUIs) may qualify for design protection.

Trade Dress

Trade dress is enforced through trade mark infringement and passing off under the Trade Marks Act, 1999. Protection extends to distinctive product shape, packaging, colour combinations and overall get-up that function as source identifiers. Carlsberg Breweries A/S v Som Distilleries (2018) and the Full Bench decision in Mohan Lal, Proprietor of Mourya Industries v Sona Paint & Hardwares confirm that design infringement and passing off are distinct but may coexist.

Remedies and Border Measures

Indian courts readily grant interim and ex parte injunctions, the appointment of Local Commissioners for search and seizure, delivery-up, damages or accounts of profits, and costs. Customs border enforcement is available primarily for trade marks and copyright under the Intellectual Property Rights (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007; design owners often combine design, trade mark and passing off claims to strengthen enforcement against infringing imports.

Under the Designs Act, 2000, only aesthetic features judged solely by the eye are protectable. Courts distinguish protectable visual features from those dictated by technical necessity, refusing protection where the shape or configuration is essential for the product to perform its function.

Functional elements, methods of construction and mechanical features fall outside design law and are more appropriately protected by patent law, if at all. Partial designs or specific visible features may be protected if they are novel, independently distinctive and visually significant, with applicants often using disclaimers or broken lines to define the claimed portion.

A design may be refused or invalidated if it lacks novelty, has been previously published, or consists solely of functional or technically necessary features.

India has no standalone trade secrets statute. Protection is derived from the Indian Contract Act, 1872, equitable breach of confidence principles, the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and India’s obligations under TRIPS. The Draft Protection of the Trade Secrets Bill, 2024, proposed by the 22nd Law Commission, seeks to introduce a statutory framework but has not yet been enacted.

Protectable trade secrets include:

• manufacturing processes;
• formulas;
• source code;
• technical drawings;
• customer lists; and
• business plans.

To obtain protection, a claimant must establish:

• information possessing the necessary quality of confidence;
• disclosure under an obligation of confidence; and
• actual or threatened unauthorised use causing detriment.

Public domain information and an employee’s general skill, knowledge and experience are not protectable.

Indian courts require trade secret owners to clearly identify the confidential information and demonstrate reasonable measures to preserve secrecy.

In Navigators Logistics Ltd. v Kashif Qureshi and Rochem Separation Systems v Nirtech, relief was refused where plaintiffs failed to specifically identify trade secrets or show adequate safeguards beyond generic confidentiality clauses. Reasonable measures include:

• NDAs;
• confidentiality obligations;
• access controls;
• document marking;
• return-of-property procedures; and
• technological safeguards.

Disclosure to employees, contractors or business partners does not destroy protection if made under an express or implied duty of confidence, as recognised in Diljeet Titus v Adebare. Conversely, HCL Technologies v Sanjay Ranganathan reaffirmed that unauthorised transfer of confidential data, even to a personal email, may constitute breach of confidence.

India does not have a standalone trade secrets statute. Protection is derived from contractual obligations, equitable principles, common law duties of confidence and, in appropriate cases, provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Misappropriation generally occurs where confidential information is acquired, disclosed or used without authorisation, in breach of contractual, fiduciary or equitable obligations. Courts distinguish between protectable confidential information and an employee’s general skill, knowledge and experience. Employee and joint venture disputes typically turn on confidentiality obligations and the nature of access granted. Indian courts routinely grant injunctions to restrain misuse of trade secrets, customer lists, technical know-how and proprietary business information.

Trade secret protection has no fixed term in India. It subsists as long as the information retains commercial value, remains reasonably confidential, and has not entered the public domain. Protection may be lost through:

• voluntary disclosure;
• independent discovery by a third party;
• reverse engineering of a commercially available product (absent contractual restriction);
• inadvertent publication; or
• entry of the information into the public domain through court proceedings.

Once a secret is in the public domain, protection cannot be revived. Accidental disclosure to a limited audience does not automatically destroy protection if reasonable steps are taken promptly to prevent further dissemination.

India provides robust trade secret enforcement through commercial litigation, despite lacking a dedicated trade secrets statute. Actions are generally brought before Commercial Courts and increasingly before High Courts’ IPDs, which follow expedited procedures.

Civil remedies include:

• interim and permanent injunctions (including ex parte relief);
• the delivery-up or destruction of confidential materials;
• the appointment of Local Commissioners to preserve evidence;
• damages;
• account of profits;
• punitive damages in appropriate cases; and
• recovery of litigation costs.

Courts may also grant John Doe (Ashok Kumar) orders against unidentified infringers. While there is no standalone criminal offence of trade secret theft, conduct may be prosecuted under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Information Technology Act, 2000. To safeguard secrecy during proceedings, courts increasingly employ confidentiality clubs, alongside sealed filings, redacted pleadings and in-camera hearings, with the Delhi High Court formally recognising confidentiality clubs as a key procedural mechanism.

Know-how is not a defined legal term in India but is recognised through commercial practice and tax jurisprudence. It encompasses technical or operational expertise, tacit skills and process knowledge. It is broader than trade secrets, and does not require the same level of confidentiality. Indian law does not treat know-how as a property right in rem; it is best understood as a bundle of contractual and equitable rights.

Know-how may be protected to the extent it qualifies as a trade secret or confidential information. Where know-how is sufficiently confidential and commercially valuable, equitable obligations of confidence and contractual protections apply. Know-how that does not meet the threshold for trade secret protection – such as operational expertise widely shared within an industry – may not be protectable at all, and must be managed through contractual restrictions and limited disclosure.

Ownership of know-how is governed primarily by contract in India. Under general employment law principles, know-how developed by an employee in the course of employment and using the employer’s resources is likely to vest in the employer in the absence of an agreement to the contrary. However, an employee’s general skill and professional expertise developed during employment belong to the employee and cannot be restrained post-employment.

Independent contractors retain the know-how they bring to an engagement unless such know-how is expressly assigned. Employment and service agreements should include clear provisions addressing:

• which information constitutes the employer’s confidential know-how;
• the employee’s obligation to maintain confidentiality during and after employment;
• co-operation obligations in documenting and transferring know-how; and
• restrictions on post-employment disclosure.

In India, contractual protection is the primary mechanism for safeguarding know-how. Businesses commonly use non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), confidentiality and non-use clauses in commercial agreements, technology transfer and licensing agreements, and employment contracts containing post-termination confidentiality and non-solicitation obligations.

M&A transactions frequently employ technical NDAs and clean-team protocols to protect sensitive information during due diligence. Agreements also typically include return-or-destroy obligations, flow-down provisions binding employees and subcontractors, and carefully drafted definitions of confidential information.

Arbitration clauses with court intervention carve-outs for interim relief are common. Where appropriate, liquidated damages and injunction provisions strengthen enforcement, although damages must satisfy the reasonableness requirements under Indian contract law.

Know-how may be licensed or assigned independently of patents or trade secrets, although it is often bundled with patent licences in technology transfer arrangements. Standalone licences are common in the franchising, software and industrial sectors, and typically address scope, confidentiality, exclusivity, royalties, improvements and post-termination obligations.

Know-how may also be assigned as part of business or asset transfers. There are no statutory formalities requiring recordal, notarisation or registration, but written agreements are strongly recommended for evidentiary and commercial certainty. Cross-border transactions must also comply with the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, applicable tax laws and, where relevant, competition law requirements.

Reverse engineering of lawfully acquired products is not prohibited under Indian law: a person may analyse a product and use the resulting information for competitive purposes. The position narrows if:

• the product was acquired under a contractual restriction prohibiting reverse engineering;
• the subject matter is protected by a registered right; or
• the information is used as a springboard from a prior breach of confidence.

Contractual prohibitions on reverse engineering are broadly enforceable between contracting parties. The Copyright Act creates a specific exception for reverse engineering of computer programs to achieve interoperability, under Section 52(1)(ab).

India does not recognise a sui generis database right; instead, datasets are protected through copyright, contract and trade secret principles. Copyright subsists only where a database reflects originality in the selection or arrangement of data, not in the underlying facts. Consequently, businesses rely heavily on licensing agreements, confidentiality obligations and trade secret protection to safeguard proprietary datasets.

Data scraping is not inherently unlawful but is assessed under copyright, contract, the Information Technology Act, 2000, confidentiality principles and, where personal data is involved, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. With no statutory text-and-data mining (TDM) exception, AI training through large-scale scraping remains legally uncertain.

Policy and judicial trends increasingly favour licensed access, responsible data governance and transparency over unrestricted extraction.

India currently adopts a human-centric approach to AI-generated works. Copyright generally subsists only where there is meaningful human creativity, with AI viewed as an assistive tool rather than an author. Purely autonomous AI outputs are unlikely to be protected, whereas AI-assisted works involving substantial human input through prompting, editing or curation may qualify, with ownership vesting in the human creator or employer, subject to contract.

Similarly, AI cannot be named as an inventor under the Patents Act, 1970, and the IPO has rejected applications identifying AI systems such as DABUS as inventors. Businesses therefore structure ownership through employment and assignment agreements, AI use policies, trade secret protection, and detailed records of prompts and human intervention to establish the authorship, inventorship and ownership of AI-assisted creations.

India has no dedicated statutory framework governing AI training data, leaving risks to be addressed through copyright, contract, trade secret and information technology laws. The Delhi High Court’s ANI Media v OpenAI litigation is expected to determine whether the use of copyrighted material for AI training constitutes infringement.

India does not recognise a TDM exception, creating uncertainty for developers using scraped copyrighted content without a licence. Training on confidential information or trade secrets may also trigger breach of confidence, contractual and Information Technology Act claims.

Enforcement currently centres on interim injunctions and dynamic and John Doe orders, with courts increasingly requiring the disclosure of dataset provenance and sourcing practices. Policy discussions favour a licensing-based framework balancing AI innovation with remuneration, transparency and responsible dataset governance, rather than unrestricted data mining.

India lacks a standalone AI statute. Enforcement against AI-generated infringement extends existing IP law, intermediary liability rules and digital governance norms through judicial extension rather than AI-specific legislation. Courts apply John Doe, dynamic and dynamic+ injunctions to restrain both identified and unidentified AI-driven infringers.

In Anil Kapoor v Simply Life India (2023) and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev v Rogue Websites (2025), the Delhi High Court granted interim protection against AI-generated impersonation, and directed platforms toward preventative rather than merely reactive compliance. Generative AI disrupts traditional causation analysis; courts increasingly focus on output similarity and deceptive effect rather than algorithmic traceability. Intermediary safe harbour under Section 79 of the IT Act is narrowing for platforms generating or amplifying infringing content and rather creating proactive compliance obligations.

Indian businesses often adopt a layered IP strategy, combining patents, trade secrets, trade marks and copyright to protect different aspects of the same asset. The key strategic choice is between patent and trade secret protection.

Patents are preferred where inventions are patentable, susceptible to reverse engineering, or require strong, licensable exclusivity, in exchange for public disclosure and a 20-year monopoly. Trade secrets are favoured where confidentiality can be maintained, the subject matter is not patentable, or indefinite protection is commercially valuable. The choice is driven primarily by disclosure versus secrecy, the risk of reverse engineering, the duration of protection, the ease of enforcement, and broader commercial objectives.

Indian law permits cumulative protection under multiple IP regimes, provided each right protects a distinct aspect of the subject matter. Statutory and judicial limits prevent overlapping rights from extending monopolies, particularly through Section 15 of the Copyright Act, which ends copyright protection for industrially applied designs unless they are registered under the Designs Act.

Product shapes, packaging and logos may attract both design/trade mark and copyright/trade mark protection where they satisfy the requirements of each regime. Courts resolve conflicts by identifying the dominant character of the feature, applying statutory carve-outs, assessing acquired distinctiveness, and preventing rights holders from using one IP regime to circumvent the limitations of another.

Patents and trade secrets are complementary rather than mutually exclusive. Patent protection requires public disclosure in exchange for a limited monopoly, whereas trade secret protection maintains exclusivity through secrecy for as long as the information remains confidential and commercially valuable. Indian businesses typically apply patents to inventions that can be reverse engineered from the product and where a 20-year exclusivity period justifies disclosure, while relying on trade secrets for manufacturing processes, formulations and know-how that cannot easily be deduced from the product.

The choice is irreversible in one direction: once a patent application is filed, the information enters the public domain at publication, and trade secret protection is correspondingly lost. In litigation, courts recognise parallel claims for patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation where the facts support both, with quantum structured to avoid double recovery.

Trade marks and industrial designs frequently protect overlapping subject matter – product shapes, packaging and visual presentation may initially attract design protection for novelty and subsequently acquire trade mark significance as source identifiers.

Indian courts permit both rights to coexist where they protect distinct interests (design law: novelty and visual originality; trade mark law: source identification and goodwill), as confirmed in Carlsberg Breweries v Som Distilleries (2018). However, courts prevent trade mark rights from operating as perpetual extensions of expired design monopolies. A product appearance that was registered as a design loses design protection at the end of the 15-year maximum term; continued trade mark or trade dress protection requires demonstrated acquired distinctiveness and source-identifying function in the marketplace.

Copyright and trade marks may coexist in creative works serving dual functions – an artistic logo may be protected by copyright as an original artistic work and simultaneously function as a registered trade mark. Courts grant parallel relief in counterfeiting and piracy matters, but caution against using copyright to obtain perpetual control over branding elements where the distinctive character arises from trade mark rather than independent artistic creativity. In appropriate cases, a single creative work may give rise to overlapping claims in copyright, trade mark, passing off and moral rights, each addressing a distinct aspect of the commercial harm.

When multiple IP rights are infringed on the same underlying facts, courts grant a composite injunction covering all successful causes of action. For monetary relief, plaintiffs must elect between damages and account of profits per cause of action. Indian law does not permit double recovery: where two causes of action address the same head of loss, quantum is awarded once under the clearest measure. Where genuinely distinct harms are established, courts may recognise both but test the overall total against proportionality and the evidence. In suits combining trade secret misappropriation with registered IP rights, courts may uphold both claims, with quantum structured so that the same profits or sales are not counted twice.

Conflicts between national and international IP regimes in India are managed through a dualist legal framework under which international treaties – including the TRIPS Agreement, Paris Convention, Berne Convention, Madrid Protocol and PCT – require domestic implementation before they become enforceable.

Indian courts therefore apply domestic statutes, such as the Patents Act, 1970 and Trade Marks Act, 1999, rather than treaty provisions directly. While international obligations may guide interpretation where statutory language is ambiguous, clear legislative provisions prevail, as affirmed in Novartis AG v Union of India.

Cross-border disputes are governed by the territoriality principle (lex loci protectionis), although Indian courts recognise trans-border reputation in trade mark actions where goodwill in India is established. Foreign judgments are enforceable only in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, and rights holders often require parallel Indian proceedings. Customs border measures, the Madrid Protocol and the PCT facilitate international protection, but substantive examination and enforcement remain subject to Indian law.