Social media is the most widely used means of communication that has transformed how we connect online and share information with others; it has also reduced the world into a compact global village where people with diverse backgrounds/interests interact and engage across a wide range of platforms and applications like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc. to name a few. Trends are prevailing patterns that depict consumer behaviour at a certain point in time, and its key indicators are popularity, shift in interest or search activity for events, issues or various topics. In social media, such trends, determined by algorithms, accurately analyse user activity and engagement (likes, shares, searches, etc.). These trends reflect the changing interests of social media users across platforms and boost trending.
Advantages of social media trends to businesses
Social media has the potential to provide instant access to loads of information within a fraction of a second. It takes planning, consistent engagement and focus on business goals to devise an effective social media marketing strategy that drives results. Both users and businesses can stay updated about current topics, arrange live lectures/sessions, and facilitate awareness and fundraising efforts by bridging geographical distances. Businesses of all sizes (small, medium and large-scale enterprises) should tap social media to leverage it for maximum outreach, increased brand visibility online, data analysis, market research, advertising, and customer engagement. Let us see how various social media trends evolve and continue to shape the digital world.
Platform-specific trends
Social media comprises various platforms, each catering to a specific type of content and audience. For example, Twitter encourages real-time relevant conversations, engagement and news sharing through retweets, likes and replies, along with occasional promoted content. The LinkedIn algorithm, on the other hand, prioritises professional content. It fosters professional networking, job searches and B2B interactions wherein users engage through comments, shares and profile views. Its feed features job updates, industry news and professional insights. Another popular platform is TikTok, which curates content based on user interests and delivers it through its ‘For You’ page. TikTok excels in user engagement by adapting to emerging trends and viral challenges. Instagram shows content from users you follow and suggests influencers through its ‘Explore’ page as its algorithm emphasises engagement and relevance. Keeping this in mind, one must be aware of the emerging trends on different social media platforms and choose these platforms based on their requirements, as that would be instrumental to helping creators and marketers thrive because each platform serves a different purpose.
Influencer marketing
As the name suggests, this form of marketing involves collaboration between influencers and brands to promote products or services. Influencers are social media experts within a niche with a noticeable online presence and engaged audiences. Hence, collaboration with influencers enables brands to reach potential customers effectively on various social media platforms by driving brand awareness and sales through authentic connections. The only word of caution is that brands must respect influencers’ voices, while influencers must maintain integrity. Influencer Marketing has emerged as one of the most in-demand strategies and has gained remarkable popularity in recent years owing to the amount of strategic planning, transparency and creativity involved, making it a win-win deal for both brands and influencers as it continues to shape consumer behaviour and brand perception.
Video content dominance
Gone are the days when the audience spent an average of 10-15 minutes online browsing various available content to look for relevant information. Today, social media is full of all sorts of content like blogs, images, text, etc., and the attention span of an individual has decreased to approximately 8 seconds. It has led to the emergence of videos as a powerful medium of communication of fresh and engaging content that has revolutionised storytelling in the most engaging way in under a minute. A recent study revealed that social media posts with videos had far more views and engagement than traditional text and image-based content combined. Businesses have already identified and started tapping into this opportunity, offering a more engaging and immersive experience through short-form videos on platforms like Instagram to drive sales.
Niche communities and subcultures
In the digital world, when a group of people sharing a common interest gather to connect, share, discuss and engage in their passions, they form a niche community. Such niche communities and subcultures add immense value by allowing meaningful and personalised interactions for active engagement and fostering a sense of belonging. Every member of the niche community is encouraged to share their ideas and insights through thought-provoking discussion threads, user-generated content like a how-to video or a blog post, etc. The idea behind this is to get to know you and also harness what you are passionate about.
Privacy and data concerns
Now, let us discuss privacy and data concerns surrounding social media trends. Social media is like a coin with two sides to it. On the one hand, it offers a platform for self-expression and virtual connections, and on the other hand, it carries the risk of profiling, targeted advertising and mass surveillance. For example, the excessive sharing of personally identifiable information on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., has raised privacy risks of user data collected, analysed and monetised by such companies. Hence, there is a need for Data and information privacy to be applied to ensure that digitally collected data is processed ethically and lawfully. Social media platforms must ensure transparency and give users more control over their data so that they can make informed choices about their privacy.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are two other social media trends driving waves. With the help of evolving technology and VR platforms, companies have started hosting virtual conferences, trade shows, product launches, etc., which act as a more accessible and cost-effective alternative to outreach to audiences worldwide than physical events limited to a specific geographical location. AR filters and effects like Spark AR create interactive experiences during live events or marketing campaigns that make it an instant hit and resonate with the target audience. Businesses must work on feasible ways to integrate VR and AR into social media trends to reap benefits and generate desired outcomes.
Ephemeral content
The term ‘Ephemeral Content’, commonly known as disappearing content, refers to content that is available only for a short duration (typically 24 hours) and disappears later. The most common example of ephemeral content is ‘Stories’ on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc. If you are wondering about its use, let me explain. The popularity of ephemeral content lies in the sense of urgency it creates through polls and Q&As for users to view, engage, and share before it vanishes. Businesses can showcase behind-the-scenes content, offer limited-period discounts, etc., to create a buzz around a product, service, or event and leverage it. In short, ephemeral content is a game-changer from a brand marketing perspective.
Social commerce
We are aware of e-commerce. Social commerce is nothing but an extension of e-commerce. When e-commerce fuses with social media, it becomes social commerce. Social media, once a passive browsing activity until some time ago, has transformed ever since platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. have introduced ‘Shop now’ buttons and shoppable posts, turning it into an interactive shopping journey. Consumers benefit from this shift towards social commerce as they prefer to explore options, make well-informed decisions based on product reviews and shop at their own pace. Businesses benefit as social commerce allows brands to reach a wider audience, engage with prospective clients and convert them into customers effectively.
E-books
E-books are primarily used for upskilling purposes, besides marketing. The shift from paperback books to e-books can be attributed to their versatility, cost, accessibility, etc., as they cater to avid readers who wish to read e-books of their interest on the go. E-books offer detailed information on a particular topic in an easy-to-understand format and are accessible to everyone across different devices. The mere presence of e-books has benefited readers who want a portable version of content accessible on tablets, laptops, smartphones, etc., as well as writers who can write on a topic of interest and self-publish their e-books on well-known platforms like Kindle Direct Publishing.
Conclusion
Social media trends have a short life span, i.e., they vary with time due to constant changes in user preferences and behaviour. However, since these trends are ever-evolving due to technological advancements, consumers and brands must remain updated with the latest social media trends to leverage their full potential. Consumers can keep tabs on the latest product launches, compare products from different brands, and seek recommendations from their social networks before investing in a product or service. Businesses can use social media trends to create relevant content to generate brand awareness, deliver personalised product recommendations and improve customer service. So, irrespective of whether you are a consumer or a brand looking to make a mark in the digital world, it’s time to explore the exciting opportunities these social media trends have to offer and make your pick based on feasibility and your requirements! And remember, just as one size does not fit all, similarly, one platform does not work for all. If you have any doubts/questions and need assistance, feel free to approach a social media expert: www.linkedin.com/in/santoshi-singh.
This article is written by Shreeji Saraf. This article talks about the case of Ravi Kumar vs. Julmi Devi (2010) which in turn further provides an understanding of the facts, what were the issues raised, judgement of the Court, arguments that were presented by both the parties and it highlights what were legal aspects involved in the case. In addition, it further goes on to discuss what are the different perceptions of cruelty.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The case deals with an appeal filed before the Supreme Court of India against the order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, wherein the Court reversed the order of the trial court in a matrimonial proceeding. This case highlights what are the different insights of cruelty in today’s world. Sometimes it might constitute an act or action that is offensive, torturous and inflicts pain on any person, be it physical or mental. It has been noted in this case that if in particular, one act constitutes cruelty, it does not necessarily mean that it shall have the same application in other cases. This case even further highlights that it is the duty of the lower courts to give equal and prime weightage to the testimony of the child even though this has been ignored in this respective case. Lower courts should give considerable importance to these facts.
Details of the case
Name of the Appellant: Ravi Kumar
Name of the Respondent: Julmi Devi
Citation of the case: (2010) 4 SCC 476
Name of the Court: Hon’ble Supreme Court
Hon’ble Bench: P. Sathasivam & A.K. Ganguly, JJ.
Disposition: Dismissed
Judgement passed on: February 9, 2010
Facts of the case
The husband, Ravi Kumar (hereinafter referred to as husband) had filed an appeal before the Supreme Court of India disputing the judgement and the order passed by the Himachal Pradesh High Court. The High Court set aside the judgement and order passed by the District Court, Mandi in the Petition No, 20 of 2002 dated 27.10.2004. The appeal was filed before the Supreme Court challenging the order passed by the High Court.
Firstly, the wife Julmi Devi (hereinafter referred to as wife) had filed an appeal before the Himachal Pradesh High Court under Section 28 of the Hindu Marriage Act,1955 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) against the judgement and the order passed by the District Judge, Mandi wherein the decree of divorce was awarded in favour of the husband.
The facts that should be taken into consideration for the relevant decision of appeal is that the parties were married according to the Hindu rites and customs on 13.12.1988. A girl child was born of the said wedlock in March, 1990. The husband stated that after the birth of the child, the wife departed for her parental house to stay there which was situated in Village Samlet.
The husband further alleged that the wife was earlier working at Village Garli and she inhabited there, when she was transferred from Village Garli to Chuhaku the wife still decided to stay at her parental house in spite of repeated requests by the husband. Village Chuhaku was situated 3 kms away from her matrimonial house. The husband further mentioned that in May, 1994, the wife had come over for a short period of time but after she completely deserted him.
As the wife refused to come back to her matrimonial house, the husband filed a petition under Section 9 of the Act for the restitution of conjugal rights. Conjugal rights mean the right to stay together. Section 9 of the Act talks about a situation where in either of the spouses has deserted the other or has withdrawn from the society without any justifiable cause, the aggrieved spouse can claim for restitution of conjugal rights by filing a petition before the concerned Court.
When the Court is satisfied that the withdrawal was without any proper reason or cause, the Court can grant a decree of restitution of conjugal rights. In this case the Appellant claimed for restitution of conjugal rights mentioning that the respondent was not cohabitating with the appellant. An understanding or agreement was considered to have been reached between both the parties where the wife stated that she had agreed to live with her husband before the Lok Adalat.
The husband further claimed that the wife did not comply with the compromise taken before the Lok Adalat and continued not to cohabitate with the husband. The husband being annoyed by the acts of the wife and his continuous efforts to bring the wife back put in order for the decree of divorce. The petition being filed by the husband for the dissolution of the marriage stated cruelty and desertion as the grounds as per Section 13 of the Act.
The wife repudiated all the statements made by the husband against her. According to the wife, she was staying with her husband and it was not her, but the husband who had failed to look after her. Further, the wife taking a stance claimed that despite the arrangement made between the parties before the Lok Adalat, it was the husband who did not comply with compromise and started ill treating the wife.
Several witnesses were presented by the husband which stated the wife was staying separately and on repeated requests made by the husband asking the wife to come back the wife refused all the time. On the other hand, the wife denied all the allegations and statements made against her. She stated that the husband used to abuse her, she had even suffered cruelty.
The District Judge, Mandi had failed to provide a solution for both the husband and wife that had approached the Court. An order was passed by the concerned judge which granted divorce to both the parties but the same was challenged by the wife in front of the High Court and the High Court had set aside the judgement of the Lok Adalat.
While altering the judgement, the High Court had taken measures under Section 28 of the Act. The Court acted as the first Court of appeal. One of the important points that needs to be highlighted is that when a husband has filed a petition under Section 9 of the Act, all acts of cruelty executed by the wife will be deemed to have been forgiven by the husband.
On this point, the concerned Court referred to the observations made by the Division Bench of Himachal Pradesh High Court in the case ofNirmala Devi vs. Ved Prakash(1992). The term ‘condonation’ has not been properly elucidated anywhere. It technically means or implies that it removes all the alleged acts of the injured spouse. In another sense, it means reconciliation where in it means the motive or having the intention to set aside all the wrongs and reinstate the offending partner on the same status as earlier he/she had. The concerned Court referred to the above mentioned context because the husband had moved the petition under Section 9 of the act.
The High Court after observing the facts further, stated that there were several allegations made by the husband against the wife, but the husband was not able to prove or submit any concrete evidence in support of the allegations.
Judgement of the Himachal Pradesh High Court
After taking into account the said discovery, the High Court was of the opinion that the husband on his part had failed in proving the claims of either cruelty or desertion which had been put forward by him against the wife. On his end, he had failed to establish or submit proof regarding the specific accusations. The High Court was of the opinion that the learned Trial Court had made a mistake in passing the decree of divorce and is setting aside the same.
Appeal to the Supreme Court
Firstly, the High Court held that the husband had failed in establishing or providing evidence of cruelty by the wife as mentioned by him. The concerned Court dismissed his mention and reversed the judgement of the Trial Court. It even further laid down the importance of credible evidence.
Secondly, the appellant being aggrieved by the judgement passed by the High Court filed an appeal in the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court was of the view that there were no relevant reasons to interfere with the judgement passed or granted by the High Court. It stated that the High Court had not been wronged in reversing or setting aside the findings of the Trial Court.
Issues raised
Issue raised in the Supreme Court of India-
Has there been any mistake on part of the High Court in setting aside the judgement and order passed by the District Court and passing the same judgement on the basis of cruelty?
Arguments of the parties
Appellant
The husband being the Appellant filed an appeal before the Supreme Court of India being dissatisfied by the judgement and order passed by the Himachal Pradesh High Court. Before the Himachal Pradesh High Court, he argued that there were several witnesses presented by the Appellant side that stated or mentioned that the wife was not residing at her matrimonial house and some of the witnesses even went to the wife ‘s parent’s house to bring her back but she simply refused to do so. He further claimed that it was the wife who mistreated him. Later on, when the appeal was filed before the Supreme Court, the learned counsel of the husband argued that the Court did not have the opportunity to overall conduct or check the credibility of witnesses. As the High Court was acting as the first Court of appeal it was not required to alter or change the decision of the Trial Court. The point here cannot be argued as while the court is exercising its power under Section 28 of the Act the court is both court of law and facts.
The appellant claimed that the High Court had made a mistake in reversing the judgement of the trial Court and passing the order in favour of the wife on the above mentioned grounds.
Respondent
The respondent being the wife argued before the Himachal Pradesh High Court that all the allegations mentioned by the husband against her are false. She further claimed that it was the husband who mistreated her and abused her. The wife had tried several times to join the company of the husband but he completely refused it. As per the respondent, the appellant used to beat her and it was the husband who neglected her. She further added that she was threatened by him and was asked to sign on a blank paper. She completely denied all the allegations.
Legal aspects involved in Ravi Kumar vs. Julmi Devi (2010)
Section 9 of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
Section 9 of the Act talks about a situation where in either of the spouses has deserted the other or has withdrawn from the society without any justifiable cause, the aggrieved spouse can claim for restitution of conjugal rights by filing a petition before the concerned Court. When the Court is satisfied that the withdrawal was without any proper reason or cause, the Court can grant a decree of restitution of conjugal rights. Provided that where the withdrawal by the spouse is proved to be reasonable and the spouse has been able to prove the same, the court may not pass the decree.
Section 28 of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
Section 28 of the Act mentions the scope of appeals from decrees and orders. This section outlines that where any of the parties is not satisfied with the decision of the lower Court, they can file an appeal to the High Court and the appeal needs to be filed within 90 days from the date of passing the order or decree. If the High Court is satisfied with sufficient cause provided by the party for not filing the appeal within 90 days, it can further provide an extension for the same.
Order 41 Rule 33 of Civil Procedure Code, 1908
This provision allows the Court to do complete justice to the parties of the case. It could grant any such decision or order that does justice to the parties which should have been passed.
Judgement in Ravi Kumar vs. Julmi Devi (2010)
The Supreme Court of India in this case dismissed the appeal of the husband and stated that there were no valid reasons or grounds to interfere with the ruling of the High Court. There were several indeterminate statements or declarations made, but there was no such statement or declaration with determined aspects related to that of the cruelty by the wife as mentioned by the husband. There was no particular instance of desertion presented by the husband.
After going briefly through the materials and findings, the Supreme Court observed that the testimony of a child is of great importance in this particular case but the High Court had forgotten to take that into consideration or give importance to the testimony of the child. The daughter had clearly mentioned in her testimony that the wife was beaten by the husband which ultimately provided or gave sufficient reason or cause to the wife to live separately at her parental house. The daughter had further even denied that her mother did not abuse her father.
In the power exercised by the Court it came to an observation that the lower courts had not properly considered the evidence or testimony of the child. In such a particular case it cannot be stated that the wife is to blame for cruelty.
The Supreme Court did not find any concrete reason to interfere with the judgement passed by the High Court. As the High Court had reversed the order of the lower court highlighting that no proper evidence had been presented on behalf of the husband that supports its contentions of claim of cruelty against the wife. The High Court even added that the burden of proof was on the husband.
Judgments referred to in this case
N.G. Dastane vs. S. Dastane (1975)
In this case, the husband being the appellant and the wife being the respondent were married to each other from the year 1956. Both the partners had travelled together and resided at several places and 3 daughters were born out of wedlock. Before marriage, the wife’s father sent a letter which stated her illness. After some time, from both sides, there were several disagreements, and arguments because of which their relationship started weakening and there were claims of cruelty from both sides. Later on, the relationship between them got worse accompanied by hateful letters from relatives and mutual mistrust. The husband filed for judicial separation under Section 10(1)(b) of the Act but the lower courts dismissed it. He then further made an appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court also dismissed his application. The Court stated that the lower courts failed to give importance or credibility to the evidence regarding that of the cruelty. The Court noted that it is tough for them to pass a judgement or consider any of the facts of cruelty or desertion as mentioned by the appellant against the respondent because the appellant had deliberately ignored the earlier acts of the respondent.
The Supreme Court referred to this case highlighting that one is not as concerned about the rational and sensible man in the case of matrimony as concerned in the case of negligence. If one man is sensible and rational then, there is no scope for cruelty cases but it is not so. Cases of cruelty take place when either of the spouses doesn’t behave and thinks in a rational way towards the others.
Shoba Rani vs. Madhukar Reddl (1987)
In this case, the wife had filed for divorce stating cruelty as the grounds and repeated demands of money from her mother in law. Further, the lower courts had rejected her claims stating that she had failed to establish evidence that supported her claims. The main issue that was highlighted in this case was whether the continuous request for money amounted to cruelty under Section 13(1)(1a) of the Act and whether the evidence that was presented before the courts in support of claims was enough or not.
The Supreme Court was of the view that the claims made by the wife in the present case amounted to cruelty as per Section 13(1)(1a) of the Act and further goes on to state that the evidence which was submitted by the wife in the court was sufficient to support her claim and the the lower courts had made a mistake in the application of cruelty, in this case, The court granted for the dissolution of the marriage.
The Supreme Court referred this case for the alternative insight related to cruelty in marriage in today’s world and simply stated that there has been a significant difference and development in today’s household so the court should not only stick to the standard of living. There are several other factors which contribute to the cause of cruelty. One set of acts of cruelty applied in one case might be different in another case.
Critical analysis of the case
Through the case of Ravi Kumar, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has tried to point out that there are several definitions of cruelty. The High Court in the particular case even had mentioned that the party claiming desertion must not only prove the same but also establish that the other party against whom it is claiming desertion had the proper intention and motive to permanently desert the other party.
The High Court even added that the husband claiming desertion must ensure that it was neither of his acts that led to the reason or cause behind the wife living separately. One of the important points that needs to be highlighted is that when a husband has filed a petition under Section 9 of the Act, all acts of cruelty executed by the wife will be deemed to have been forgiven by the husband At this point, the concerned court referred to the observations made by the Division Bench in the case of Nirmala Devi vs. Ved Prakash (1992).
The mention of the power under Order 41 Rule 33 of the Civil Procedure Code gives the court the power to do justice among the parties. Through the mentioned order, several powers are imposed on a court. Further, it should be noted that there is no proper and specific definition of the term ‘cruelty’ under the Act. Considering marital relationships, cruelty could mean disrespect of one spouse by the other and this often leads to fights or arguments between the spouses.
Sometimes cruelty could be in the form of verbal abuse, it could even take the form of physical abuse, beating of one spouse by the other which leads to violence. So, it is clearly not possible to establish a proper definition of cruelty. Determining whether the wife is cruel to the husband or the other way around should not be determined by any pre specific formula or notion.
It should be determined by taking into consideration all the given circumstances and facts of a particular case. In marital relationships, cruelty could be sometimes just an approach or attitude or simply an act or action that is offensive, torturous and inflicts pain on any person be it physical or mental. The form or category of cruelty could vary from case to case and person to person. An established form of cruelty could not be considered as cruelty in other cases.
There could be various conditions that should be taken into account with regard to cruelty like social and economic conditions, the society or the way of living which is of importance to them. The lower Court has not been able to properly value the evidence of the child, which is of great importance in this particular case.
The Supreme Court has further laid that the High Court being the court of appeal is both the court of law and facts and there is no proper basis or grounds for the Supreme Court to interfere with the decision of the High Court.
Recent judgements related to cruelty
Kanwal Kishore Girdhar vs. Seema Girdhar (2024)
In this case, the husband being the petitioner had filed for an appeal being aggrieved by the judgement and order dated 09.10.2018. The said appeal was filed in regard to Section 19 of the Family Courts Act, 1984 read along with Section 28 of the Act. This case is a dispute between husband and wife. The husband and wife were married to each other from 09.05.1998 as per the Hindu rites and out of the said marriage two daughters were born. The husband was an army officer, he claimed that the difference between them started to appear after the marriage. The husband filed for divorce mentioning cruelty as the ground and mentioned various instances where the wife had insulted him in front of his friends and family, she stopped helping in the work of the house and she even harmed or assaulted her mother in law.
Not only this, she ended up filing false police reports and made false contentions of adultery against her husband. The wife had tried involving a minor child in the arguments that happened between the two. The husband had filed an appeal seeking divorce from the wife on the grounds of cruelty. He further added that the act of involving the minor child in the dispute between them was totally incorrect. The acts committed by the wife amounted to mental cruelty. The wife in her plea further elaborated that the husband did not pay any attention towards her during her pregnancy and was having an extramarital affair. After considering all the facts, the Delhi High Court was of the view that it was very wrong on the part of the wife to do such acts, especially the involvement of the minor child. The Court even highlighted that there were several attempts at reconciliation on the part of the husband but there was no cooperation on the part of the wife.
Thus the Delhi High Court granted the divorce to the husband for the acts of cruelty executed by the wife against him. The Court observed that it is very common to have fights and arguments in a marriage but the bringing the minor child in between the fights does not justify the acts of the wife. The unsupported and uncorroborated allegations against the husband by the wife display an utmost act of cruelty.
Deepa Tomar vs. Ajay (2023)
In this case, the wife is the appellant and the husband is the respondent and both of them were as per the Hindu customs in Gwalior on 21.11.2011. One daughter was said to have been born out of wedlock. The wife claimed cruelty against the husband which involved both physical and mental cruelty. One of the important facts of the case is that two cases were registered against the husband and he was convicted and a sentence of life imprisonment was pronounced. The wife seeking for divorce had filed a petition in the family court under Section 13(1) of the act and the grounds that were mentioned by her were of cruelty and desertion.
The Family Court had dismissed her petition and being aggrieved by it she filed an appeal in the Madhya Pradesh High Court under Section 19 of the Family Courts Act, 1984. The wife claimed that the involvement of the husband in criminal activities and sentenced him for the charge of murder amounted to mental cruelty. The Madhya Pradesh High Court was of the view that it is correct to pass a decree of divorce to the wife because it is important in a marriage that the mental and physical safety is ensured. The acts of the husband here had caused suffering to the wife, so the court dissolved the said marriage between the husband and wife on the grounds mentioned by the wife.
Conclusion
As it can be concluded that there is no proper definition of cruelty. It varies from person to person and from case to case. Cruelty can take various forms, it could sometimes be brutal, even violent and sometimes just verbal and heated arguments. It even highlights that it is important for the lower courts to consider the importance of every piece of evidence and it should be taken into consideration adequately. In this respective case, the lower Court had gravely erred in passing the decision. The Supreme Court while considering the facts and given circumstances stated that they did not find any particular reason or cause to interfere with the decision passed by the High Court and in order dismissed the petition.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the time period within which a petition for restitution of conjugal rights can be filed?
A petition requesting for restitution of conjugal rights should be filed within 1 year from the date of withdrawal from the partner.
Which party has the burden of proof in the case of restitution of conjugal rights?
The burden of proof lies on the petitioner, they need to prove that the other party has deserted and had withdrawn without any justifiable reason or cause.
What does the term cruelty mean under the Hindu Marriage Act?
The term cruelty under the said Act means that the actions or acts of one spouse has created an apprehension of danger in the mind of the other spouse.
What constitutes an act of cruelty?
Imposing irrelevant physical and mental pain on human beings constitutes cruelty. Actions that are deliberate and intentional and cause pain.
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The article is written by Jyotika Saroha. This article provides a detailed overview of the landmark judgement given by Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Town Municipal Committee, Amravati vs. Ramchandra Vasudeo Chimote (1964). This case deals with the power of local authorities to levy taxes with respect to goods exported and imported within or outside the country. It elaborates on the factual background, issues, judgement of the court, laws and precedents applied in the said case. Lastly, it deals with the analysis of the court’s judgement.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The taxation system in India was introduced with the objective of developing infrastructure and financing public welfare activities and schemes. The distribution of powers amongst the governments at both the Union and State levels was made to ensure that the work can be done in an effective manner in order to protect and promote the rights and duties of taxpayers, as tax is one of the most important sources of revenue for the government. The Indian Constitution has also provided for certain provisions that provide for the levying of taxes, cesses, and duties in a lawful manner by the State Governments, municipality or by any other local authority. There are various types of taxes that are being levied by different authorities; likewise, local taxes also come in different forms and include taxes on goods imported and exported into or outside the municipal area levied by the municipal authorities. The Town Municipal Committee, Amravati vs. Ramchandra Vasudeo Chimote (1964) is a significant precedent in which the issue regarding the power to levy taxes by the municipal authorities was dealt with. The case discussed has helped in delving into the scope of the powers of municipal authorities in dealing with cases of levying taxes as per the provisions of a specific statute.
Details of the case
Name of the case: The Town Municipal Committee, Amravati vs. Ramchandra Vasudeo Chimote and Ors.
Bench: The then Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar, Justice K.C. Das Gupta, Justice K.N. Wanchoo, Justice N. Rajagopala Ayyangar, and Justice J.C. Shah
Author of the judgement: N. Rajagopala Ayyangar
Parties to the case:
Petitioners- The Town Municipal Committee, Amravati
Respondents- Ramchandra Vasudeo Chimote and Ors.
Judgement date: 3rd March, 1964
Facts of the case
The Municipal Committee of Amravati has been constituted under the Central Provinces & Berar Municipalities Act, 1922 (Act II of 1922). Chapter IX of the said Act provides for the assessment, collection and imposition of taxes by the municipal committee.
A notification dated August 10, 1916 was passed by the Amravati Municipality, wherein a terminal tax was imposed on the goods imported by way of road or train. The said notification also prescribed exemptions to certain goods, which were silver, bullion and coins. However, the said notification was replaced by another notification dated June 2, 1921, in which the schedules were amended and the terminal tax charged was limited to goods imported or exported into or out of the municipal area by way of rail. The above notification of 1921 was modified during the said time as other items were also included and the rates were increased; however, there was no change in the taxes levied after 1936.
Earlier, the distribution of powers between the provinces and the Central Government under the Government of India Act, 1935, was exclusively given to the Federal Centre under Item 59 of List 1 of Schedule VIII to impose the terminal taxes upon the goods carried out through rail but, the validity of levying and collecting terminal taxes that were in force prior to 1st April, 1937 was continued by Section 143 of the said Act and, by way of this continuance, these taxes were continued to be levied after April 1, 1937.
The terminal taxes that were charged before the commencement of the Constitution were also charged and collected after its commencement, as per Article 277 of the Indian Constitution, which is similar to Section 143 of the Government of India Act, 1935, which existed before the commencement of the Constitution.
Subsequent to January 26, 1950, which means after the commencement of the Indian Constitution, in a notification dated December 1, 1959, the municipality imposed terminal taxes on certain items, including silver, silver jewellery, gold items, gold jewellery and precious stones, not merely by rail but also by road.
The newly added procedure laid down under Section 67 came into being before the notification was issued and the Government gave its sanction to the new rules made by the Municipal Committee of Amravati for levying tax on these newly added items. The tax imposed on these three items was similar to that of other articles by the notifications prior to the Constitution.
The 1st respondent in the present case had a business in gold, silver and precious stones and came within the local jurisdiction of the municipality of Amravati. The 1st respondent filed a writ petition before the High Court of Maharashtra (Nagpur) Bench under Article 226 against the newly imposed terminal taxes by the municipality for the purposes of challenging their validity on the grounds of legislative incompetence. The High Court allowed the writ petition and ruled in favour of the respondent.
Therefore, aggrieved by the decision of the High Court, the appellant came before the Hon’ble Supreme Court by way of filing an appeal against the order, dated March 18, 1961, passed by the High Court after getting the certificate of fitness from the High Courts. There were a total of three appeals on the certificate of fitness granted by the High Court of Maharashtra (Nagpur Bench) and the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. These appeals raised a similar issue regarding the interpretation of Article 227 of the Indian Constitution and the terminal taxes imposed by the respective municipal authorities.
Issues raised in the case
Whether the terminal taxes levied by the Town Municipal Committee in Amravati were legally valid?
Whether the orders passed by the Municipal Committee were within the ambit of powers provided to them?
Whether the tax imposed by the municipal authority was the same tax that was being charged before the commencement of the Constitution?
Arguments of the parties
Appellant
The first contention of the appellants was that the tax that was charged by the municipal committee was the same tax levied before the commencement of the Constitution.
It was contended that the words ‘tax or duty’ should be read as a tax or duty under the specified legislative entry and if such duties are of the same kind and fall within the same category, then tax might be imposed upon them even after the commencement of the Constitution.
The word ‘levy’ mentioned under Article 277 does not only mean the assessment or collection of tax; it also refers to the imposition of tax and it must be construed in its widest sense.
The learned Attorney General supported the above contentions and stated that it is not even mandatory that a terminal tax should be charged in the actual sense and that it was being levied prior to the Constitution; it was enough if an enactment of the State vested powers in the municipality to levy certain taxes.
Respondent
In Article 277 of the Indian Constitution, the phrases “continue to be levied” and ‘to be applied for the same purposes’ are given, which implies the intention of the makers of the Constitution that the word ‘levy’ is to be construed as a collection of tax. The respondents cited the case of Chuttilal vs. Bagmal and Balwantrai (1956) in order to support the above statement, wherein they attempted to show the correlation between the words ‘levy’ and ‘the application of tax’ which helped in the interpretation of the phrase “continue to be levied”.
Laws involved in the case
Central Provinces and Berar Municipalities Act, 1922
The Central Provinces and Berar Municipalities Act, 1922, was an important legislation in the colonial period. The main objective of the Act was to regulate and govern the municipalities in the Central Provinces and the region of Berar, which was administered by Britishers at the time and included Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Maharashtra.
Section 66 of Central Provinces and Berar Municipalities Act
It provides for the taxes that the committee may impose from time to time. It further provides that the State Government may regulate the imposition of taxes and may also increase the amount of rates for any tax. It states that the first imposition of any tax requires a prior sanction from the State Government. The committee may also abolish a tax that has already been imposed or vary the amount or rate of such tax but subject to the control of the State Government.
Section 67 of Central Provinces and Berar Municipalities Act
It laid down the procedure for the imposition of taxes, which provides that a committee may pass a resolution for the purposes of imposing any tax under Section 66 and, after the said resolution has been passed, the committee shall publish a notice that defines the description of persons and property that is to be taxed, the amount or rate of the tax that will be imposed and the system for the assessment that needs to be taken. After receiving such proposals, the State Government may approve, provide its sanction or refuse to approve the same if it deems fit or else it may refer the same to the committee for reconsideration of the proposal. It further provides that the notification that describes the imposition of tax shall be conclusive proof that the said tax has been imposed as per the provisions of this Act.
Section 68 of Central Provinces and Berar Municipalities Act
This Section deals with the procedure of variation of taxes, which provides that, in a special meeting, the committee may pass a resolution in order to present the abolition of any tax imposed already or in case of variation in any amount thereof. If the said proposal is regarding an increase in amount, then it shall be published in the manner prescribed by rules. If any inhabitant of the municipality objects to the increase in the amount of taxes, he may, within 30 days from the publication of the notice, object to the same in writing to the committee. The committee, in its special meeting, shall take into account all the objections filed and may modify the proposal if it thinks fit. It lastly provides that the publication of an abolition or variation in the tax shall be conclusive proof as per the provisions of the Central Province and Berar Municipalities Act, 1922.
Constitution of India
Article 277 of the Constitution
Article 277 of the Indian Constitution deals with the taxes, duties, cesses or fees that were being levied in a lawful manner before the commencement of the Constitution. They were levied by the State Governments or by any municipality or by any other local authority. It further provides that, in spite of the fact that those taxes and duties are mentioned in the Union list, they shall continue to be levied and applied for the same purposes until any contrary provision is made by the Parliament.
Entry 89 of the Union List
Entry 89 of the Union list under the Constitution of India deals with the terminal taxes levied on goods or passengers, carried out by mode of rail, sea or air, as well as taxes on railway fares and freights.
Government of India Act, 1935 (repealed)
The Act was passed by the British Parliament in August 1935 and is one of the longest legislation implemented by Britishers at that point in time. The said Act provided for the establishment of federal, provincial and joint public service commissions. The Act was formed on the basis of recommendations made by the Simon Commission.
Section 143 of Government of India Act, 1935
Section 143(1) provides that nothing in the foregoing provisions shall affect any duties or taxes charged in any Federal State unless any contrary provisions are made by the Act of the Federal legislature of that State.
Section 143(2) deals with the taxes, duties or cesses that were levied or charged in a lawful manner by the Provincial Government, municipality or any local authority before the commencement of Part III of this Act. It further provides that, in spite of that those taxes and duties were mentioned in the Federal legislative list, they shall continue to be levied and applied for the same purposes until and unless any other contrary law is made by the Federal legislature.
Relevant judgements referred to in the case
Rama Krishna Ramanath vs. the Janpad Sabha, Gondia (1962)
In this case, the District Council of Bhandara imposed a terminal tax on the export of bidis through rail as per the provisions of Central Provinces and Berar Local Self Government Act, 1920. The terminal tax was included in the Federal legislative list and as per Article 143(2), it was stated that the tax is being levied lawfully and will continue to be levied until any contrary provisions are made. Later, in 1948, the C.P. and Berar Local Government Act, 1948, came into being and the earlier Act was repealed. The District Council was also replaced by Sabhas, and all the taxes and dues will now be dealt with by the newly established Janpad Sabhas. By way of an amendment in 1949, the Provincial Legislature replaced Section 192(b) of the C.P. Berar Local Government Act, 1948, which provided that all the taxes levied before the commencement of the 1948 Act shall continue to be levied and the amendment was given a retrospective effect. The appellant contended that, once the tax is discontinued through new legislation, it cannot be levied again and is beyond the competence of the legislature. The Supreme Court upheld the provisions of the new Act and held that the terminal tax that was being levied after the commencement of this Act is valid and the Provincial Legislature is competent to implement the Amendment Act of 1949.
Judgement in Town Municipal Committee, Amravati vs. Ramchandra Vasudeo Chimote (1964)
The Supreme Court upheld the judgement given by the High Court and stated that the terminal tax imposed on goods like silver, silver jewellery, gold, gold jewellery and precious stones was never imposed by the municipality and thereby it cannot be stated that they were being levied lawfully. The Court further stated that if a State has given power to the municipality to charge taxes, then it cannot be said that the tax that had never been charged was levied in a lawful manner by the municipality or applied for the same purposes prior to the Constitution. However, in the present case, the Court stated that in the present appeal, the terminal tax was imposed on the gunpowder exported or imported through rail and before the commencement of the Constitution, there was no tax imposed on the same; hence, the appeal filed by the municipality is dismissed.
Rationale behind the judgement
The Supreme Court, while dealing with the facts of the present case, stated that the three appeals have a common question and raise a common ground, which is the levy of terminal taxes by the municipality.
Power of municipality in levying of taxes
The Court observed that it is well stated that the power to levy terminal taxes distributed under the Constitution of India is specifically assigned to Union and that would not make any difference in the continuance of levying of terminal taxes. The Court rejected the argument of the learned Attorney General, who contended that it is enough that a state enactment vests its powers in the municipality in levying taxes. The Court observed that it lacks substance and stated that, if a state enactment has vested powers into municipalities to levy taxes, it does not mean that the tax which is being levied is lawful.
Construction of Article 277
The Court, while looking into the argument made by Mr. Setalvad, stated that it ignores the terms of Article 277 and that the intention of this provisions is to allow the present taxes to be continued, not that this Article confers authority on municipalities or government to increase the range of taxation by adding new taxes or increasing new items. The words “notwithstanding the taxes, etc. mentioned in the Union list” do not confer unlimited legislative power to impose new taxes that are of the same type or nature as those present before the commencement of the Constitution. The Court looked into the decision given in the case of Rama Krishna Ramnath vs. The Janpad Sabha, Gondia (1962), wherein the respondent contended that, as per Section 143(2) of the Government of India Act, 1935, the Provincial Legislature has been vested with plenary powers to make laws with regard to every tax. The Supreme Court rejected this contention and states that Section 143(2) is a savings provision and is introduced with an aim to prevent the dislocation of finances of the state and local authorities. In the above case, the Court also looked into the scope of the limited legislative power of the State. The words laid down in the said subsection ‘may continue to be levied’ if so desired by the provincial legislature which refers to that until any contrary provision is made by the federal legislature and hence this would suggest that there is a limited power of the province in this regard. While dealing with the phrase ‘may continue to be levied’, the same was given three different connotations:
Firstly, the tax must be levied lawfully;
Secondly, that the purpose for which tax was levied, the area for whose benefit the tax was being levied should be same; and
Thirdly, the rate or price of tax should not be increased.
The Court, while dealing with the above three tests, stated that, if they are to be applied, then the contentions on behalf of the appellant cannot be accepted.
Construction of phrase ‘continue to be levied’
It was submitted by Mr. Setalvad that the phrase ‘continue to be levied’, which includes the word ‘levied’, has a wide connotation and not only includes the collection of tax but also the imposition of tax and the ascertaining of the amount due upon the taxpayer. The Court, while agreeing with the contention of Mr. Setalvad, stated that it is rightly contended that, before any tax is collected or assessed, the quantum of said tax must be assessed carefully and it must be done lawfully by a previous legislative sanction, i.e., an imposition of charge as decided by the authorities in the taxing statute. The Court further looked into the construction of the word “continue to be levied” under Article 277. For the said purposes, the Court looked into the judgement referred to by the respondent counsel in Chuttilal vs. Bagmal and Balwantrai (1956), wherein the relationship between the levy and application of tax was discussed and the Court agreed to its decision. Therefore, the Court upheld the judgement given by the High Court of Maharashtra (Nagpur bench). The Court stated that, in the present appeal, the terminal tax was imposed on the gunpowder exported or imported through rail and, before the commencement of the Constitution, there was no tax imposed on the same, hence, the appeal filed by the municipality is dismissed.
Analysis of the case
The Town Municipal Committee, Amravati vs. Ramchandra Vasudeo Chimote (1964) is significant as it has affirmed the principles of reasonableness in the actions of administration passed by the municipal authorities. It has also indirectly discussed the importance of the principles of the Constitution, specifically Article 14, which deals with equality before law and prohibits the actions of the state that are arbitrary in nature. If we look at the decision given in this case, the Supreme Court set a precedent with regard to the taxes charged by the authorities at the local level, wherein some instances of exercising arbitrariness are prevalent. The Court, through its judgement, has protected the rights of citizens who have to pay unnecessary tax, which is not valid as per the law. The decision also sheds light on the use of the power of judicial review by the Supreme Court, wherein it looked into the decision of the administrative authorities who imposed taxes on the goods imported and exported by rail. In this case, the scope of municipal powers has also been dealt with in regard to taxation and property. The Court observed that such powers vested in the municipal authorities must be used cautiously and within their specified ambit. Such instances in the future would prove to be very significant for the lower courts and High Courts as well in order to determine the legality of provisions with respect to levying taxes.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the case of the Town Municipal Committee, Amravati vs. Ramchandra Vasudeo Chimote (1964), is of paramount importance and sets an impactful precedent while dealing with the decisions of administration and in interpreting the provisions of the Constitution. The judiciary has played a significant role in protecting the rights of the persons who were aggrieved by the imposition of unnecessary terminal tax on the goods imported and exported by rail transport. This case will work as an important precedent for future cases that deal with the same aspect and are of the same subject matter.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Whether the local authorities have the authority or power to levy taxes?
Yes, the local or municipal authorities have the authority and power to collect taxes at the local level. The local authorities at different levels have been vested with the powers to levy local taxes like property tax, sales tax, excise tax etc.
What are the local taxes levied by the competent authorities?
The local taxes are different in every city and town and they are also known as the municipal taxes which are being levied by the municipalities as per the authority or power assigned to them in the relevant statutes or by the State or Central Government. They may include the property tax, sales tax, excise duties and taxes related to the other amenities like water supply.
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Corporate governance has become increasingly important in recent years, as investors and stakeholders alike demand greater transparency and accountability from businesses. One of the key components of corporate governance is the board of directors, which is responsible for overseeing the company’s management and ensuring that it is acting in the best interests of the shareholders. Independent directors play a vital role in this process, as they are not affiliated with the company’s management and are therefore able to provide an objective perspective on the company’s affairs.
This paper will explore the effectiveness of an independent director on any board. It will describe the aspects in which an independent director would be functioning in order to discharge one’s duty as an independent board member as expected by the role.
Independent directors play a vital role in corporate governance by providing an objective perspective on the company’s affairs and by holding management accountable for their actions. To be effective, independent directors must be truly independent, possess the necessary expertise and experience, and be objective and analytical in their approach to their duties. They must also be able to communicate effectively with management, fellow board members, and shareholders, and to collaborate with others to develop effective governance practices.
Who is an independent director
An independent director is a name given to a board member who is not related to the promoters or employees of a company in any way. They are also known as outside directors and carry the responsibility of striking a balance between the interests of promoters and other stakeholders, especially small investors. This, in turn, means they happen to be playing the role of a watchdog.
The independent directors bring unbiased and new perspectives to run the business or organisation based on their varied experience from different organisations, expertise in their field or both.
An independent director is a member of the board of a company who has no direct or indirect relationship with the company or its promoters and is not involved in active day to day management. Independent directors are an important link between a company’s board and other stakeholders. The presence of independent director on board is to ensure that the interest of stakeholders are protected, especially the non-controlling ones.
Independent directors do not have any conflict of interest with the company as well.
Roles and responsibilities of independent director
Independent directors are responsible for improving the company’s corporate credibility and governance standards, play an important role in managing associated and perceived risks, and also be part of and actively participate in different committees, setup by the company to ensure good governance
The key role of independent directors is to ensure corporate governance:
To uphold ethical standards of integrity and honesty,
Act objectively while exercising fiduciary duties during deliberations on board
Bring new perspectives and provide technical expertise on issues of strategy, risk management, and performance evaluation of board itself.
Succession planning of top management
Plan remuneration of top management and managers
Balancing the stakeholders’ interest and management’s interest
Safeguard the interest of all stakeholders
Monitor system to ensure financial integrity and all types of business risks
Report unethical practices, fraud and violations of government and company policies
Resolve conflicts
Audit and internal control
Effective supervision of regulations
Sustainable development of the company and it’s stakeholders
Board composition
The board of directors is the governing body of a company. It is responsible for overseeing the management of the company and ensuring that it is run in the best interests of the shareholders. The board consists of several members, each of whom has specific roles and responsibilities.
The executive members of the board are responsible for supervising the day-to-day management of the company. They typically include the CEO, CFO, and other senior executives. The chairperson of the board is responsible for leading the board meetings and ensuring that they are conducted in a fair and orderly manner. The independent directors are not employed by the company and are not affiliated with any of the executive members. They are responsible for providing objective oversight of the management and ensuring that the company is run in the best interests of the shareholders.
At least one-third of the members of the board should be independent directors. This is to ensure that the board has a diverse range of perspectives and that the independent directors can provide objective oversight of the management. The independent directors are typically elected by the shareholders and serve on the board for a specified term. They are not eligible to vote on matters that involve their own personal interests.
The board of directors is an important part of a company’s governance structure. It is responsible for ensuring that the company is run in a responsible and ethical manner and that the interests of the shareholders are protected.
Assessment defined
Assessment process basically comprises of data collection, data analysis and its interpretation to arrive at a conclusion for learning, development and continuous improvement. It is very important to be clear that interpretation should lead to actions which will improve the operations, which here means corporate governance.
So, the assessment requires:
Clarifying the role expectations in objective terms with independent director.
Setting up clear measurements that lead to the desired behaviours by independent director/s.
Self assessment and assessment by board members as per the rules and regulations applicable, as well as improving it.
Drawing actions to achieve the expectations of independent director.
Also, independent directors are supposed to evaluate the effectiveness of board managing day-to-day activities and senior management.
Challenges for independent directors
If remuneration is too high, the independent directors may tilt towards decisions taken by non-independent directors.
If remuneration is too low, the independent directors may not have enough motivation to effectively monitor the decisions and processes during board meetings.
Another interesting aspect is the position of the independent director in the board hierarchy. New/ lower position may hamper the intervention itself, by IDs.
The information flow to IDs may also be limited for those outsiders, especially if the board chairperson and CEO are the same person. This may hamper effective monitoring.
Maintaining high ethics.
Limited areas of expertise and depth of knowledge.
Tokenism and rubberstamping.
Board dynamics and power dynamics.
Goals of an organisation
The main goal of a commercial organisation is to create wealth for its stakeholders. Also, for non-profit organisations, one of the critical success factors may be the goal of creating wealth, which may be a critical success factor in running day to day operations
To support goal, one needs to look into the critical success factors, which happen to be customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and efficient operations and supply chains.
Also important is to keep tabs on sustainability (larger community), CSR (nearby community), fraud prevention (financial), regulatory compliance (government), risk prevention (short & long term), reduction in capital requirement, etc.
The effect
When the board takes care of these aspects, it attracts more business and investors. In turn, the requirement for funds is lower to efficiently and effectively run the business.
The assessment of role of independent directors
The assessment of the role of independent directors and their effectiveness for the growth and development of shareholders’ value in a firm is a crucial aspect of corporate governance. Independent directors, who are not affiliated with the management of the company, play a vital role in ensuring the interests of shareholders are protected and that the company is operating in a transparent and ethical manner.
One of the primary roles of independent directors is to provide oversight and guidance to the board of directors. They bring diverse perspectives, expertise, and experience to the board, contributing to informed decision-making. Independent directors challenge management assumptions, ask critical questions, and ensure that the company is adhering to its strategic objectives and legal obligations.
Furthermore, independent directors act as a check on executive compensation. They review and approve executive pay packages, ensuring that they are aligned with the company’s performance and that they do not incentivize excessive risk-taking. By doing so, independent directors help protect the interests of shareholders and promote sustainable, long-term growth.
Additionally, independent directors play a vital role in risk management. They review and oversee the company’s risk management policies and practices, ensuring that the company is adequately prepared to address potential challenges and opportunities. Independent directors also provide input on the company’s risk appetite and tolerance, helping to create a balanced approach to risk management.
Moreover, independent directors contribute to enhancing the company’s reputation and credibility. Their presence on the board signals to investors, customers, and other stakeholders that the company is committed to transparency, accountability, and good corporate governance. This can improve the company’s access to capital, attract top talent, and foster positive relationships with stakeholders.
It has been observed that financial performance improves with the presence of more and more independent directors to the tune of 5%, which corroborates the theory that independent directors monitor the performance of the organisation more effectively (Rosenstein and Wyatt, 1990) than management executives, who may have conflicts of interest with external stakeholders.
The large board takes more time to take decisions and, therefore, reduces the firm’s value.
Shareholders are fragmented and have an interest in making money, mostly through share trading. Also, the shareholders change frequently, so they do not have control over management. FIIs look to make money on investments and quit, so they do not look for long term attachment with management. This leads to a situation where decision-making remains with promoters and the management of the company. This means there is a need to keep an eye on insider management
Independent directors also balance the structure of the board, broadening the vision of the board and improving decision-making.
Independent directors, therefore, do not take specific decisions regarding day to day operations; rather, they monitor the decision-making by insiders.
The independent directors can thus also keep check on collusion between board of directors and management and the communication from management to the board members
The effect of independent directors has been studied by examining the impact of the introduction of independent directors on the level of operations or quality of governance of companies, as well as the relationship between the proportion of independent directors on the board and the characteristics of the company.
Also, if the ratio of independent directors is higher on the board, the disclosures are more regarding strategy and other information. Also, financial frauds and misappropriations are lower in listed companies.
There are also questions about the non-ability of independent directors to look beyond the familiar, i.e. new areas of research & development, innovations
Also, there could be some challenges related as the flip side of the coin:
The focus on ensuring the independence of independent directors is to establish a mechanism that protects their independence in the discharge of their duties
with regard to information, the Cadbury Committee emphasised that independent directors have the same powers to access information as executive directors and recognised that the extent to which independent directors fulfil their duties is closely linked to the quality of information they obtain
in terms of powers and responsibilities, the Cadbury Committee expects independent directors to be able to make choices in regulating the actions of the board and executive directors, and when there are conflicting potential interests
With the above goals and effects of the actions of the board and the role of independent directors, we shall assess them on the following accounts:
Quantitative:
Decide on current snapshot and trends of financial measures (net profit, ROI, ROCE, P/E ratio, etc.).
Tobin’s Q Ratio
Attendance – availability for board and committee meetings
Qualitative:
Participation during meetings.
Interventions brought to table.
Experience in terms of years served on board and how many boards served!
Expertise in areas like audits, ESG, Compensation and recruitment, CSR, etc.
Conclusion
The presence of independent director on a board is relatively new regulation, although not a new concept. Independent directors have the challenging role of being a watchdog to keep a balance between promoters and other stakeholders and are supposed to ensure that the organisation generates and continues to generate wealth for the stakeholders in transparent and ethical way. There happen to be cha+llenges for independent directors as well. As spelled out above. The specific goals have to be spelled out and progress of the organisation is to be done for achievement of these goals and the way they are being achieved
The assessment of independent directors may be done on a quantitative and qualitative scale by themselves, their peers and other directors and stakeholders.
Coined by John McCarthy, also known as the father of Artificial Intelligence, the term “AI” refers to the ability of a machine to display human-like capabilities with a focus on cognitive skills like learning, reasoning, self-correction and creativity to achieve a desired outcome in a short time with the use of algorithms. AI is a field of research in computer science that deals with the development and study of methods and software that enable us to perform tasks like speech recognition, language translation, data analytics, etc. to maximise our chances of achieving defined goals within a short time without compromising on the quality of the output.
Uses and importance of AI in the business world
Artificial Intelligence analyses real-time data to identify opportunities for improvement and growth that have attracted global interest. Deployment of marketing engagement strategies tailored to specific customer segments has increased customer support levels because of the personalised recommendations that chatbots provide through interactive customer service 24/7. Now, let’s understand how AI can help us achieve our desired outcomes and its impact on various industries.
AI in business decision-making
Businesses work with huge volumes of data and leverage AI algorithms to analyse historical data to predict future demand. For example, in the AgTech industry, farmers and scientists use AI to predict yields, monitor crops and keep pests at bay by using pre-programmed drones to spray weedicides or fungicides. Innovative machines like an automatic seeder sow a large area without human interference. Similarly, AI enables farmers to plant, fertilise, cultivate, and harvest crops and monitor soil moisture levels. The travel and transportation industry uses AI-collected data from radar, GPS, cameras, etc. to make travel arrangements and suggest hotels, flights, and the best routes to customers. Travel businesses use AI-powered chatbots that use algorithms to analyse real-time traffic data, road closures, and other variables to suggest the fastest and most efficient routes for drivers, minimising travel time and enhancing user satisfaction. The banking sector has witnessed an increase in productivity and cybersecurity after it used AI to automate back-office procedures and offered personalised banking services based on predictive analysis. Robo-advisors provide wealth management services based on the individual’s spending and financial activities, preferences and risk profiles. Financial institutions can make well-informed lending decisions based on credit scoring powered by AI that utilises alternative data sources and ML algorithms to enhance the accuracy of assessing the creditworthiness of individuals and businesses. The result of all these efforts is brand loyalty.
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
In today’s digital age, language transcends mere communication- it’s a bridge between humans and machines. Natural language processing makes computers understand and generate human language. Chatbots powered by NLP can gauge sentiments like joy, scepticism, frustration, etc. hidden within the text and assist with tasks, empowering businesses to respond empathetically. Besides this, NLP breaks language barriers by allowing travellers and businesses to communicate effectively.
Machine learning algorithms
Machine learning (ML) algorithms are the architects of our data-driven world. Linear Regression, Decision Trees and Neural Networks (Deep Learning) are commonly used techniques in Machine Learning. Linear Regression lays the foundation; decision trees guide our choices, and neural networks unlock the future. Linear Regression predicts GDP growth, stock price forecasting and customer lifetime value estimation. Decision trees identifying diseases, customer segmentation, and fraud detection. Deep Learning models learn from data layers for speech recognition, self-driving cars, Netflix recommendations, etc.
AI and cybersecurity
AI isn’t just for big corporations. It assists security professionals by recognizing complex data patterns, providing actionable recommendations, and enabling autonomous mitigation. It safeguards sensitive data, trade secrets and customer information. AI studies user behaviour and alerts if it spots anomalies, i.e. someone deviates from the norm. It predicts potential threats about wi-fi connected devices when those start acting weird. It safeguards you from malware, scams and spam emails by sending a polite alert regarding the potential risk. Automation of cybersecurity tasks using AI results in faster data collection, dynamic incident management, and efficient response, allowing security professionals to focus on strategic activities.
Ethical considerations in AI
Artificial Intelligence stands at the crossroads of innovation and responsibility. Vigilance is required to rectify biases and ensure equitable outcomes so that even marginalised communities benefit. We must guide AI ethically, ensuring alignment with societal values, as transparency fosters trust and enables stakeholders (like developers, regulators or end-users) to comprehend its decision-making process. Developed models like LIME and SHAP explain their predictions. Ethical AI development involves collaboration among researchers, policymakers, and industry stakeholders to create responsible and accountable AI systems.
AI and customer experience
AI-powered chatbots ease business operations by utilising natural language processing (NLP) to answer simple queries and provide tailored responses based on individual needs and preferences. Chatbots available around the clock eliminate frustration caused by long wait times. AI algorithms continuously learn and adapt, ensuring relevance to changing customer preferences that make customers feel valued, resulting in recommendation engines significantly boosting sales and conversion rates. AI gauges customer sentiments from interactions and predicts customer behaviour for targeted marketing efforts through tailored website content, email marketing messages, and social media posts. Keeping the various benefits of integrating AI in mind, businesses have started integrating AI into their daily operations. It has led to workforce changes and job restructures. Microsoft, Google, SAP, Duolingo, etc., laid off hundreds of workers and announced their plans to restructure thousands of jobs recently. In January 2024, tech firms let go of more than 7,500 employees, and the tech sector has witnessed over 32,000 layoffs. AI, quality and cost-cutting are reportedly the main reasons behind these layoffs.
AI education and upskilling
Employee performance metrics, job requirements, and future trends can be analysed using AI algorithms. It helps to identify skill gaps that either already exist or are likely to emerge due to the integration of AI into businesses. Once identified, employees should be re-skilled through platforms like Coursera and Grow with Google that provide practical AI learning opportunities during the transitional phase of AI adoption by businesses. Salient features include skills mastery assessment, personalised learning paths, microlearning, gamification, and robust feedback loops that are key to unlocking a more competitive and future-ready workforce.
AI and creativity
AI is an intelligent technology that revolutionises creativity by augmenting human capabilities, inspiring new ideas, and challenging traditional boundaries. Gone are the days when only a person with an artistic bent of mind could create original artwork. Now, even a novice can create original art by giving appropriate commands to AI that does this work after using algorithms to analyse patterns, colours, and styles from existing artworks. Musicians infuse their creativity into AI-generated melodies to come up with unique creations. Similarly, writers use AI to ignite their imaginations. AI can refine ideas and suggest numerous variations and twists to writers if they ever run out of ideas.
AI and remote work
Remote work has become a prevalent and indispensable aspect of the modern professional landscape. Individuals from diverse industries across the globe are embracing this flexible and convenient work arrangement. This surge in remote work has prompted a paradigm shift in the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in these settings. AI is no longer a futuristic concept but an evolving reality, shaping the future of remote work in unprecedented ways.
Predictive analysis indicates a continuous trajectory of AI advancements specifically tailored for remote work scenarios. AI technologies are poised to revolutionise the way remote teams collaborate, communicate, and deliver exceptional results.
The integration of AI-powered tools such as Asana and Trello has already begun to redefine the quality of remote work. These tools leverage AI algorithms to automate routine tasks, prioritise workloads, and optimise schedules. By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, AI empowers remote workers to focus on more strategic and creative aspects of their jobs.
Moreover, AI-powered virtual assistants are emerging as invaluable assets for remote teams. These assistants can handle a wide range of tasks, from scheduling meetings and managing calendars to providing real-time updates and reminders. By reducing the administrative burden, virtual assistants free up remote workers to dedicate more time to impactful projects.
AI is also revolutionising remote communication and collaboration. AI-powered translation tools enable seamless communication between team members speaking different languages. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies facilitate immersive and interactive experiences, fostering a sense of presence and connection among remote workers.
Furthermore, AI is transforming remote learning and development. AI-powered platforms offer personalised training modules and interactive simulations, enabling remote workers to continuously enhance their skills and knowledge. This ensures that remote teams remain agile, adaptable, and proficient in their respective domains.
As AI continues to evolve, so too will its applications in remote work. The possibilities are limitless, ranging from AI-powered productivity enhancement tools to intelligent decision-making systems. Remote work is poised to become even more efficient, effective, and engaging as AI becomes an integral part of the remote work landscape. AI spots trends that guide decision-making and minimises human error to transform data through actionable intelligence. It acts as a cybersecurity guardian that detects anomalies, prevents breaches, and ensures ethical practices.
Advanced statistics
AI can turn available historical raw data into gold. Advanced statistics are a concierge to our desires. They bridge the gap between human expression and digital understanding. They unravel our preferences, map our desires, and serve tailored content through every ad, product and experience. Probabilistic, advanced statistics nudge us towards informed choices by predicting stock prices, weather patterns, and customer behaviour. One must carefully evaluate whether the correlations presented are real or illusive and then make a choice.
Ways that AI will transform business
Here are a few ways that AI will continue to transform business in the years to come:
Increased automation: AI-powered robots and software will take on more and more tasks that are currently performed by humans. This will free up workers to focus on more strategic and creative tasks.
Improved decision-making: AI can help businesses make better decisions by providing insights into data that would be difficult or impossible for humans to analyse on their own. This can lead to improved efficiency, productivity, and profitability.
Personalised customer experiences: AI can be used to create personalised customer experiences that are tailored to each individual’s needs and preferences. This can help businesses build stronger relationships with their customers and increase sales.
New products and services: AI is also being used to create new products and services that would not be possible without it. For example, AI-powered chatbots can provide customer service 24/7, and AI-powered algorithms can be used to develop new drugs and treatments.
Improved supply chain management: AI can help businesses optimise their supply chains by predicting demand, managing inventory, and tracking shipments. This can lead to reduced costs, improved efficiency, and increased customer satisfaction. For example, AI can help businesses identify which products are most likely to be in demand and ensure that they have enough inventory on hand to meet customer needs.
New product and service development: AI can be used to develop new products and services that meet the needs of consumers. AI-powered algorithms can analyse data to identify new trends and opportunities, and AI-powered design tools can help businesses create innovative new products. This can help businesses stay ahead of the competition and grow their market share. For example, a pharmaceutical company could use AI to develop new drugs that are more effective and have fewer side effects.
Fraud detection and prevention: AI can be used to detect and prevent fraud by analysing large amounts of data to identify suspicious patterns. This can help businesses protect their assets and reduce their financial losses. For example, a bank could use AI to identify fraudulent credit card transactions.
Improved cybersecurity: AI can be used to improve cybersecurity by detecting and preventing cyberattacks. AI-powered security systems can analyse network traffic to identify suspicious activity and AI-powered threat intelligence can help businesses stay up-to-date on the latest threats. This can help businesses protect their data and systems from unauthorised access. For example, a hospital could use AI to detect and prevent ransomware attacks.
Disadvantages of AI in business
The disadvantages of AI in business are:
Job displacement: AI-powered automation can replace human workers in various industries, leading to job losses and potential unemployment.
Ethical concerns: AI systems can raise ethical concerns, such as bias, discrimination, and lack of transparency in decision-making processes.
Data privacy and security: AI requires extensive data collection, which can raise concerns about data privacy and security. Misuse of personal information could lead to identity theft, fraud, or manipulation.
Lack of emotional intelligence: AI systems lack emotional intelligence, which can hinder effective communication and understanding of customer needs. This can impact customer satisfaction and relationships.
Cost and maintenance: Implementing and maintaining AI systems can be expensive, requiring specialized skills and infrastructure. Small businesses with limited resources may struggle to adopt AI.
Transparency and accountability: AI algorithms can be complex and difficult to understand, making it challenging to identify potential biases or errors. This lack of transparency can make it difficult to hold AI systems accountable for their decisions.
Safety and reliability: AI systems can be prone to errors, especially when dealing with complex or unexpected situations. This can lead to safety concerns in industries such as healthcare or transportation.
Regulatory and legal challenges: AI technology is rapidly evolving, and regulatory frameworks may not be equipped to address potential risks and ethical issues. This can create uncertainties and challenges for businesses adopting AI.
Limited creativity and innovation: AI systems are designed to perform specific tasks based on data and algorithms. They lack the creativity and ability to think outside the box, which can limit innovation and the development of new ideas.
Bias and discrimination: AI systems can perpetuate or amplify existing biases and discrimination. This can occur when data used to train AI models contains biases, leading to unfair or discriminatory outcomes.
Future readiness
AI is a seismic shift bound to redefine business operations. To make the best use of AI, one should consider regular audits of AI algorithm models for fairness and the involvement of diverse teams to reduce bias in AI development. Fairness-aware machine learning techniques ensuring transparency and explainability would help enhance customer experiences, improve decision-making, and streamline operations while valuing human intuition and creativity. Another important consideration is identifying skills like data science, natural language processing, machine learning, understanding AI ethics, etc., and encouraging employees to take online courses, attend workshops, and participate in AI-related projects for continuous upskilling. AI is a dynamic field, with new research and breakthroughs emerging regularly. Understanding how these advancements impact your industry is vital for being agile in adapting business strategies based on AI trends. Attending conferences, reading research papers, and engaging with AI communities would help you stay updated.
Conclusion
AI solutions apply to almost every industry we know: from sales and marketing in retail businesses to manufacturing and healthcare, from credit scoring and risk management to travel agency chatbots and robot assistants, from demand forecasting to online medical diagnosis, artificial intelligence is changing the way we do business, live, and travel. We have no idea what’s going to happen in the future. The only thing we know for sure is that artificial intelligence and machine learning have great potential to improve the quality of life of people by taking care of their well-being, fostering effective business decisions, offering inclusive financial services, and much more. Businesses that proactively prepare for the AI-driven future will thrive. Others can navigate this exciting era of technological transformation by upskilling employees, maintaining a human-centric approach, addressing biases, staying informed, and fostering collaboration. The transitional phase of AI adoption by businesses can be a challenging time for employees. However, by taking advantage of the resources available to them, employees can ensure that they are prepared for the future of work.
This article is written by Oishika Banerji and Zehra Jamal. The article explores the various international job opportunities that are available for an Indian IP lawyer. The article further elaborates on the formal requirements for pursuing such international jobs in IP law. The article tries to cover the maximum information available regarding international careers for Indian lawyers in IP law.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The term “intellectual property” refers to those creations of the human mind that are intangible in nature. For the protection of such intangible creations of the human mind, the intellectual property law has been developed. The intellectual property law (hereinafter referred to as ‘IP law’) is thus, an emerging branch of legal studies that correlates with the protection of intangible assets created by human minds.
In recent times, several lawyers in India have chosen to specialise in IP law as compared to the older times. The reason behind such a change is the availability of good jobs and career prospects in the field of IP law. The availability of jobs in the field of IP law isn’t just limited to India, instead, there are several international job opportunities available for Indian lawyers in IP law.
Several big economies, such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America, China, etc. also offer various job opportunities for Indian lawyers in IP law. An Indian lawyer specialising in IP law has a huge earning scope in these countries. IP lawyers have numerous roles and job openings in these countries.
However, they are not the only countries where international job opportunities are present for Indian lawyers in IP law. Several good international jobs and careers for Indian lawyers in IP law are also present in other countries as well, such as in Japan, Korea, other East Asian countries, etc. Also, the international opportunities for IP lawyers in India are not restricted to just these regions of the world. In fact, there are various international opportunities for Indian lawyers in IP across the globe. However, it would not be a great idea to discuss all such opportunities in a single article, because that would compromise the quality of the article, and lead to confusion among readers. Thus, in this article, we will discuss the international opportunities for Indian lawyers in IP law in the most important regions of the world only.
This article will help you enhance your knowledge regarding a career in IP law. For the convenience of readers, the article is divided into 4 parts. Firstly, the article discusses major jobs that an IP lawyer is required to do in their professional career. Secondly, the article briefly enlightens the reader on what IP law is, along with the important areas of IP law. This part of the article will be in brief, because the author believes that anyone willing to make a career in IP law must already be aware of these things. Thirdly, the article sheds light on the opportunities available for an IP lawyer in India. It discusses pan India opportunities for an IP lawyer. Fourthly, the article delves into the ocean of opportunities for an IP lawyer present in the international market. It deals with the opportunities in some of the most renowned workplaces in the international market, i.e., the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and the East Asian countries. Lastly, the author concludes the article, along with some of the most frequently asked questions on the topic.
Major jobs done by an IP lawyer in their professional career
An IP lawyer, both in India and abroad, has a sea of opportunities to dive in. The major jobs that an IP lawyer is expected to perform in their professional career include:
Preparing documentation required for patents or trademark petitions – This is a frequent activity for IP lawyers. Most IP lawyers work with patent and trademark agencies in the United States and around the world to perform such works.
Representing parties in intellectual property disputes – Another important job of an IP lawyer is that of representing a person or an organisation in disputes with third parties that are abusing the client’s intellectual property. On one hand, this could be as simple as writing a formal letter citing intellectual property ownership and stating that it cannot be utilised without authorisation, while on the other hand, this might also be as complicated as filing a lawsuit and then going to court if a settlement cannot be struck.
Protecting parties from IP-bullies – IP-bullies are well developed large companies that make use of their trademarks to harass and intimidate smaller companies in order to suppress competition in their field. IP lawyers can assist businesses and individuals in defending themselves against over-assertions of intellectual property by so-called “IP-bullies,” or against the brands and businesses that overly enforce their rights.
Analysis and research for their clients –IP lawyers may analyse laws and regulations for clients, perform research for various documents, and communicate with clients and other legal experts both orally and in writing.
I’m assuming you’re reading this because you’re considering a career in intellectual property law at some level in your life. Let me paint you a picture with the help of this article to help you decide whether to go for it or not, or simply examine the possibilities. You can look into these two articles as well which can provide you with additional knowledge concerning this topic;
After reading the above two articles, you will become versed with the topic. Also, after reading this article, you will become aware of the better international job opportunities and career prospects available for Indian lawyers in IP law, which will in turn help you to make the right decision for your career.
What is IP Law
IP law, expanded to intellectual property law, is a part of property law. It is that branch of law that deals with the creation and protection of intangible assets created as a result of mental labour. These laws help protect and enforce the rights of creators and owners of intellectual property. Some of the most important areas of IP law are discussed below.
Important areas of IP Law
The important areas of IP law include copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, industrial design, geographical indications (GI), semiconductors, and plant varieties protection, amongst others. They are briefly discussed below:
Copyrights
Copyright refers to the act of granting protection to the original work of authorship from the moment the work of the author comes into existence in a tangible form of expression. It is one of the most important forms of IP rights. In India, copyrights are governed by the Copyright Act, 1957.
Trademark
The IP consisting of a sign, design, logo, or any other such thing that distinguishes the brand of one enterprise from other enterprises is known as a trademark. It can be granted to an individual, a firm or business, or any legal entity, amongst others. In India, trademarks are governed through the Trade Marks Act, 1999.
Patents
A patent is granted for a novel and useful invention. It is a form of IP through which the government provides limited property rights to the person who invented it, in exchange for an agreement to share the details of their invention for the use of the public. In India, patents are governed through the Patents Act, 1970.
Trade secrets
Trade secret refers to the trade practice of a company that is of substantial importance to the business, and is not known to the public generally. It gives the company a competitive advantage over the other companies in the same business. The trade secrets are developed by the companies through their own research and development. In India, there is no exclusive legislation dedicated to trade secrets, however, the rights granted by trade secrets are governed through the Indian Contract Act, 1872.
Industrial design
Industrial design is a form of creative art that determines or designs the features of a product. The industrial design for a product is prepared before the manufacturing of the aid product, and the product is designed in accordance with the industrial design. In India, industrial designs are governed by the Designs Act, 2000.
Geographical indications
The geographical indication is a kind of sign which is placed on the products belonging to any specific geographical area and has some special qualities emerging from that area. It is protected under IP rights in India. However, for a product to identify as a GI, a sign must be placed on it identifying its geographical origin. In India, they are governed through the Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
Semiconductor
Semiconductor also refers to any kind of logic, chip, processor, cell, etc. which has been verified and can be used in any other design. It is a reusable kind of design that is protected by IP. In India, semiconductors are governed by the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout Design Act, 2000.
Plant variety protection
Plant variety protection is a form of intellectual property right that provides the breeders of a new variety of plant with legal protection, with respect to the use and exploitation of the new variety of plant. The plant varieties protection grants exclusive rights to the breeders of new plant varieties that are registered as an IP. Plant variety protection is also known by the name of plant breeder’s rights. In India, plant varities protection is governed by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act, 2001.
Opportunities available in India for IP lawyers
There are various opportunities that are available for an IP lawyer in India. Such opportunities work as small small steps for those IP lawyers who wish to become international lawyers in the field of IP law. This is because most of the international job opportunities in IP law require previous experience working in the required field of law. Thus, IP law opportunities in India prove to be a ladder to becoming successful in the international IP law field. Some of the important opportunities that are present for IP lawyers in India include but are not limited to:
Competition law
Competition law is understood to discourage monopolistic behaviour whereas IP is known to achieve a monopoly over innovation or invention. We are well aware that the field of competition law and intellectual property rights are closely intertwined, and a comprehensive grasp of their intricate and multidimensional relationships is vital in today’s dynamic marketplaces of India. These two ends lead to one single objective, which is to benefit consumers by supporting a strong environment for innovation. An in-depth study of a company’s strategies and policies, as well as the formulation of new ones and the drafting of agreements, is thus a rising possibility for IP lawyers.
Working in the competition law sector helps a candidate gain experience as an IP lawyer. This experience comes in handy when the candidate applies for an international job in IP law. Major career opportunities for IP lawyers in this field are IP solicitors’ jobs, patent attorney roles, business support roles, etc.
One of the major works of competition law is to establish such fair behaviour in the market that leads to the prevention of unauthorised making and selling of patented products. Anyone who has worked in this field of competition will have massive experience in dealing with patent filing litigation. Therefore, the candidate will have leverage over others in international job opportunities with respect to patent attorney and patent filing litigation jobs.
Audits and valuation
Intellectual property auditing is a tool that is commonly used by businesses to account for the intangible assets that they have generated through time. Several law firms across India are offering IP audits and valuation services. Such work experience helps the candidate to land a better job at the international level in IP law.
These auditing and valuation jobs help the candidate gain practical experience in IP auditing and managerial services. In the international market, several prominent IP law firms require previous experience in auditing and managerial roles, especially in the job roles of patent formalities administrator and patent paralegal.
Corporate law
Corporate law is significant when it comes to protecting intellectual property. Corporate law oversees the formation and administration of corporate entities. Corporate law offers firms a framework for defending their intellectual property and upholding their ownership rights.
The creation of confidential information agreements, licence agreements, assignment agreements, and franchise agreements are all examples of agreements (to name a few) in intellectual property law that are required in companies. Firms like Anand and Anand, Khurana and Khurana, and RK Dewan & Co are some of the tier-1 firms to which one can apply for these job roles. Major international career opportunities that are promoted by corporate law are law firm jobs and in-house counsel jobs.
The candidates who have worked in the corporate law field have experience with confidential information agreements, regulatory compliance, due diligence, etc., experience with these works is the major requisite for working in an international law firm or as an in-house counsel in international IP law.
Investigation and enforcement advisory
Discovering IP infringement is one of the most important aspects of IP enforcement. In such cases, investigators who are familiar with IP laws are better qualified to investigate and provide appropriate advice on whether or not enforcement action should be taken. Working in the investigation and enforcement advisory helps an individual to become a better candidate for international IP law jobs.
The experience an individual gains while working in the investigation and enforcement advisory sector helps them to understand the basics of IP infringement. This is the prerequisite experience required by several prominent international law firms of IP law, offering jobs such as IP solicitor jobs or patent attorney jobs.
Non-technical IP lawyers
Legal associates: Legal associates are majorly focused on the corporate work environment. For eg IP counsel, IP advisor, etc of any law firm in or outside India. Work experience as a legal associate is the most general criterion that most of the international law firms in IP law look for when hiring candidates for their companies.
Judge: A judge is not specifically for the field of intellectual property but the law in general. An extremely reputed professional field in law is that of a judge.
Lecturer: One can teach intellectual property in colleges and universities. This profession is highly demanded because of the rising interest in the field of intellectual property as a specialisation subject. Several openings in international IP law are for the post of lecturer in foreign universities. Having an experience as a lecturer makes the candidate more suitable for such openings.
Author: Any individual specialising in intellectual property can become an author according to their interest. Extensive amounts of research work are involved if one intends to become an IP author. Though not many job openings require the experience of an author as a prerequisite for their jobs, the research work experience while working as an author might help a candidate to become a better option for research associate jobs in international IP law.
Journalist: Individuals who work as legal journalists cover themes that are fully relevant to the law. Their duty includes specialised reporting on all things relating to the legal profession. Legal journalists grasp the legal issue at hand and communicate it to the broader public using a variety of media.
Pay scale of IP lawyer in India
As per a report of the payscale, the average base salary of an IP lawyer in India is around 1,300,000 INR for the year 2024.
The above salary is, however, not inclusive of the bonus given to IP lawyers in India.
As per the payscale, the bonus offered to IP lawyers in India ranges somewhere around 2,50,000 INR.
The data also revealed that a junior IP lawyer with less than 4 years of experience earns around 7,80,000 INR in a year.
The data also revealed that a senior IP lawyer having up to 20 years of experience, earns around 9,300,000 INR in a year.
Overseas opportunities for Indian lawyers in IP law
United Kingdom
Patent and trademark attorney jobs
Several prominent firms have openings for patent and trademark attorneys at both the part-time and full-time levels. There are a variety of positions available in London and around the UK, ranging from an ongoing contract post as a Trademark Attorney in London to a specialised Electronic Patent Attorney working from home.
The patent and trademark attorney jobs are amongst the leading jobs for an IP lawyer in the UK currently. Some of the most noticeable features of these jobs include:
Availability of jobs in various locations of the UK – These patent and trademark attorney jobs are not just confined to a few popular locations in the UK. Instead, they are available in various locations of the UK, such as London, Yorkshire, Scotland, East Anglia, West Midlands, Ireland, Wales, South East UK, South West UK, North West, UK, etc. This is quite helpful because of the availability of housing facilities, standard of living, etc. as an individual can choose in which area they want to work and what facilities and standard of living they want to avail.
Availability of jobs in diversified sectors – These patent and trademark attorney jobs in the UK are available in various sectors so that people having expertise in diversified sectors can land a job. The said sectors provide a range of diversified jobs, for example, software patent attorney job, machine learning patent attorney job in IT sector, engineering patent attorney job in mechanical engineering field, jobs in chemistry sector, physics sector, and biotechnology sector, amongst other sectors.
Availability of jobs for people having minimal experience to vast experience – These patent and trademark attorney jobs in the UK are available for people having minimal experience, as well as for people having vast experience. This makes it suitable for new learners as well as heavily experienced individuals to join jobs suitable for them. Some of these jobs require part qualified attorneys, and newly qualified attorneys with up to 2 years of post qualification experience, while other jobs require final standard or fully qualified patent attorney.
Examples of patent and trademark attorney job openings in the UK
This senior patent attorney job in the AI, electronics, and telecom sector in London, UK is open for Indian lawyers looking for international opportunities in IP law. In order to be eligible for this job, the candidate requires 3 years of post qualified experience in the AI, electronics, and telecom sectors. It is immaterial whether the candidate has gained such an experience in an Indian organisation or international organisation.
This part qualified or fully qualified patent attorney job in the mechanical engineering sector at West Midlands, UK is open to Indian lawyers. However, this role also requires the candidate to have a degree in mechanical engineering or a similar kind of degree. This job is a perfect fit for an Indian who is also qualified as a mechanical engineer and lawyer.
This trademark attorney job in Ireland is open to Indian lawyers who are working in the IP law field. Though, this job is a remote job, with the option of working from home, Indian candidates need to shift to Ireland in order to be eligible for this job because a requirement of this job is that the candidate should be based in any location of Ireland.
Another qualification of this job is that the candidate should be a qualified EU trademark attorney. Thus, for an Indian lawyer to be eligible for this job, they need to become a qualified EU trademark attorney. They can become the same by:
Having a law degree or its equivalent, either of India or any other EU member state;
Such a degree should have been recognised by the Bar Council of Ireland;
Should have expertise in trademark law.
Patent and trademark support roles
Attorneys and lawyers aren’t the only ones working in the patent and trademark legal field. There are numerous high-profile support positions available, ranging from a Patent Records Team Leader earning roughly £55,000 to a Temporary Patent Secretary required for an urgent assignment.
The jobs regarding patent and trademark support roles are widely available in the UK. Some of the features of these jobs include:
Available in different modes – The patent and trademark attorney jobs in the UK are available in different modes. Some of these jobs are full time, work from the office, while some others are remote working jobs, and some jobs are available in hybrid settings with flexible working hours as well. This will help an individual to decide which mode they prefer.
Training provided – Some of these patent and trademark attorney jobs in the UK also provide training to freshers or new joiners, thereby helping an individual to better understand their role in the organisation.
Various roles available – There are various roles available for patent and trademark attorney jobs in the UK, for example – trainee paralegal role, trademark support specialist, IP records assistant, etc.
Examples of patent and trademark support job openings in the UK
The patent formalities administrator role in London is open to Indian candidates willing to pursue an international career in IP law. However, candidates should already have worked in any patent law firm in India or globally because this job requires the candidate to be an experienced patent formalities administrator. Further, the candidate should also be versed in the working of EPOline, which is an online service for patent businesses. Thus, for this role, an Indian candidate who has already worked in any other European law firm would be a perfect match.
For this role of trademark paralegal in West Midlands, the candidate should have previous experience in dealing with trademarks. Also, the company gives leverage to candidates who have CITMA qualifications which is similar to Indian CA. Thus, an Indian candidate who has done law and CA and has past experience dealing with trademark cases will be the perfect candidate for this job. However, other Indian lawyers who have experience in dealing with trademark cases also fulfil the eligibility criteria, and can apply for this job.
This opportunity of trainee IP (paralegal) in trademarks is a very good opportunity for fresh law graduates in India who want to make an international career in IP law. The basic requisite for this job is that the candidate should be a recent law graduate and should have interest in trademark law. Apart from the recent law graduates, other Indian candidates who have experience of being a paralegal are also invited to apply for this job.
IP solicitor jobs
IP solicitor jobs are usually those where an advocate is required to solicit their advice on legal issues and help with other paperwork and legal documents of the clients. They are usually required to work on legal matters in a particular jurisdiction.
One of the most exciting jobs available right now is with a London law firm, which is looking for a talented Soft IP Solicitor. Candidates must have three to five years of post-qualification experience (PQE) and be willing to work with high-profile clientele.
Litigation and dispute resolution in IP law
In order to grab an international opportunity of working as an IP lawyer, Indian law graduates can also start their own litigation practice and dispute resolution in the UK under a senior in the IP area. This will help them in successfully making a career in IP litigations and dispute resolution. However, an individual who graduated from India cannot simply start practising law in the UK. Instead, there are some requirements for an Indian to practise law in the UK. They are dealt in detail below:
Qualifications required for Indian lawyers to practise law in the UK
In order to practise law in the UK, an individual needs to crack the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). The Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) is a two level assessment exam. The details regarding the SQE can be accessed here. Apart from qualifying for the SQE, an individual is also required to have the following requisites in order to practise law in the UK:
The candidate should be graduated – In order to apply for the SQE, the candidate must have a bachelor’s degree. However, it is not necessary that the candidate should have done their bachelor’s degree in the law field. Just a bachelor’s degree is required, and not specifically a law degree to sit for the SQE.
The candidate should have relevant work experience – Yet another requirement for a candidate to be eligible for practising law in the UK is that the said candidate should have relevant experience working in the field of law. This requirement is laid down by the UK’s Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). As per the SRA, the candidate should have at least 2 years of work experience in the field of law. It includes working with a law firm, running your own litigation practice, managing legal aid clinics, paralegals, etc. However, this work experience can be gathered either before giving SQE, or after giving it.
The candidate must fulfil the criteria of character and suitable requirements – Another requirement for the candidate to be eligible for practising law in the UK is that the candidate should qualify the criteria of character and suitable requirements. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) of the UK has laid down the following factors for determining the character and suitable requirements:
Any action taken against the candidate by any disciplinary committee;
The financial matters of the candidate, including issues such as insolvency or bankruptcy;
Any criminal record or conviction history of the candidate;
Any other record of offence done by the candidate, relating to cheating or education.
In-house counsel jobs
Another fascinating job available for IP lawyers in the UK is in-house counsel. An in-house counsel lawyer is the employee of a multinational organisation that takes care of the legal affairs of the organisation itself. The work of an in-house counsel lawyer in the IP field is generally to protect and promote the intellectual property of the company. It also includes giving legal advice, doing legal compliances, drafting contracts on behalf of the company, etc.
An Indian law graduate who has 7+ years of post qualified experience of working in fintech is the perfect candidate for this in-house legal counsel role at Global Screening Services in the UK. However, other Indian candidates who have an experience of working 7+ years in the legal field, and they seek to establish their International IP law career, they are also encouraged to apply for this role.
This in-house role of a legal counsel at ErringtonLegal is open for such lawyers who are aspiring to move from private practice to in-house counsel. The role is also open to such commercial lawyers who have two to six years of post qualified experience in their field. Thus, an Indian law graduate who has an experience of private practice or has two to six years of experience of practising commercial law can apply to this role.
Jobs with international organisations
Another job for IP lawyers in the UK is working with international organisations. Though it is not easy for a fresher to land a job at an international organisation, however, with the required work experience and skills, an IP lawyer can land a job at an international organisation in the UK. Some of the important factors international organisations take into consideration while considering a candidate for a job include but are not limited to the following:
Required experience – The foremost thing a candidate needs to have for working with an international organisation is the requisite experience in how these organisations work. One important way to get such requisite experience is to work with the set organisation in the capacity of an intern or a volunteer. This helps you understand the function of the organisation more accurately and increases your chance of landing a job in that organisation.
Knowledge of other languages – In order to work with an international organisation, the candidate needs to have knowledge of other languages which are used there. Candidates can take certificate courses, language classes, etc. to enhance their linguistic skills and become better candidates for landing a job at an international organisation.
Having a master’s degree – Yet another important factor international organisations take into consideration while hiring a candidate is their educational qualification. In such cases, having a master’s degree puts a great impression on the employer. Such degrees must be from a reputed institute recognised worldwide.
Examples of international organisation jobs in the UK
This role of legal advisor at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is open to law graduates who have previous experience of working in the field of law, either as a legal advisor or in any other similar roles. Thus, an Indian law graduate who seeks to establish their international career in IP law, and has a near experience of working as a legal advisor, can apply for this job.
Lectureship
Another important job for IP lawyers in the UK is to opt for a lectureship or academic professorship. It is a less hectic job as compared to other jobs available for IP lawyers. The best place to opt for lecturership is universities in the UK. The universities in the UK regularly post openings for lectureships in different departments. However, to become a lecturer in the UK, a candidate is required to have a bachelor’s and master’s degree in their chosen subject. In many of the reputed universities, the candidate is also expected to have PhD qualifications in the interested field.
This role of lecturership in intellectual property law at the University of Reading is open to Indian law graduates who wish to seek a career in international IP law. An Indian candidate who has previous experience in teaching or research at any university will be the perfect match for this job. However, other Indian law graduates who have completed their doctoral thesis are also eligible to apply for this role.
Pay scale of an IP lawyer in the UK
The average salary of an IP lawyer in the UK is € 66, 516 per annum. However, this salary is not inclusive of cash compensation to them, which ranges from € 1, 812 to € 7, 931. The salaries for some of the important IP lawyer jobs in the UK are given below:
Intellectual property attorney job – € 62, 725
Chief patent counsel job – € 50, 493
Trademark attorney job – € 62, 725
IP Solicitor job – € 45, 000
USA
Copyright breach disputes
Copyright breach is making the use of any material which is protected by copyright, without having the permission from its owner to use it. In other words, a copyright breach dispute simply refers to the dispute that arises because of the act of breaching the copyright of a protected material. The IP lawyers are engaged in issues arising out of copyright breach disputes, and the IP lawyers solve these copyright breach disputes through negotiation, mediation, etc.
In the UK, various copyright breach dispute jobs are available for IP lawyers. Some of them do not require litigation, while others do. For those of copyright breach disputes which require litigation, their requisites will be discussed under the litigation part.
Examples of copyright breach dispute jobs in the USA
Copyright specialist job at American Chemical Society in Washington, DC, USA – https://g.co/kgs/vqwXNCq
This copyright specialist job in the USA is open for Indian graduates in any field, who have 5 to 8 years of experience in administration and office support. It is a plus point if the candidate is a law graduate having experience in the IP law field.
Rights counsel, content, and brand IP job at Netflix, in Los Angeles, CA, USA – https://g.co/kgs/Q2BjpZR
An Indian law graduate already working in the field of US copyright laws can apply for the post of right counsel, content, and brand IP at Netflix. However, the candidate should have at least 6 + years of experience in dealing with the US copyright laws and expertise of work in the media industry.
Litigation
One of the most common jobs available for an IP lawyer in the USA is to set up their own litigation practice. The only bar that can come in the way will be the requisites that an Indian lawyer needs in order to practise law in the USA. Once Indian IP lawyers have obtained the stated requisites, they can practise law in the USA and set up their own litigation practice. The requisites for an Indian lawyer to practise law in the USA are discussed below:
Qualifications required for Indian lawyers to practise law in the USA
There are two ways through which an Indian lawyer can practise law in the USA. They are:
To understand this, we need to understand what is a ‘common law jurisdiction country’ and whether is India a common law jurisdiction country? So, common law is basically the set of unwritten laws based on various legal precedents that had been established by the courts of the country. Therefore, common law jurisdiction countries are those countries where the legal jurisdictions are used on the basis of common law as a precedent. India and the USA – both of these countries are primarily considered to be a common law jurisdiction country. All the states of the USA except that of Louisiana, have a common law jurisdiction system.
In the USA, Section 520.6 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals for the Admission of Attorneys and Counsellors at law provides that a candidate who has obtained their law degree from a common law jurisdiction country, and has pursued that degree for more than 2 years, can submit their law degrees with the American Bar Association (ABA) to get it reviewed and analysed.
However this is a time taking process, and it can even take as much as a year or even longer than that. And even after this, there is no surety that the degree will be approved by the American Bar Association (ABA). This way, therefore, does not guarantee that an Indian IP lawyer will surely be able to practise law in the USA.
As an alternative to the above way, many Indians use this second way through which they can practise law in the USA. In this way, the American Bar Association (ABA) has laid down the rule that those candidates who have not pursued a two year law degree or have pursued a law degree from a non common law jurisdiction country, will be required to take the New York Bar exam. However, even before taking the said exam, such candidates need to pursue an LLM in the USA. Once the candidate pursues their LLM from the USA, they become eligible to take the New York Bar exam. The New York Bar exam has two components:
The multi state bar exam which is based on the federal laws of the USA.
The state bar exam of the state where an individual wants to start his practice.
Examples of litigation jobs in the USA
Intellectual property litigation associate attorney at BCG attorney search in the San Francisco, CA, USA – https://g.co/kgs/fHkFhQG
This role of intellectual property litigation associate attorney in the USA is available only to those candidates who have enrolled in the California State Bar, and have work experience of 5 to 7 years in the intellectual property law field. Thus, an Indian candidate, who is enrolled in the California State Bar in accordance with the procedure discussed above, and has 5 to 7 years of experience in IP law can apply for this role.
Patent litigation associate attorney at Perkins Cole in Washington, DC, USA – https://g.co/kgs/uAq4fBs
This patent litigation associate attorney role in the USA is open to Indian candidates with expertise in IP law and who have done 3 to 6 years of litigation in the patent disputes field.
In-house counsels
The in-house counsel job is yet another option of job for an Indian IP lawyer in the USA. An in-house counsel lawyer is the employee of a multinational organisation that takes care of the legal affairs of the organisation itself. Some of the most important work of an in-house counsel lawyer in the IP field is generally to protect and promote the intellectual property of the company. It also includes keeping an eye on the use of the intellectual property of the company, giving legal advice to the company on legal issues, doing legal compliances on behalf of the company, drafting contracts on behalf of the company, etc. The in-house counsel job is very common in the USA and nearly all major industries in the country hire in-house counsel in order to safeguard their own organisation.
For an Indian IP lawyer, who seeks to apply for the Ohio or Indiana house counsel attorney role, they must be enrolled in the Ohio or Indiana Bar Association in accordance with the procedure discussed above. They should also have some experience working as a trial attorney.
In-house attorney-director, contracts at Verisign, in Reston, VA, USA – https://g.co/kgs/whWbSLE
This role of in-house attorney-director, contracts is open to all Indian graduates who seek to establish their career in international IP law. Such an Indian candidate should, however, have at least 7 years of experience of working in the legal field. It would be a plus point if a candidate has expertise in working as an in-house counsel
Jobs with federal agencies
The federal agencies or the government agencies are specially designed government organisations that have been set up for any specific purpose, for example, the Department for Management of Financial Oversight of Industries, Federal Communication Department, Central Intelligence Agencies, Department for Management of Resources, etc. An IP lawyer can also work with the government agencies or the federal agencies in the USA. These agencies provide various roles suitable for an IP lawyer. Also, working with the federal agencies of the USA also proves to be beneficial for an individual as jobs with such agencies also come with various generous offers, leaves, holiday policies, compensation, etc.
The USPTO is the trusted source for inventors, innovators, and IP stakeholders, and a top employer of choice among subject matter experts with a passion for public service. There are various types of federal jobs available for IP lawyers in the USA. some of them include:
Patent examiner
Patent examiners are highly trained engineers and scientists who work closely with business owners to process patent applications and determine whether or not a patent can be issued.
Trademark examining attorney
Trademark examining attorneys review trademark applications, assess facts, and then resolve legal issues that may lead to federal trademark registration.
Examples of federal agency’s jobs in the USA
Attorney (tech and cyber) at Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Washington, DC, USA – https://g.co/kgs/VAQTBGr
The attorney (tech and cyber) role in the USA is open to Indian nationals who have an experience of working in technology or cyber law.
An Indian IP lawyer who has experience in filing patent applications before the US patent and trademark offices, and also has 4 to 6 years of experience in patent prosecution can file for the senior patent attorney position at the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
Law firms
Another way of landing a job for IP lawyers in the USA is to work with the law firms of the country. A law firm is a kind of business organisation, founded by either a lawyer or an association of lawyers, which is engaged in legal practice. There are various law firms in the USA that offer job positions for IP lawyers. Working with a law firm has various benefits for a lawyer. Some of the said benefits include:
Robust networking opportunities – While working in a law firm, a lawyer has the opportunity to broaden their networking channel. Various kinds of resourceful persons are present in a law firm, ranging from partners to associates. Working with various clients offered by the law firm also helps in building networks.
Job and monetary security – This is the most fascinating part about the job with a law firm. Once you have completed the probation period in the law firm, you will always have the monetary security and job security with you. A fixed salary will always be given to you each month by the law firm, and the security of the job will always be there, which is not there in case of litigation.
Diversified learning experience – There will be a diversified client base with an abundant number of cases on various issues and facts in a law firm. While working on such different types of cases, you will gain diversified learning experience, which will prove beneficial to you in your career.
Examples of law firm jobs in the USA
Intellectual property associate attorney at Jobot in the West Palm Beach, FL, USA – https://g.co/kgs/FPW6Agz
The intellectual property job at Jobot is one of Indian IP lawyers who have the expertise of working in the IP field for a period of at least three to six years.
Business support roles
A business support role helps the business of an organisation to run smoothly by providing administrative and operational support. In the legal field, business support roles are usually the legal manager sitting at the desktop, who manages all the details of the client or the legal receptionist whom the client meets at very first, when they come to the law firm. They maintain good relations between the clients and owners. Business support roles are usually the meeting point of contact for services of the organisation.
There is a range of employment available in the business support industry, including openings for a legal administrative assistant, a trainee legal administrator, an office administrator, a junior billing assistant, and entry-level legal secretary positions.
Working in a business support role provides an individual with various benefits. Some of such benefits include:
Offers a calm working environment – Unlike most of the jobs in the legal profession that are very hectic, a business support role is quite relaxing as compared to them. It often has a peaceful environment, without the daily stress of a core job in the legal field.
Helps in understanding the structure of the organisation – While a candidate works in a business support role of an organisation, it helps the candidate to understand the working and structure of the organisation more accurately. This, in turn, helps the candidate in terms of future prospects of joining any other such organisation in a legal capacity or setting up their own organisation.
Helps ingaining experience in dealing with people – The most important work of a business support role is to maintain a point of contact between clients and owners. This helps the candidate in gaining experience in dealing with people, which is also very important in the legal field.
Examples of business support roles in the USA
Director, business and legal affairs at SPE, in the Culver City, CA, USA – https://g.co/kgs/odbx4z1
This director role at SPE is open to Indian IP lawyers who have experience of working in the business or legal department of any company, for a period of five to ten years.
Teaching and research institutes
Joining a position of teaching at universities or research institutes is another important job available for IP lawyers in the USA. The best place to opt for teaching is the law universities of the USA. The main job of the candidate in such a university will be to teach the students about the subject of IPR. However, in order to secure a job at teaching and research institutes in the USA, a candidate is required to have a bachelor’s degree in their chosen subject. In several universities, the criteria extend to having a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in the interested subject. Along with these degrees, a candidate is also required to have PhD or doctoral qualification in the interested field to pursue the career of teaching in universities of the USA.
Examples of teaching and research institutes jobs in the USA
An Indian IP lawyer who seeks to establish a career in international IP law can apply for the post of law lecturer at the University of California. The candidate should however have a master’s degree and PhD degree in IP law in order to be eligible for this job.
Pay scale of an IP lawyer in the USA
According to the US Department of Labor, the typical yearly compensation for lawyers in all areas is around $120,000. However, according to Payscale, the average yearly salary for IP lawyers is roughly $130,000, while Salary.com shows experienced IP attorneys making much more upwards of $200,000 annually, when bonuses, retirement, and health care are taken into account. All of this is to say that attorney wages vary widely depending on the type of company, professional experience, and locality, with lawyers in urban regions typically earning the most.
The process of patent filing is generally referred to as patent litigation. Patent filing is the process through which an individual or a firm or organisation files an application in the patent office for the grant of a patent for their invention. Such invention has to be described in the patent specification along with the claims and other formal documents that are necessary for the grant of patent. These patents are usually filed by IP lawyers, who help the organisation to protect its inventions. IP lawyers are also responsible for rendering their advice on the Paytm ability of an invention. Not only does an IP lawyer help in filing and drafting of the patent application, but they also help with infringement and validity issues of the patent.
In East Asia, particularly in China, Korea, and Japan, there are a great number of very inventive enterprises. These businesses have made large investments in R&D, frequently in the hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars. They rightly want the best firms to secure their intellectual innovations. In 2017, Asia accounted for more than 65 percent of all patent applications filed worldwide, up from less than half of all patent filings in 2007. Patent filings in China have been the primary driver of this growth. Hence IP lawyers have much room to expand their professional careers here.
There are various benefits of becoming a patent attorney and filing patents. Some of these benefits include:
High income probability – Patent filing requires high skill along with specialised technical knowledge. In current times, patent attorneys are the need of the patent filing industries. Not everyone can file patent applications smoothly. Therefore, patent filing attorneys have a very high income probability, and they are among some of the highest paid Legal experts.
Work with diversified industries – Patent filing nowadays is not limited to a few industries, instead, it has travelled to almost every other industry. Almost every industry these days requires patent attorneys to file patent applications for their inventions. Some of the examples of the industries that require patent attorneys include – the construction industry, transportation industry, aerospace industry, biotechnology industry, trade industry, pharmaceutical industry, technology industry, software development industry, etc. Thus, patent attorneys have experience working with diversified industries in their careers.
Work on intellectual topics – Patent filing is required for novel inventions that particularly deal with new technology and innovation usually based on intellectual stimulation. Patent filing attorneys are closely involved with the working of the invention and therefore have the opportunity to work on intellectual topics.
Career growth opportunities – Patent filing is an emerging sphere of law and has great potential. Thus, the patent filing attorneys have opportunities for career growth.
IP counsel
The term intellectual property counsel refers to the law firms or legal advisers who are currently advising or have previously advised, the company or any subsidiary on its intellectual property rights. The IP Counsel has great job opportunities in law firms and multinational corporations. There are various openings in East Asian law firms where IP lawyers can work as an IP Counsel. In such job roles, IP lawyers are required to render their advice on legal issues of intellectual property rights.
An Indian IP lawyer who seeks to establish their international IP law career can apply for this job of patent attorney at the MLC group, in Tokyo, Japan. The Indian IP lawyers who apply for this should have expertise of working in patent law, and should also be proficient in Japanese and English.
An Indian IP lawyer who has good experience of working as an IP counsel, and wants to establish an international IP law career, can apply for an intellectual property counsel job at BASF Asia Pacific.
In-house counsels
Yet another job available for IP lawyers in East Asia is in-house counsel. An in-house counsel lawyer is an employee of a multinational organisation, industry, firm, or business corporation. The in-house takes care of the legal affairs of the organisation, industry, firm, or business corporation itself. The work of an in-house counsel lawyer in the IP field is generally to protect and promote the intellectual property rights of the company. It also includes giving legal advice, doing legal compliances, drafting contracts on behalf of the company, etc. The in-house counsel jobs for an IP lawyer are present in abundant numbers in Asia because of the presence of various industries. Almost every other industry requires an in-house counsel to protect their intellectual property rights.
Examples of in-house counsel jobs in East Asian countries
An Indian IP lawyer who has completed their masters degree and has an interest in corporate or commercial law can apply for this international IP lawyer job opportunity.
An Indian IP lawyer who has two to four years of experience of working with a law firm or in-house counsel can apply for this job of in-house legal counsel at Animoca Brands in Hong Kong. The candidate should also have a good grasp of spoken and written English.
Lectureship
Another job opportunity for IP lawyers in the East Asian countries is that they can also opt for lectureship or teaching programs in universities. IP law is an emerging area of law, especially in East Asia, and therefore various universities and teaching institutes in East Asian countries require lecturers and teachers on the subject of IP law. The most important work of IP lawyers in this sector is teaching and enlightening the students regarding inter cases of intellectual property law. However, most of the East Asian countries require a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, alongside a doctorate as a requirement for teaching in their universities.
Examples of lectureship jobs in East Asian countries
An Indian IP lawyer who has completed their masters degree and PhD from IP law of field can apply for this professor / associate professor / lecturers / post-doctoral fellow job in China.
This associate professor of law job at the Macau University in China is open to Indian IP lawyers who wish to start their career in international IP law. However, the candidate should have a doctoral degree in the field of law, along with 4 years of teaching experience at the tertiary education level.
Pay scale of an IP lawyer in the East Asian Countries
As per a data report by salary expert, the average gross salary of an IP lawyer in China is somewhere around 2,09,958.82 INR or ¥ 404,388. However, this salary is not inclusive of the special allowances or bonuses. The average bonus of an IP lawyer in China is somewhere around 11, 884 INR or ¥ 22,888.
Also, as per another data collected by the salary expert directly from employers and employees in China reveals that freshers with an experience of 1 – 3 years in the IP law field earn around an average salary of 1, 47, 448 INR or ¥ 284,009.
Also, as per the same data collected by the salary expert directly from employers and employees in China further reveals that a senior level IP law lawyer in China with an experience of more than 8 years earns around an average salary of 2, 64, 023 INR or ¥ 508,556.
In Japan, the pay scale of an IP lawyer is 22.8 % more than that of China.
Conclusion
After reading this article, we can conclude the fact that there are various International opportunities available for IP lawyers. No doubt, such opportunities are subject to different qualifications and requirements, but not all of them require one, and not all such requirements are very hard to fulfil. Further, some of these jobs are very high paying and come along with location advantage. Another important aspect of these international opportunities in IP law is that many of them require post qualified experience. This is exactly where the job opportunities for IP lawyers in India come in handy. Therefore, it is a lesson to not skip a ladder and instead travel through each one of them. Because grabbing the job opportunities for IP lawyers in India might prove detrimental to landing an international job in IP law. Such is the nature of job opportunities available worldwide.
The IP law also provides better and diversified exposure to the candidate. Besides the possible exposure to intriguing new advances in science, technology, and other cutting-edge disciplines, working in IP law has other advantages. IP attorneys may deal with global corporations, movie studios, music companies, athletes, or celebrities, or on the cutting edge of interesting technology developments. It’s critical for the person or company who makes investments to keep ownership of the property, even if it’s just a matter of ideas or designs (rather than a tangible product) secured from infringement. That’s where intellectual property lawyers come in. Hence, opportunities are many, and proper utilisation of the same is all that is required.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do Indian IP lawyers have a scope of job in foreign countries?
Yes, an Indian IP lawyer has the scope of various jobs in foreign countries, such as the USA, the UK, and East Asian countries.
Can Indian IP lawyers practise law in the UK or USA?
Yes, Indian IP lawyers can practise law in the UK or the USA. However, for the same, they need to have certain eligibility standards laid down by their bar association.
Can Indian IP lawyers join a lectureship in a foreign university as part of a job?
Yes, Indian IP lawyers can join a lectureship in a foreign university as part of their job. However, to join a foreign university as a lecturer, the candidate needs to fulfil all the eligibility criteria laid down by the university.
Is there a scope of job for Indian IP lawyers in patent filing litigation in East Asian countries?
Yes, a large number of industries are developing in East Asian countries that require lawyers to file their patent applications. Thus, there is a huge scope for Indian IP lawyers in patent filing litigation in East Asian countries.
Is LLM necessary for opting for a lectureship as a job in IP law in foreign countries?
Yes, in most of the foreign countries, a master’s degree is necessarily required in the interested area of the subject, for teaching in their universities.
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This article on scope of a career in IP law outside India is written by Anvita Bhardwaj and Ashutosh, In this article, the authors have exhaustively dealt with various career opportunities that are available in IP law outside India. Not only that, but the authors have also discussed various other information related to IP law, such as what IP law is, types of intellectual properties, how to become an IP lawyer and many such related topics.
Table of Contents
Introduction
With the evolution in technology, the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) sector is on the rise. Not only big corporations but also small businesses are familiarising themselves with IPRs and are realising the plethora of untapped opportunities that the IPR sector holds. Result? The need for IP law experts has skyrocketed, making it one of the most exciting and dynamic career options that one may choose. An IPR lawyer is required to handle issues on things ranging from copyrights, patents, trademarks, and industrial design rights to duplication, infringement, trade secrets, and plant variety rights. A career in the IPR sector is a glamorous one. The article will further elaborate on some of the prominent opportunities available for IP law abroad after dealing with some basics very briefly.
What is IP law
In the recent past, few areas in law have gained great popularity due to the growing demand. Intellectual property laws is one such subject. Many tech companies like Apple, Google etc. have become a lot more vigilant about protecting their intellectual properties. In order to understand IP law, one must first know what intellectual property is.
Intellectual property includes the intangible property that is created by humans by using their mind and creativity, such properties include, artistic works, designs, symbols, literary work etc. Intellectual property rights bestow upon the creator of the intellectual property some exclusive rights including exclusive usage of such properties over a specific period of time. The intellectual property holders get the right to sell, license and protect their intellectual property from infringement by others. These rights basically help enable the property owner to earn recognition and financial benefit from their created property.
The various kinds of intellectual property include copyright law, trademark law, patent law and trade secrets. All of these intellectual properties have different rules and bestow different kinds of rights on the owners.
Types of intellectual property
As mentioned above, there are various kinds of intellectual properties whose creators get protection through the various IPR laws. These intellectual properties include:
Patent
Patents are usually granted for inventions and the patent rights grant several exclusive rights to the inventor such as legal entitlement over the invention and the exclusive right to decide whether the patent can be used by others or not and the method by which it can be used. The invention must be patentable in order to get the patent which means that it must have novelty and utility. Thus, the patent owner is given the right to protect its invention from production, usage, distribution, importation etc, by any third party. In return for these rights the patent holder has the obligation to disclose the invention to the public so that the public can benefit from it.
A patent is only provided for a fixed period of time. This is done so that the ordinary public gets to use the patented invention free of cost and the inventor also gets to enjoy its invention for a certain period of time. The time period for patent rights is different under different IP domestic laws. For example, countries like the US, India, European countries, and China have granted patents for a period of 20 years.
There are several kinds of patents, such as design patents, plant patents, utility patents, etc.
Copyright
Copyright protection is granted to the creator of original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work. Copyright may be provided over a number of works such as books, blogs, paintings, movies, compositions, computer programs, photographs etc. The purpose of copyright law is to prevent third parties from copying and benefiting from using the work of genuine creators.
An important thing to note here is that, in order to get copyright protection over any work it has to be the original work of the writer and not copied or replicated from anywhere else. Also, copyright can only be given for creative expressions and not ideas. This means any methods or concepts cannot be copyrighted. Another significant point under copyright is that copyright cannot be given over expressions that are a part of knowledge in the public domain. Thus, a book on yogic expressions cannot be given copyright as it is not an original idea and is already known to the public. A mere compilation of such public knowledge cannot be given copyright but the expression of such compilation may get copyright protection.
While registration of copyright is not essential and an expression is said to have copyright as soon as it is created provided it fulfils all the requirements of valid copyright, it is always advised especially to professional people to get their work registered. This helps in building a strong case in matters of copyright infringement.
Just like patents, copyrights are also provided for a specific period of time and are not granted for an indefinite period. The copyright protection period is different under different domestic laws, for example in India the time period is the lifetime of the author plus 60 years from the year following his death. And the time period in the US is the lifetime of the author plus 70 years following death and for corporations, this period is 95 years after the date of publication or 120 years whichever expires first.
Trademark
Trademark can be defined as a sign which distinguishes the goods and services of an enterprise from other enterprises. The trademark sign can consist of words or combinations of words, letters, numerals, drawings, symbols, 3-D figures, colour shades or combinations of colours etc. Thus the signs of various companies through which you recognise it is its trademark, for example the yellow M sign of McDonald’s over a red background or the tick of Nike, the half-cut apple of Apple Co. All these are trademarks owned by the companies. These logos are something by which the public is able to recognise the company and no other enterprise has the right to use the registered trademark of another company to gain financial benefit from the recognition of the registered trademark company.
A registered trademark helps in:
Recognising the source of the goods and services.
Providing legal protection to the registered trademark’s brand.
Guards against fraud from other entities.
Unlike copyright and patent, trademarks are not given for a specific period of time as there is no such requirement of getting the registered trademark, be it logo, slogan etc., in public domain. Thus, trademarks are provided protection for as long as the mark is commercially in use, however it needs to be renewed from time to time based on the domestic trademark laws of the country.
Trademarks are only protected in the country in which it is registered. Thus, in order to have maximum protection worldwide for the trademark, an entity can register it with the WIPO.
Trade secret
As the name suggests, a trade secret usually consists of a secret formula, recipe, data compilation etc. of which only the higher ups of a corporation have the knowledge. These trade secrets are unique to the company and carefully curated by the owners and it gives the businesses an advantage over the others. For example, the spices used in KFC include a unique combination of 11 or 12 spices which no other company is aware of and it is their trade secret. Another example is let’s say that the recipe of a popular soft drink in America, Dr. Pepper is also a trade secret. However, not every entity’s secret can be regarded as a trade secret. It must have the following requisites in order to be a trade secret:
The secret must provide some commercial value to the business and should not just be confidential
The secret must be known only by a small and important group of members of the company
The entity must have undertaken adequate measures to protect the trade secret.
There is no distinct legislation for protection of trade secrets in India and entities usually form a Non-Disclosure Agreement between themselves for the protection of their trade secrets. Trade secrets can be protected by filing cases of breach of trust, breach of contract, commercial espionage or industry espionage, under the domestic laws of the various countries.
Industrial design
Industrial design includes the visual aspect or the aesthetics of any product that could not be protected under patent. It can include the 3-D features of a product like shape or the 2-D gestures also like patterns, combination of colours or alignment of lines. In order to get protection as an industrial design, the design must be nonfunctional and only for visual or aesthetic purposes.
Examples- Contour design of Coca Cola bottle.
Geographical indication
Geographical indications are given to various products to indicate the place of origin of the product. The purpose of providing GI tags is to protect the rights of the indigenous people who have either created the product by the skill and knowledge unique only to them or any product that is exclusively found in certain areas due to the natural conditions of the place.
For example, basmati rice has been given a GI tag, Jardalu Mangoes of Bhagalpur, Lucknow Chikankari etc are all products that have been given GI Tags.
How to become an IP lawyer in India
The demand for IP lawyers has increased over the years because of the emergence of research and innovation in the market. Most companies have started hiring IP lawyers these days. In order to become a successful IP lawyer one must follow a few steps. These are:
Take law school entrance test
If you are someone in your school days and you have developed an interest in becoming an IP lawyer, you must first start with your law school to get an LLB degree. In order to get an LLB degree you must first clear the CLAT exam if you are aiming to get into any National Law Universities or any top-ranked private University. Once you are done with your 12th boards examination, you can give various tests for entering into law school, the most popular one being CLAT, other popular tests include AILET and LSAT. Apart from these you can also look into which private colleges offer admission based on which tests.
You can start your preparation for these entrance tests from your school days only. These exams are highly competitive in nature and thus, your preparation should be up to the mark. You can even take coaching classes for preparation of these exams. And if you are someone who is doing a bachelor’s from any other college and want to pursue law in future, you shall also apply for these entrance tests but for 3 years law degree.
Complete law school
Once you have entered into the law school of your choice, you must attend college and complete your degree. Law school can be of 3 years or 5 years based on whether the candidate has already completed a bachelor’s or not. Since you have already made up your mind that you have to become an IP attorney, you must take up activities in your law school accordingly. For example, you should take internships in boutique IP law firms or under independent IP lawyers or in the IP team of any big law firm; you can also do moot courts related to IP issues; if you get a choice of subjects between IP and any other, you must take IP subjects to a strong base.
Pass the bar exam
You do not become an advocate only after completing law school, you only become one after passing the All India Bar Examination which is conducted by the Bar Council of India. It is rather a simple test which is conducted to check the theoretical and practical knowledge of the candidates and to check whether they are ready to deal with real world situations or not. You can easily pass this exam if you have studied the subjects properly in your law school.
Gain experience in IP field
The real path of becoming an IP lawyer starts from here. Up until the last step, all your classmates will follow the same steps, but the course of action will change from here as per the goals.
In order to become a successful IP lawyer, it is very important that you start your law career from an IP firm or as an IP expert in-house counsel for any company as they have to deal with Intellectual properties on a daily basis. It is not necessary that you get your first job in a tier 1 firm so you can start off your career in any boutique IP firm also. These firms provide extensive experience and they also pay well for a starting salary. Here is a list of all the tier 1 IP law firms and boutique law firms in India.
You can start your career as an in-house counsel also because their salaries are quite handsome for newcomers and it is always advised to gain experience from any boutique firm or any other firm first in order to get a higher salary.
LIST OF TOP IP LAW FIRMS IN INDIA
Anand and Anand
Remfry and Sagar
Saikrishna & Associates
Khaitan & Co LLP
AZB & Partners
R.K. Dewan & Co.
Chadha & Chadha IP
Inttl Advocare
Spice Route Legal
Solomon & Co. Advocates & Solicitors
K & S Partners
Earn specialisation
After completing law school, many law professionals opt to pursue higher studies to specialise in the field of their choice. Although it is not necessary to get this specialisation, one may opt to do so if they have interest in higher studies. You can even choose a more specific specialisation like Trademark, Patent, Design etc.
The path to become an IP lawyer starts in the initial days of law school only. It is from that time that one must start preparing for one’s career.
What does an IP lawyer do
IP lawyers play many critical roles in order to protect the intellectual property of their clients. They have to deal with cases related to intellectual property such as inventions, logos, artistic works etc. They not only protect the intellectual properties of their client from infringement but also register the properties with the respective registrar and they also act as legal advisors to the companies for their intellectual properties. Some of the most important roles of IP lawyers include:
Registration of intellectual property- A company creates many intellectual properties on a daily basis, such as its logos, any new slogan, an invention etc. It is the first and foremost duty of an IP lawyer to get these properties registered as soon as possible before there is any infringement of such property. The lawyers must also prepare all the necessary documents that are required for filing of any patent, trademark or any other intellectual property.
Representation– The other most important role of an IP lawyer is that he or she must represent their clients in all IP infringement related matters in the court. They not only act as the representatives of their clients but also provide them legal advice and ensure that all the IP related interests of their clients are protected.
Legal research– The IP lawyers have to be always updated with any new judgements, especially the ones in which new principles are established by the court so that they can use it for their client’s case in the future or be aware of any such case that can be used against them. This is why IP lawyers must conduct thorough and regular research and analysis of their cases.
Legal advisory– As mentioned above, apart from representing their clients in courts and registration of Intellectual Properties, the counsels also help their clients with any sort of advice related to the intellectual properties since they have much better understanding of intellectual property laws, they can help the companies or their clients to build policies for the company that are in their interest and at the same time not infringing IP rights any other entity or individuals.
Preservation of trade secrets– An enterprise that deals with some products or services, usually has many trade secrets that benefit their business. These trade secrets are very crucial to any company and must be protected at all costs so that the business is able to stay ahead in the competition. But, unlike other intellectual properties, trade secrets are not protected by any trade secret specific statute, thus lawyers have to use other means such as contract agreements, breach of trust etc. in order to protect the trade secrets of the company. Thus the IP lawyers must be well versed with other laws also to protect trade secrets of the company.
Drafting contracts and agreements– IP lawyers might also need to contract agreements such as licensing agreements for their clients and some other party to whom the IP is licensed.
Some other roles of IP lawyers might include:
Conducting interviews of individuals for any proceeding in the court.
Conducting negotiation between parties
Reviewing important documents related to Intellectual properties of the client such as licensing agreements.
Scope of IP law abroad
Intellectual property law is that area of law that is rapidly expanding and there has been a lot of career opportunities and scope that are arising from this field. There are various career opportunities under IP law outside India for all the people from legal backgrounds. People all around the World have started to understand the importance of their intellectual properties and because of that they need legal professionals who are skilled in IP law. In this article, we will now be reading about all those career opportunities and scope under IP law outside India. We will also be reading about the skills that you need to grab those jobs and how you can do it.
Working in an IP law firm
There are various law firms abroad that hire IP lawyers and attorneys to deal with the matters of intellectual properties. There are multiple roles offered by the law firms, let us have a look at some of those roles.
Patent and trademark attorney
The job of a patent and trademark attorney revolves around IP management and protection. They are required to draft and submit applications seeking patents and trademarks for their clients, and assist in matters related to IP disputes such as copyright infringement. They have an advisory or representative role towards their clients. Work such as evaluating requests, drafting, filing, handling applications and the registration process comes under their portfolio. They earn an average of $145,000 per year.
Skills required to become a patent attorney
There are few skills that every patent attorney must master in order to have a successful career.
Analytical skills– Patent attorneys have a responsibility to analyse huge amounts of information and reach a balanced and logical conclusion. Thus it is extremely important for a patent attorney to have a clear thinking and rigorous analysis.
Attention to detail– Accuracy is extremely important for all the patent attorneys because patent attorneys use attention to detail in order to check all the patent applications for errors and to make sure that they include all the important information.
Lateral thinking– Patent attorneys are required to remain creative in their thinking, just like the inventor they work for. They need to think what are the alternative methods through which they can protect the IP of their client and what will the other competitors do. They must be prepared to deal with a situation with various other angles.
How to become a patent practitioner
In order to become a patent attorney you don’t need to be a registered barrister or solicitor nor is it necessary for you to have a law degree. However, you must have a minimum 2:2 degree either in the field of technology, science, engineering or mathematics. It is at the discretion of the course providers and the Patent examination Board to check and determine any kind of exemption from the course requirement.
Educational requirements:
There are 2 stages under this degree.
Foundation stage- Under this stage you are required to complete any of the IP regulation board (IPReg) certified course of trademark. Such as the postgraduate IP certificate course of Bournemouth University, Postgraduate IP certificate course from Queen Mary, etc. Other than the above step you can also complete certificate examinations of IPReg released by the patent examination board. If you have a law degree or you have completed the Bar Final examination then in such cases you will be eligible for exemptions from part of the examination process. The exemptions are given by the University who provides the accredited course.
Final stage- Under the final stage of becoming a patent attorney you need to finish the final diploma exams that are provided by the patent examination board. Under this stage there are four examinations, and these exams are designed to check whether a candidate is fit for practising or not, including the ability to check the validity of a patent, how well do you know how to make applications of patent and most importantly how much knowledge you have about IP law.
Once you have successfully completed all these things, you can apply to become a registered patent attorney. Click here to know about how you can apply for registration.
Skills required to become a trademark attorney
These are the skills that you need to become a trademark attorney.
Protect, manage and enforce portfolios of intellectual property rights, such as design, copyright and trademark.
Providing advice on all the legal aspects of markets new products and services and how to introduce those products in the market and how to develop the brand enlargement.
Negotiate on behalf of the company on all the trademark disputes and take actions on all kinds of trademark infringements and passing off.
Monitor all the already existing and proposed trademarks.
Build working and good relationships with all the managers of relevant brands and customers of departments.
How to become a trademark attorney
Same as a patent practitioner, the trademark attorney also does not need to be a lawyer or solicitor nor is required to have a law degree. You just need a minimum 2:2 degree in any of the subjects or you should have a number of years work experience in any of the legal professions, such as a paralegal.
Educational requirements
Educational requirements of becoming a trademark attorney are also similar to that of a patent attorney. Here, you need to complete two trademark courses.
A foundation certificate course of trademark that is accredited by the IPReg, and only three universities offer these courses. Those universities are:
University of Bournemouth
University of Brunel in London
Queen Mary University of London
Professional certificate course in trademark practise which is accredited by IPReg, this course is only offered by the Nottingham Trent University. if you have a law degree or you have completed the Bar Final examination, then in such cases you will be eligible for exemptions from part of the examination process. The exemptions are given by the University who provides the accredited course
Trademark Job opportunities available outside India.
Click here, to check out these job offers at CITMA website.
IP solicitor
Another job or post that IP law firms provide is of an IP Solicitor. To become a Solicitor, you need a minimum of 3-5 years Post Qualification Experience (PQE). A solicitor’s job entails preparing legal documentation, representing and/or defending a client’s legal interests. In this case, the Solicitor needs to be a qualified legal practitioner whose expertise is in IP law. With a five years’ PQE a Trade Mark Solicitor can earn up to £85,000 in the UK.
How to become an IP solicitor
The steps to become an IP solicitor may vary from nation to nation. Each nation has its own requirements and examinations for this. Here we have taken the example of the United Kingdom and we will discuss the steps that are necessary for becoming an IP solicitor in England.
The first thing that you need to have in order to get a law degree. If you are someone who is not from England then in such a case you need to do a course for Graduate Diploma in Law.
Another thing that you need to do is to take up the Legal Practise Course in which you will get to learn about the workings of a solicitor.
After you are done with your Legal Practise Course, you need to sign a training contract with an IP law firm. Make sure that you get apprenticeship training with a law firm that has a good IP practice.
While you are training under a law firm you are also required to clear a professional skills course, it is the last step of your education.
In order to become a successful IP lawyer abroad it is very necessary to earn some additional qualifications. There are two institutes that offer courses and job offers that will help you out in your career. Those institutes are CITMA and CIPA.
What does an IP solicitor do
These are some of the most important duties of an IP solicitor
Giving advice to their clients on the matters of IP disputes.
Negotiating on behalf of their clients
Ensuring that the legal rights and obligations of their client is protected
Drafting agreements of licensing and contracts
Preparing various legal documents such as patent applications and trademarks
Skills required to become a IP solicitor
These are some of the most important skills that an IP solicitor needs to have.
Research skills– One of the most crucial skills for an IP lawyer is to have amazing research skills, and this is because the field of IP law is constantly evolving and a lot of research is needed in this field.
Communication skills– It is very important for IP solicitors to have strong communication skills, both verbal as well as non-verbal. IP solicitors are required to use their communication skills while dealing with their clients and other lawyers.
Problem solving skills– The ability to solve disputes is a very crucial skill for IP solicitors. They are those professionals who are responsible for resolving disputes between individuals, businesses and various other entities. They are also responsible for making strategies that will help prevent theft and unauthorised use of intellectual property.
Setting up your own law firm
Working in an IPR law firm is very different from owning one. Nothing beats being your own boss. You can generate good revenue from your own practice. You can expand your practice however you want. IP creates and supports high-paying jobs. If you open your own IPR firm, you will be helping people gain employment. It is important for you to identify your niche before you go about running your own law firm. Find out which is the most interesting and appealing area of interest for you within intellectual property rights. Interest is not the only thing that you need to consider, introspect and acknowledge your professional strengths and weaknesses. Usually, up-and-coming law practices focus on copyright or trademark prosecution as they ascertain a set standard of filings. Moreover, unlike patent prosecution, these two do not require additional certification and qualifications. It is very important to identify your area as only then you will be able to focus your limited resources towards building an expertise loyal client base. An average small law firm revenue potential is $210,000.
How to set up an IP law firm in abroad
There are a few steps that you must keep in mind while setting up a law firm outside India or abroad.
While setting up a law firm anywhere in the world, the first thing that you must keep in your mind is that you should be a qualified attorney with a deep understanding of IP law. You can’t escape this part, because your clients will have utmost trust on you and keeping up with their trust will help you get more clients.
The next thing that you need to do is to get registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority and get all the necessary paperwork done.
Next big step that you have to take is to select your niche area, decide whether you want to focus on copyright, trademarks or patents. Or, you already have a big team and you want to deal with all the aspects of IP law.
To make your firm look big and active, make sure that you connect with organisations such as CIPA and CITMA.
Make sure that you expand your firm’s business slowly and gradually with time, and hire employees according to the needs of the company.
Lastly, make connections so that you can get more cases for your firm.
Benefits of setting up a law firm
These are some of the benefits that you will enjoy if you set up your own firm.
Full control and freedom– The biggest benefit of starting your own law firm is that you get to make your own decisions. There’s no one above you who will interfere in between you and your decisions. You enjoy freedom and flexibility when you start your own firm. Though this does not mean that you will have to work less, in fact you will be working even harder to make your firm reach great heights.
Enough knowledge and experience– When you are employed you get to work under a particular field that is decided by your seniors, but when you start your own firm you get to look at all the cases that your firm deals with. If you have just started and your organisation is small then you get to do a lot of duties and it eventually helps you in becoming a jack of all trades,
Reputation in the market– Becoming an owner or having a successful law firm is a very big deal. People start looking at you as an inspiration and they want to become like you, because you are someone who single handedly built his own empire through all the struggles and challenges. Thus, starting a legal firm on your own and making it successful gets you a lot of reputation and respect from other lawyers.
Litigation
Litigation is an ever-green field of law. Common types of IP Litigation are:
Patent Litigation;
Copyright Litigation;
Trademark Litigation;
Trade Secret Litigation.
If you want to practise IP litigation in the USA, click here to learn more. The average pay for Litigation Associates is $123,897.
Now let’s discuss in detail about all these different kinds of litigation.
Patent litigation
It is a multifaceted process of law that is related to the protection and enforcement of patent rights. It happens when one of the parties or the plaintiff files a lawsuit against the other party or defendant. The plaintiff accuses the defendant of using the patented invention of the plaintiff without his authorisation. This infringement can be done in several forms such as selling, using or making, or importing the product of the plaintiff without his knowledge. Patent infringement can cause extreme financial loss, calculated on the basis of loss of profits of reasonable royalties of the inventor.
How to become a patent litigator
There are three different ways through which you can become a patent litigator, you can become a patent litigator either through any university course, or working towards the role or direct application.
University– In order to become a patent litigator it is required that you must have a postgraduate degree qualification in any of the technical subject, such as, mathematics, science, computing, engineering, etc. once you are done with your course, you need to apply in any patent office to work as a trainee and prepare for your professional exam while you are working there. It generally takes around 2 years to qualify. Once you finish your postgraduate degree in law or in IP law you will be considered as a patent attorney.
Entry requirements– You are required to have 2 to 3A levels of degree requirements or a degree in any relevant subject for the postgraduate study.
Work– You can start your career as a patent attorney by finding jobs as a trainee patent attorney or technical assistant in a firm or under a senior attorney, or in the patent department of any organisation.
Direct application– You can get patent attorney jobs without even having an engineering or scientific degree if you possess a high level of experience in the technical field. This is also applicable if you are a qualified attorney with experience of working with IPR. you are still required to prepare for your professional exams.
Copyright litigation is a kind of litigation that is done when there is any kind of copyright infringement upon one or more than one of the exclusive rights of the owner of a copyrighted product. Copyright rights include rights to reproduce the work in copies, to display or perform the work publicly, create derivative products, etc. the owners of a copyright product also have the exclusive right to authorise other persons to use those rights.
How to develop a practice in copyright litigation
Here are a few pieces of advice that you must keep in your mind while establishing a practice in copyright litigation.
Understand the law and its usage
It is not necessary that every law is similar, so make sure that you research the need for the law and the legal stance on the matters of copyright in various countries before selecting a field. It is possible that you may have to deal with a lot of legal problems, not just the copyright law, so prepare yourself accordingly. Ensure to have a variety of skills so that you don’t fall behind.
Necessary qualification
Once you make up your mind that you want to become a copyright expert, look for the things that will offer you benefits over the competition. This is because having just a normal LLB degree wont make you stand out from the competition, you need some necessary qualifications in the field of copyrights, to become an expert in that field. You must opt for a certificate degree, diploma or even LL.M. on copyright.
Marketing
In order to develop successful practice in any of the fields, you must market yourself ethically. Make sure that you attend conferences, get clients through reference and build a strong presence in the social media platforms.
Litigation skills
Attorneys who deal with the matters of copyright are also known as litigators. It is required for every copyright lawyer to remain knowledgeable in all the aspects of litigation, such as drafting documents, preparing discoveries. They must remain prepared to defend their clients who are facing accusations of both civil and criminal violations.
Knowledge of emerging technologies
Attorneys who specialise in the area of copyright law must know everything about the new technology. Currently it has become a lot easier to record a work that is related to copyright, all because of modern technology. Thus, copyright infringement has also become easier than ever. Copyright attorneys are now making new ways for detecting and enforcing breaches of copyright.
Trademark litigation
Trademark litigation occurs when one of the organisation or company tries to steal or use a similar trademark of any other company. This is usually done to steal the reputation of another company and fraudulently promote their own products under any other popular registered trademark.
How to develop a practice in trademark litigation
Here are some things that you must keep in mind to develop a practice in trademark litigation.
Understand your stuffs
The path of trademark law is always evolving and there are a lot of things that you must know. Make sure to get solid experience in the field of IP laws, joining any IP law firm that majorly has trademark cases. Learn trademark prosecution to get a better understanding of trademarks.
Specialisation
Make sure to select a specialisation, you need to decide in which area you need to specialise and what kind of cases you want to handle, whether you want to handle technology companies or fashion companies or any other company of your choice. Make sure that you select your niche.
Networking
Networking is extremely crucial, make sure that you attend seminars, conferences and other public meetings. Connect with other trademark lawyers who are highly skilled and reputed. Connect with the in-house counsels of different companies that handle a lot of trademark disputes.
Trade secret litigation
Trade secret consists of two aspects:
Trade secrets are said to be violated when any confidential information of an organisation is leaked or obtained through misappropriation. Misappropriation is said to be done when someone uses, obtains or discloses the trade secret of a company without getting any permission from the company.
If there is any kind of violation of a non disclosure agreement by any of the parties in the contract causing a breach to the agreement.
How to develop a successful practice in trade secret litigation
There are few things that you must keep in your mind to estanding a successful practice in trade secret litigation.
Pick up a specific industry
In order to establish a successful practice in trade secret litigation it is extremely necessary to pick up a specific industry. It can be any industry such as, pharma, manufacturing or technology. Make sure that you learn how the industry functions and what are their pain points.
Connections
Networking is extremely crucial, make sure that you attend seminars, conferences and other public meetings. Connect with other trade secret lawyers who are highly skilled and reputed. Connect with the in-house counsels of different companies that handle a lot of trade secret litigation disputes.
Paralegal
Paralegals assist attorneys with the legal representation of the firm’s clients. In a firm specialising in IP law, a paralegal who is an expert in the same field of law would be required. The work would entail (but not be limited to) conducting trademark & prior art searches, preparing applications, drafting appeals, listing important evidence, preparing first drafts of licensing agreements, production agreements, royalty-sharing agreements, IP agreements, drafting a patent landscape report, drafting and filing a pre-publication objection to a trademark registration application etc. You can earn a salary ranging from $13-$40 per day online on sites like Upwork and Fiverr, depending on your skill and expertise. A paralegal in the USA can earn $51,166 annually.
Scope of a paralegal outside India
The number of paralegals are increasing very rapidly in the United Kingdom, this is because the law companies in England have started to realise that for all kinds of work it is not required to hire a personally qualified person, this same the money and also keeps the lawyers happy.
The applicants will be responsible for assisting the employees of top-tier companies and they will be involved in modifying, filing and preparing patent applications in the European Union and the United Kingdom. They will also have to liaise with the senior fee earners and help them in all the critical situations.
IP paralegals are also often employed in law firms with a flourishing IP practice. The work of paralegals employed in those law firms is to assist the seniors with their daily work in the office and help in the management of client portfolio, there are also some major responsibilities that paralegals need to perform in a law firm, such as, preparing and sending the emails and reports of clients, checking the surveillance services and conducting exploratory searches aros various platforms, etc.
Benefits of working as a paralegal outside India
These are some of the benefits that paralegals enjoy when employed outside India.
Payment– There is no debate about payment of paralegals being high in other countries such as the UK and US, paralegals who are employed in countries like England and America make a serious amount of money, and this is because unlike India there is a shortage of experienced lawyers and paralegals, which makes their demand more costly.
More exposure– Working abroad in another country can help you get extra exposure, this is because you get exposed to another culture as well as another law. You will be able to expand your experience and learning.
Life upgradation– When you work in any law firm outside India, you get a chance to upgrade your life. You will be introduced to whole new concepts and you will shift from your traditional thinking to a new modern approach of living life.
Freelancing
You can sit in the comfort of your home and earn money by making profiles on sites such as Upwork and Fiverr. Simply list your academic qualifications, certifications and experience here and you can opt for freelance work such as drafting an IP contract/agreement, proofreading, content writing, patent assistance etc., just click here to see the various freelancing opportunities. The pay will differ on the basis of work assigned and opted for.
All about freelancing abroad
There are many freelancers who want to work internationally while sitting in their own homes. However, if you keep working from the same place you will eventually become bored and you will try to move to some other location and work from there.
If you have international clients or you have enough knowledge and experience of working with international clients, then in such a case you are just one decision away from travelling to another location and do your freelancing work from the location you have always dreamt of. If you are someone who likes travelling, then it can become a blessing for you.
It is not required for international freelancers to stay in their home countries, they can travel to any country of their choice and do their work from there. So if you have a country about which you have always dreamt of then you may consider going there for freelance work.
Advantages of becoming an international freelancer
It is a very known fact that all freelancers enjoy flexible work timings. There are various freelancers who work in other countries in order to learn a new culture and various other reasons. There are some significant benefits of working internationally as a freelancer. Let us have a look at some of the most crucial ones.
Knowing new culture– If you are an international freelancer then you will get an opportunity to witness the culture of your client. You will get to know about the habits, thinking and lifestyles of those people which can be a very enriching experience.
New experiences– When you go to a different country to pursue freelancing you get to feel new experiences, one of the best things would be getting to learn a new language. This is because every country has its own language and in order to work there you will also need to learn their language.
Expansion business– If you are working for an international client, or if you have moved to a different nation for freelancing purposes then in such case you will get to expand your business to that country as well and you will be internationally recognisable.
How to start international freelancing
The first thing that you must do if you are planning to become an international freelancer is to get your passport ready and research about the visa and other requirements of the other country in which you are planning to move.
Fortunately, there are several countries that provide special visas to help freelancers who opt for international freelancing. They understand the needs of a freelancer and their desire to work from another country. There are fifty countries all around the World that give a specific type of work visa, that is known as Digital Nomad Visa. This visa helps the freelancers to travel and work in their selected destination. Freelancers can apply for this visa before travelling to their location and with the help of it they can work in that destination for a period of one year.
If you get a digital nomad visa, you will become eligible to stay in any nation without being an employee of any organisation in that country. Currently it has become extremely easy to move abroad and work with the invention of digital nomad visas, and this is one of the main reasons why you can allow yourself the leverage of moving to another country and becoming an international freelancer.
Few important things related to international freelancing
There are few things which every freelancer must know about before starting his/her international freelancer career.
Move only when you have enough experience– Moving to another country for work is not an easy task, it sounds very pleasing but in reality it is full of challenges. If you are planning to start international freelancing then make sure that you have plenty of experience and you have already worked for multiple international clients. If you don’t have enough experience then you will face difficulties in finding new clients.
Great competition– Male sure that you do freelancing in any country which has higher standards of living as compared to the country you live in. There will be a lot of competition and freelancing is very popular abroad, thus there will be a lot of freelancers offering services below your payment level, this makes sure that you deliver quality services.
Different time zones– Yes, freelancing provides flexible work timing, but it does not work when you are working in a different time zone. So, if you desire to sleep by midnight, it might not possibly work when you become an international freelancer.
Learn local language– In order to flourish your business it is very crucial for an international freelancer to learn the language of that particular country. If you are able to communicate with your client in their local language then they will feel more comfortable while talking to you and this will eventually help you in attracting clients.
Teaching
An ideal candidate to be an IP professor needs to have expertise in Patent, Trademark or Copyright law, or have experience in all three fields. There are both lateral-level and entry-level jobs available. The former requires a superior publication record while the latter needs the candidate to showcase a commitment to scholarship. The candidate must have a Juris Doctorate (JD) to qualify for the position.
An example of the roles and responsibilities for the work profile of an Assistant Professor include “Teaching, scholarly research and writing, and related activities (such as presenting papers at conferences). As appropriate to the candidate’s interest and the school’s needs, duties may also include administrative roles in a research centre, as well as ordinary committee service.” The average pay scale in the USA for this job is $175,158 while the same in the UK is £75,000.
Benefits of being an IP law teacher outside India
These are some of the benefits that teachers get when working outside India.
Fundings for research– Teachers all around the World are involved in doing extensive research. Other than teaching they also have their own interests in which they write a research paper, article or they research on a particular hypothesis to understand more about it. Various countries such as Germany, England and America provide huge funding to the teachers and professors in order to conduct research.
Advanced resources– India though it has a lot of universities and colleges, it lacks technological advancement when compared to any other foreign country like America. Whereas on the other hand universities abroad are equipped with high end technological devices that help the teachers and professors in teaching efficiently.
Career growth– Moving outside India as an international teacher can grow your career to an extreme level. If you go to another country and teach there for a few years and then come back to India you will be able to get a lot of attention and thus you will be recognised as an international teacher.
Content writing
You can also apply to be a Technical Writer in any IP law firm/company. The work profile of a full-time Technical Writer differs from what is normal content writing. The roles and responsibilities (according to a job post in Harrisonburg) are as follows:
“Work both independently and collaboratively with Trainers and other stakeholders to develop user documentation and training that ensures users understand changes to patent processing software they rely on for their daily work.
Maintain manuals, policy documents, training materials and similar content so that it consistently reflect current features, policies, and best practices.
Write standardised material for reports, manuals, briefs, proposals, instruction books, catalogues, and related technical and administrative publications concerned with work methods and procedures.
Acquire an understanding of the work performed by various end-users to understand how software functions to support specific work activities and overall business needs.
Engage multiple stakeholders, and recognise different perspectives. Prepare written descriptions and visualisations of requested software features
Represent users in discussing desired software functionality with developers, correct assumptions of developers and users
Test software prototypes for expected functionality; provide clear written and verbal descriptions of observed issues to developers
Create user guides and related documentation to support new software releases
Prepare and maintain policy and process documents to support other areas of the organisation
Conduct training and work with Training staff to ensure effective curricula.”
The average pay scale for the same is $68,555 in the USA, while in the UK it is £43,465.
How to get content writing jobs outside India
There are a lot of content writing opportunities available outside India, you can look up all the freelancing websites such as Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, etc, for freelance content writing job opportunities outside India. Here we have mentioned a few things that you must do in order to get more international clients and work.
Develop a top notch portfolio- Having a top notch portfolio is one the most important things if you want to develop a successful content writing career outside India. If you don’t have enough clients for your portfolio then you can do some personal work or you can work for imaginary companies. Make sure that you do clean and quality work.
Specialise in SEO– Having appropriate SEO skills can help you in reaching great heights in the field of content writing. Learn about keywords, how to use them and how to structure your content according to SEO. Use tools like SEMrush and polish your SEO skills.
Networking– It is also one of the most important things that you need to learn. Make sure that you join content writing groups in LinkedIn and Facebook and connect with individuals who are proficient in content writing.
Skills required to get an international content writing job
Having these skills are extremely important for a content writer who wishes to work outside India.
Technological skills– The field of content writing is also evolving very rapidly, and there are a lot of technological advancements in this field. Various tools have been developed that help the content writers in improving the quality of their work. International clients always require their works to be done in a precise and efficient manner, thus using these technology skills can help you deliver quality content to your client.
Learning to write engaging headlines– The most important thing of a content is its headlines, this is because people get attracted to the heading first and then they read the whole article. Make sure that you learn how to create engaging titles for your content.
Copywriting skills– Copywriting skill is the skill of making persuasive content that turns readers into customers. Copywriting skills also help a lot in building foundational writing skills and helps the content writers in creating compelling calls to action that inspire the readers to make certain specific decisions.
Other international career options in IP law
These are some other international career options in the field of IP law.
IP Manager
IP managers and the patent managers are those project managers who have extensive technological knowledge in their field and as well as in the field of intellectual property. For example, an individual who has enough experience in the field of IP and as well as in the field of engineering, and who also possesses the ability to manage all the legal formalities and contractual difficulties in the industry, is hired for the position of IP manager. There are various companies and organisations that hire IP managers for the purpose of international contract negotiation and also for acquisitions and mergers.
Fashion, sports and media
Fashion, media and sport are the most crucial areas of intellectual property of law. Most intellectual property law cases evolve from these areas. These industries are heavily reliant on the services of IP lawyers. These industries not only need a copyright, patent and trademark registration but they also need to generate a significant amount of products in the areas of franchising, licensing, IP prosecution and IP assignment all around the world.
IP blogging
As we all know that the scope of intellectual property is extremely broad, and because of this it makes it possible for individuals to write about it and pass the information to other people. There are various students and other professionals that participate in blogging initiatives and make an earning from them. Professionals in the field of IP law do IP blogging as an extra thing for their work profile, IP blogging helps the professionals build a reputation for themselves while also helping them in teaching the general public about the IP law.
Patent analysts
All the potential patent applications are checked by the patent analysts. These patent analysts also work for the companies that are creating new products or assessing prospective products to check if they are patentable. They are mainly responsible for doing extensive research to check if similar items have received the patent or if the patents for similar products are seeking approval. It is the duty of the patent analyst to make sure that a patent application will not be challenged in the court. Patent analysts always work with a huge amount of scientific data and they are required to keep up with all the latest research and trends.
Patent administrator
Any legal professional with a good internship experience in the field of IP law is eligible to become a patent administrator. A patent administrator is a professional who is responsible for making and coordinating with all the procedures of documentation for patent applications and filings.
Responsibilities of a patent administrator
These are some of the main responsibilities of a patent administrator.
Filing applications for patents with the Patent and Trademark Office, the Indian Patent Office of the respective nation and the World Intellectual Property Office on a timely basis to meet all the deadlines.
Updating and the maintaining the files of the client
Making Information Disclosure Statements and Certificate Statements for the references mentioned in various search reports and filing them with the USPTO.
Making various important documents such as Oath or Declaration, Power of attorney and other forms that are related to patents.
Keeping a track of all the upcoming deadlines and notifying the team members as well as the clients about the upcoming deadlines.
Salary of IP lawyer in India and abroad
In India the salary of an IP lawyer depends upon its roles and the organisation in which he is employed. According to Glassdoor the average annual salary of an IP lawyer employed in a tier 1 law firm remains around 11-12 lakh rupees per annum in their initial position. However, if you are an independent practitioner then your earnings depend upon the amount of clients and cases you deal with.
According to the reports of the US Department of Labor, the typical compensation for lawyers yearly is around one lakh twenty thousand dollars per year. However, according to the Payscale, the average salary of an IP lawyer is around one lakh thirty thousand dollars per year. On the other hand, Salary.com mentions that the attorneys who are experienced in the field of IP law make more than two lakh dollars in a year.
Why IP law is considered as a popular career choice
Becoming an IP lawyer has become a glorious career choice nowadays amongst the young lawyers. Due to the popularity of IP law amongst the young lawyers, their curiosity of what is IP law has also increased and young lawyers are desperate to know what a career in IP law has to offer.
IP law has definitely become one of the most lucrative fields in law and with the growth of technology, the demand for IP lawyers is also increasing. Here is a list of reasons as to why IP law has become a popular career choice especially amongst young lawyers:
International exposure
Under IP law practice, a lot of international transactions are involved, for example, when an intellectual property has to be registered in any country outside of India or under the international IP related conventions. Sometimes cases related to infringement of Intellectual property in foreign countries also occur and all these cases are of international nature due to involvement of foreign parties. For example, the case of turmeric which was given patent by the US government but it had always been a traditional knowledge in Indian households.
In all such cases, the IP lawyers are exposed to international law practice and they also gain many international clients due to such cases. Also, practising Ip in foreign countries is easier for IP lawyers as the IP laws are very similar across the world because most of the domestic laws follow the rules of TRIPS agreement. There are only minor differences related to jurisdictions which can easily be managed by lawyers.
Industry is recession proof
Intellectual Property is not affected by the recession in the economy as it is dependent on the creativity of individuals. Ideas and inventions do not stop in the face of economic recession. This is why employment in this sector will not go down. In fact, the jobs in this industry are projected to grow in the coming decade.
It is an evergreen and exciting field of law
As intellectual property rights have been developed recently, compared to old statutes and laws, there is a large scope of opportunities available for lawyers to grow exponentially. Moreover, new challenges emerge all the time which require the lawyers to be proactive and analytical. Intellectual property drives economic growth and competitiveness.
Lucrative salaries and non-monetary perks
Financial stability is an important aspect of any job you pursue and this industry guarantees it. As per PayScale, a Patent Attorney, on average earns $138,054. The average salary of a Trademark Attorney is $106,386. (This is just an indicative average as per the salary trends in the United States). Other benefits include bonuses, conveyance fees, health insurance, etc. (These differ from place to place). Intellectual property creates and supports high-paying jobs.
High stakes opportunities
Intellectual property has the power to either make a company or break a company, matters of IPR are always high stake. If you are someone who is working in this field and you get a high stake opportunity of IPR you will be able to make a hell lot of money and fame for yourself. Other than this you will also be able to make some big connections in industries.
Different kinds of work
The field on intellectual property rights is extremely wide, there are trademarks, tradesecrets, patents, as well as copyrights. If you work in the IPR sector you will get a chance to work with all these things. Being an IP lawyer you can learn several things such as litigation, portfolio management, licensing, registration, etc. you can also select your specific niche area such as entertainment copyright or pharmaceutical patents.
Growing technology and media sectors
In the recent past, the world has seen major growth in the field of technology, such as the emergence of AI models, 5G, tech related companies, food technology, fintech companies. Due to the emergence of such companies, the IP sector is also booming as a consequence because these companies need to register their patents, copyright and trademarks. These companies are also doing a major amount of work in licensing, franchising and assignment of IP to third parties. Overall all these companies are hiring IP lawyers due to the big pile of IP related work. The sectors that have major IP related works on hand includes manufacturing industry, FMGC, pharma, fashion but the biggest ones being tech and media companies.
Creative field
Unlike any other area of law, IP stands to be very different because intellectual property related laws are much more different than other laws. The other laws sometimes become boring and mundane due to the same kind of work over and over. But IP has a creative aspect attached to it. The meaning of intellectual property itself is that it is the property that originates from someone’s intellect. This aspect of intellectual property gives it an element of limitlessness which means that there is no limit of what all can be created by usage of the human’s brain and although the IP lawyers do not take any part in creation of that property they sure do in protecting it from any kind of infringement. The work of IP lawyers is not just strictly limited to the laws in the statutes like other areas, here in fact, the lawyers most of the time have to use their intellect also in coming up with ways to defend their client’s Ip and claiming how it is different from other IPs. The lawyers may also be required to do other fun tasks as a part of their job, which cannot be found in any other areas, such as watching movies or shows to determine whether the work is an original work or not, or whether there has been an infringement of their client’s IP in such shows/movies.
Emerging trends in IP law
The IP field has definitely become very popular these days, but there are still many trends that are emerging in IP and that can change the trajectory of growth of the IP industry in the future. It is very essential for the young lawyers to be aware of these emerging trends so that they can prepare themselves according to the needs of the future of IP.
Rise or growth of digital age
India is becoming digitised in many sectors. And with this digitisation, digital assets have also started emerging in the market. Digital assets like cryptocurrencies have become popular in the last few years. Businesses are also looking forward to growing their own digital currencies by creating new blockchain related inventions. Many individuals had already started making money through another digital asset which are also known as non-fungible tokens.
Utilising automation and technology to enhance productivity
There has been a lot of interference in the field of IP law by the influence of technology and AI. Various AI powered tools have come into the market that are used by the law firms to do various tasks such as reviewing legal documents, contract analysis, and trademark and patent searching. With the help of these procedures firms are able to decrease human error and lawyers have got more time to concentrate on their important work. Furthermore, there are various cloud-based platforms that are improving the accessibility and flexibility of IP lawyers and clients by enabling safe work, document sharing, etc.
Best international market for IP law
According to the reports of the US Chamber of Commerce on Intellectual Property Rights, America and England are two of the biggest markets of IPR. The top countries according to this report were the US, Germany, France, Sweden and the UK. The overall score of England and America remained the same, the score of America was 95.48% and the score of England was 94.14%.
The report stated that the UK has a sophisticated and strong national IP environment and it is a model for injunctive-style relief for all the stakeholder when they are battling with online infringement. This recent result shows that the IP environment of the UK gives a status of global leader, and it will eventually help the UK in becoming one of the best places in the World for promoting new discoveries and ideas. Thus, in short we can consider the IP market of England to become the best international market of IP in future.
Global challenges under IP law firm services market
These are some of the global challenges faced by the global intellectual property law firm services market.
Differentiation of services among existing organisations– There has been a lot of differentiation of services among all the existing players in the IPR sector. The market has become highly competitive and it has become very difficult for all the service providers to differentiate their services and stand out from the others. This thing eventually has resulted in the decrease of need for traditional services and has increased the demand for specialised IP services.
Presence of non-traditional players– A lot of non-traditional players such as consulting firms, technology companies and start-ups have come into the IPR sector and they have started to provide specialised services. These non-traditional players are using their expertise of technology and are offering more customised and cost-effective services than the traditional service providers, and because of this there has been an increased competition in the market and the demand for traditional services has also reduced.
Conclusion
IPR is one of those sectors in which there has been a lot of scope for legal professionals all around the world. There are various legal professionals in India who want to pursue IP law as their career outside India in any foreign country. There are a lot of opportunities available in IP law outside India, such as working in an IP law firm, becoming a patent administrator, teaching, content writing, etc. here in this article we have already dealt with all those opportunities that you can grab in IP law outside India, we hope that you have got sufficient information on this topic and now you ready to pursue your dream.
Frequently asked questions
What are the skills required to become an IP lawyer?
There are few crucial skills that you must excel in order to become a successful IP lawyer, and they are as follows:
Networking– It is also one of the most important things that you need to learn. Make sure that you join content writing groups in LinkedIn and Facebook and connect with individuals who are proficient in content writing.
Remain updated with relevant knowledge and experience– The field of IP law is rapidly evolving and thus, it makes it extremely necessary for all the IP lawyers to remain updated with all the latest rules and regulations under IP law.
Negotiation skills– Matters under IP law often include negotiations, thus if you are an IP lawyer then there are high chances that you will have to negotiate on behalf of your client with the opposite party, thus, having a negotiation skill is also extremely necessary for an IP lawyer.
Do IP lawyers outside India make more money than Indian IP lawyers?
Yes, IP lawyers in foreign countries such as England and America make a lot more money than Indian lawyers, this is because there is a demand for such lawyers and the number of skilled lawyers are also less in number and thus because of this they charge more money from their clients. Whereas in India, there are less opportunities and more number of lawyers and because of the abundance of IP lawyers in India, it becomes easier for clients to pick lawyers with less fees.
Which is the best international market for starting a career in IP law?
Currently, there are two countries at the top of this list: England and America. However, it is said that England is the most preferred country for starting an IP career and it promotes new inventions and discoveries more than other countries.
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This article is written by Diksha Shastri. It attempts to uncover the case of State of Karnataka vs. M/s. Drive-in Enterprises, where the imposition of taxes on open-air cinemas, aka drive-in cinemas, was put into question. The main issue raised before the Supreme Court was whether or not the State was allowed to make regulations for the levy of entertainment taxes on motor vehicles entering into a drive-in cinema or not. This article covers all the facts, issues, and the rationale behind judgement by the Apex Court in deciding the matter.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The case of State of Karnataka vs. M/s. Drive-in Enterprises (2001) (hereinafter referred to as ‘the case’) revolves around the issue of limitation of the State’s power to levy entertainment taxes on drive-in cinemas. A drive-in cinema is usually an open-air theatre where the audience can watch movies from the comfort of their motor vehicles.
Entertainment tax, sometimes even referred to as an amusement tax, is a type of tax levied on the commercialisation of entertainment. For example, you pay entertainment tax when you buy a movie ticket or tickets to sports events, exhibitions, etc. As a part of the indirect tax regime, entertainment taxes were charged separately before the inception of the single system for indirect taxes through the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The issue concerning this indirect tax was whether or not the state government held the power to charge certain entertainment taxes for the automobiles entering the drive-in cinemas. Let’s see the court’s rationale in detail.
Details of the case
Let’s start with understanding the basic details of the case.
Name of the case:State of Karnataka vs. M/s. Drive-in Enterprises
Court: Supreme Court of India
Date of the judgement: 13th March, 2001
Parties: The State of Karnataka (appellant), and M/s Drive-in enterprises (respondent)
Represented by: A. V. Viswanatha Sastri and O. P. Rana (for respondent), Mr. M. S. K. Sastri (for appellant)
The concern arose when the respondent in this matter, i.e., the proprietor and owner of the drive-in theatre situated near the outskirts of Bangalore city, filed an application to the Karnataka High Court to repeal Section 2 of the Karnataka Entertainment Tax Act 1958, as it was beyond the powers of the state to incorporate the section.
It is an agreed fact that the term Drive-In cinema is different from other forms of theatre, as it allows people to watch featured films in an open environment. Moreover, drive-in cinemas have a separate definition under the laws. With that being said, in this particular drive-in theatre, there was also an auditorium where people without vehicles could sit and watch the movie by paying INR 3/-. From this amount, the now appellant state government levied entertainment taxes. Now, for all those who were interested in watching the movies from their car and brought the cars to the auditorium, an extra charge of Rs. 2/- was charged. The State of Kerala, instead of just levying taxes on the people who come to be entertained, also started charging for the entry of these cars inside the theatre. Leading to the first writ petition by the proprietor of Drive in cinema before the Karnataka High Court.
A single-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court allowed the petition and struck down the extra entertainment tax levied on the entry of cars. The court held that since the tax was not being levied on a person being entertained, the charging of such a tax was ultra vires by the state. As a result of this decision, the Karnataka Entertainments Tax Act 1958 was amended to change Section 2, Section 4A, and Section 6 of the Act.
However, even after this amendment to the law, the state continued to levy an entertainment tax on motor vehicles. This resulted in another appeal by way of writ petition challenging the action of the government under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. This Article confers the power on the High Court to call upon orders and writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto, and certiorari for the enforcement of rights. This writ petition was allowed and the High Court struck down the subclause in question, i.e., Section 2(i)(v) of the Act. The state then challenged this order before the Supreme Court, leading to the case of State of Karnataka vs. M/s. Drive-in Enterprises (2001).
Issues raised
This case revolves around one important issue. Whether or not the state has the power to charge entertainment tax on the entry of vehicles to the drive-in theatres. In legal terminology, with all the laws in mind, this issue can be framed as follows:
Whether the State Legislature is competent to enact a law to levy tax under Entry 62 of List II of the Seventh Schedule on the admission of cars or other vehicles inside the drive-in theatre.
Hence, it falls upon the Supreme Court in the present case to determine the true nature and character of such a law, with reference to the power of the state to enact a law in this aspect. Let’s see what arguments were put forth by the parties.
Arguments of the parties
Appellants
The appellant in the present matter was the State of Karnataka. The counsel appearing on behalf of the State urged that the insertion of a new clause in the Act was completely valid, and as a result of these amendments, the State was competent enough to levy entertainment taxes on the entry of a car, motorbike or other vehicle in the drive-in theatre. Moreover, taking the doctrine of pith and substance into consideration, they even stated that the levy is on the person but not on the vehicle.
Respondent
As a counter, the counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent, M/s. drive-in enterprises, claimed that the drive-in theatres do not fall in the same category as a normal theatre or cinema house. In fact, its most prominent feature is that it allows people to bring in their motor vehicles and use the comfort of the same. Hence, the admission of the vehicle fees was also covered under the entertainment tax levied on the person visiting. Hence, claiming that the state was not competent enough to enact such a legislature to allow this levy on the admission of motor vehicles and cars to the drive-in cinema.
Further, they argue that the state is only competent to impose a tax on the person being entertained by the movie or cinema. Hence, they stated that the tax levy was only allowed for human beings and not for any inanimate objects. As a result, since the vehicles do not come under the definition of a person, the state was not competent to enact laws for the levy of entertainment tax on motor vehicles in a drive-in theatre.
Laws/concepts involved in State of Karnataka vs. M/s. Drive-in Enterprises (2001)
Now that we know all the arguments from both sides of the case, it becomes a bit easier to understand the issue. However, apart from having a clear understanding of the main issue in a case, it is very important to understand all the legal principles and legislation involved to reach the final judgement of the court. Hence, now let’s delve into the principles:
The Karnataka Entertainments Act, 1958
The State of Karnataka implemented this Act to create a uniform law for the levy of entertainment tax across the entire State of Karnataka.
Definition of Payment for Admissions
The most important legal provision discussed in this case is Section 2(i)(v), which was held invalid by the High Court. Section 2 is for definition, whereas clause (i) gives an inclusive definition for payment for admission, whereas sub-clause (v) specifically talks about the payment for admission of a vehicle to cinemas, like a drive-in cinema.
Tax on cinematograph shows in certain places
Section 4A was introduced by the state to determine the rate of taxes on the basis of the population of the local authorities. The insertion of this section shows the determination behind the state wanting to levy taxes on the admission of vehicles in the drive-in.
Manner of Payment of Tax
Section 6 of the Act was also amended after the decision of the High Court. However, the state made more amendments to include the fact that the tax must be calculated on the ticket sold as well as the number of admissions.
By amending these provisions, the case was brought before the Supreme Court.
Karnataka Cinemas (Regulation) Rules, 1971
Rule 111-A of the rules, defines drive-in cinemas as a cinema with open-air premises, allowing the audience to watch the movie or featured film inside their car or other motor vehicles. Moreover, it also includes auditoriums, where people without cars can sit or stand and watch their movies. The maximum capacity for entry was selected to be 1000 cars.
The Karnataka Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1964
This Act was also implemented to create uniform legislation for the regulation of cinemas across the entire State of Karnataka. Section 22 of the Act states the various rules and orders to be laid before the legislature. Thus, this section gave powers to the Karnataka state government to implement the rules for the regulation of cinemas. Resultantly, this is the provision, on the basis of which the Karnataka state government was enacting legislatures to levy tax on admission of motor vehicles in the drive-in cinema.
Doctrine of Pith and Substance
While arguing that the taxes were levied on the person and not the vehicle, the learned counsel for the appellant state relied on the doctrine of pith and substance. What exactly does it mean?
The term pith means the essence of something. However, substance stands for the essential part of the thing. This doctrine has always been useful when the legislative powers of the state and centre collide, despite the lists in Schedule VII of the Constitution of India.
According to this doctrine, when there is confusion between the legislative powers of the state and the centre over a subject of law and the true objective of that legislation falls within the ambit of the powers provided through Schedule VII, the law will be held valid even if it encroaches upon the legislative power of the other. Hence, if the objective of a law helps in furtherance of a subject within the powers of the state, they can make the legislation valid, even if the object falls outside their jurisdiction.
Features of the Doctrine of Pith and Substance
Resolves conflict
Whenever there is a conflict between the state’s legislative power and the centre’s legislative power, this doctrine helps in resolving the conflict of encroachment of power.
Flexibility
As a result of this principle, the legislative powers get a grey area to make laws for objects that do not entirely fall in their ambit.
Focus on true nature
With the help of this doctrine, the courts can take a look at the matter beyond technical aspects to achieve a greater good or real objective of the legislation.
Maintains balance
This doctrine of pith and substance helps in ensuring that the centre and state, alike, can effectively exercise their powers without much interference from each other.
Scope of the Doctrine
The primary scope of the doctrine of pith and substance is to create and maintain the balance between the subjects listed in Schedule VII of the Indian Constitution. However, it is also applicable when the cases are related to the repugnancy between central and state laws.
Yet, an important aspect of this doctrine is that determining the relationship between the object and the subject is quite subjective for different people. For instance, in the present case, the state stated that even though the Act was for the regulation of entertainment taxes since it was for people and not for the admission of cars, it was allowed to make this law and enact it because of the doctrine. Let’s see what the court has decided in this respect.
Relevant judgements referred in the case
To reach an immersive conclusion, the Supreme Court relied on the laws, legal principles and precedents set by various courts for similar matters. Let’s see the relevant judgements referred to by the court in this case.
(Morris) Leventhal & Ors. vs. David Jones Ltd. (1930)
This case revolves around an appeal by lessors of land to understand the liabilities of lessors and lessees in paying the tax for the property/premises. This was an appeal against the order of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in favour of the lessees.
The main issue in this case was whether or not a legislature that imposes a bridge tax could survive when the power was to create a legislature only for the tax on land. Considering the pith and substance, it was held that the levy of bridge tax was valid and lawful under the legislative power for levying tax on land.
Governor General in Council vs. Province of Madras (1945)
This case arose when the Governor General in Council challenged the validity of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939. This Act allowed for the levy of a tax on the first sales of goods produced in India. The main issue here was whether or not this Act was valid, to the extent of levying tax on first sales, or was this outside the competence of provincial legislative powers. Considering that the provincial legislative power to levy tax on sales of goods was conferred through the Constitution, the Act was held to be valid. The court emphasised the difference between various impositions by the government, even though sometimes they may overlap in practicality.
Raza Buland Sugar Co. vs. Rampur Municipality (1962)
This case involves a dispute regarding the imposition of a water tax between a public company and the Municipal Board of Rampur. The appellant was the owner of two sugar factories in Rampur and filed an application to hold the UP Municipalities Act, 1916 invalid. The reasons for such an application were that there was no proper publication for the tax imposition or the Act, and secondly, that the tax could not be levied because the building was not closer to a public water source.
However, the Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the levy of the water tax for the following reasons:
Publishing in an Urdu Newspaper was sufficient since it had a wide reach; and
Prior government approval was obtained, which cured the technical breach.
Kerala State Electricity Board vs. Indian Aluminium Co. (1976)
In this case, the validity of the Kerala State Electricity Supply (Kerala State Electricity Board and Licensees Areas) Surcharge Order 1968 was questioned. The main issue here was whether or not the state government, under the Kerala Essential Articles Control Act 1961, regulates electricity, which is a central government domain. To determine the true nature and character of the Act, the court relied on the doctrine of pith and substance. It was held that the law in itself was valid and the notification related to electricity passed was also valid. The major ground was that the pith and substance of the regulation of the sale price of electricity (a concurrent list subject) were valid.
RR Engineering Co. vs. Zila Parishad, Bareilly (1980)
This case involved two appeals challenging the validity of circumstances and property tax levied by the local authorities in the State of Uttar Pradesh. The main issue was whether or not the state government had the legislative power to impose such a tax. The doctrine of pith and substance was taken into consideration once again and to determine its true nature, the court simply focused on two questions:
Whether it was a tax on income; or
Was it a tax on profession or trade, etc.
It was held that this tax was not on income but on the property. Hence, they decided that tax was valid on the basis of the List II of Schedule VII as it allows state legislative powers on the following subjects:
Taxes on lands and buildings; and
Taxes on professions, trades, etc.
As a result, it was held that the state definitely had the authority to create a legislature to impose taxes covered in List II.
Goodyear India Ltd. & Ors. vs. State of Haryana & Anr. (1990)
This case discusses the validity of a purchase tax on raw materials by manufacturers in Haryana. Various manufacturers argued that the tax levied on the consignment of manufactured goods was beyond the limit of the legislative powers of the state government.
While determining its validity, the Court observed that the total purpose of a legislative act is not conclusive in determining the true nature and character of a specific tax levy with reference to the legislative power.
As a result, the petition was allowed and the taxes were held invalid by the Court.
Judgement in State of Karnataka vs. M/s. Drive-in Enterprises (2001)
In the case of State of Karnataka v. M/s Drive in Enterprises (2001), the courts relied on various legal principles and precedents before delivering the judgement. After careful consideration of the elements involved, the Supreme Court found the previous decision of the High Court to be erroneous. As a result, the present appeal before the Supreme Court by the state government was allowed and the levy of tax on admission of motor vehicles to drive-in cinemas was held valid.
Behind any legal judgement or order of the Court is a rationale that supports their decision. Let’s see in detail the rationale behind the judgement of State of Karnataka v. M/s Drive In Enterprises (2001).
Rationale behind this judgement
The main question that lay before the Supreme Court in this matter was whether or not the state legislature had such powers to enact a law for imposing an entertainment tax on automobiles. Considering the legal principles of pith and substance, the court was first required to know the true nature and character of the law. The court must thus look at the whole act, its objective, scope, and other effects of the provisions. After examination of all these, if it is found that the act is substantially closer to the legislative power of the state, it can be held valid. So, the court set out to examine precedents for figuring out the real nature of tax levy with reference to the state legislature and its competency.
After the examination of precedents, the Court was in complete agreement with the statement of law and the view given in most of the precedents above. This proved that the nature of the levy was not decisive in these matters, but it was the true nature and character that helped in determining the competency of the state.
Then, the court moved on to examine the provisions in question, as discussed above. While taking a look at Entry 62 of List II, it was evident that the state has the power to create a legislature for imposing taxes on luxuries and entertainment. Moreover, the court even stated that entertainment implies that the person being entertained.
Moving forward to deciding the final issue on this basis, the Court relied on Section 3 of the Act, which was the charging provision for levying taxes on each payment of admission.
Thus, it was found that the state was in fact competent to make such laws and levy the tax on admission inside the drive-in theatre. Now, the main challenge that remained was to determine whether a vehicle would be considered entertaining or not. For which, the court held that it is evident that the car cannot go to the theatre alone; it is used for the admission of the person being entertained. Hence, the person is admitted to the drive-in theatre along with their car or other motor vehicle. Moreover, it also proves that since the person is entering the car and then enjoying the whole movie in it, they get a better quality experience. Thus, the entertainment tax levy also depends on the different levels of comfort a person has obtained. For instance, the person standing in the auditorium would have a different level of comfort than the one sitting in their car.
As a result, considering the pith and substance, it was held that this levy of admission was on the person in the car being entertained. Hence, it is a competent enactment for state legislative powers.
Setting aside the judgement of the High Court, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal in this case.
Analysis of the case
When you simply take a look at the facts of the case, it may seem that the tax levied was not within the competence of the state legislature. However, when you delve deeper, it becomes evident that the correct way of analysing or understanding any judgement lies in understanding the legal principles involved. In this case, a major role was played by the doctrine of pith and substance, which focuses more on the true nature of a levy than its simple nomenclature.
At a glance, the tax on the admission of vehicles would seem that way to us. However, the key to the deciding factor lies in the hands of the court and how it interprets the law. For instance, the court emphasised how entertainment taxes work, defined all relevant terms legally and interpreted them to reach a conclusion. Resultantly, it was observed that at the end of the day, the person entering with a car is going to have a greater sense of comfort and entertainment. Moreover, he will be entertained while sitting in the car. Hence, the true nature of the levy was on the person, not the car itself. This makes it pretty clear that the High Court had erred in its decision to allow the application, which was now set aside by the Supreme Court.
Another important aspect in this case was the doctrine of pith and substance. This helps in analysing that, even though the state and centre have their own set of subjects to work on, the overlapping of powers is inevitable. It is in those situations that principles like pith and substance come to the rescue and help the court have a better and more clear interpretation of the law.
Conclusion
To conclude, entertainment taxes are levied on the persons being entertained. Which also includes the persons entering the drive-in theatre in their motor cars/vehicles. With that said, whenever there is confusion or contradiction in the legislative power provided under Schedule VII between centre and state, the doctrine of pith and substance helps in decoding the true nature and substance of the laws, in relation to the actual power of the state/centre. When this matches, the legislature is valid, even if parts of it are not within the state’s list.
This case is a really good example of the applicability of this doctrine. Moreover, it provides a clear interpretation of entertainment taxes, what a drive-in cinema is, and how the true nature of the tax levied in the Karnataka Entertainments Act was within the competency of the state legislature to enact.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is entertainment tax applicable on the admission of motor vehicles to drive-in theatres?
Yes, it was decided in the case of the State of Karnataka vs. M/s Drive in Enterprises (2001) that levying such tax is within the power of the state legislature. Whereas, by considering the pith and substance, the tax is actually levied on the person sitting in the car and being entertained and not on the car.
What is the meaning of drive-in cinema?
A drive-in cinema is defined as an open-air theatre, different from other theatres, where the audience can enjoy a featured film or other movie from the comfort of their cars. It allows admission of cars and other motor vehicles into the movie theatre.
Why is the doctrine of pith and substance important?
The doctrine of pith and substance is the legal principle through which the dispute between the subject of legislative powers of the state and centre can be resolved. It suggests that even if legislation is encroaching on the rights of legislative powers if its true nature and substance are in relation to the powers conferred on the state/centre, it is valid legislation. It provides certain flexibility to both legislative bodies and allows them to take action for the greater good.
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This article has been edited and published by Shashwat Kaushik.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Micro-content is one of the best solutions for businesses to increase their social media engagement. It is one of the popular SEO strategies used by many big businesses online. Micro-content allows firms to increase their brand awareness and audience engagement on social platforms. The digital marketplace today has more competition and shorter audience engagement spans. Therefore, The need to create micro-content is crucial for businesses. Micro-content hooks audiences with small and catchy information in the form of text, images, infographics or videos. Moreover, it plays a crucial role in helping any business grow on digital platforms and improve its growth in less time.
But what is micro-content? And how can businesses use it to enhance their reach among potential customers? This blog will explore more about micro-content. How do you write micro-content? What are the benefits of micro-content? And how you can leverage micro-content to build an effective micro-content strategy.
What is micro-content
Micro-content can be written in the form of small texts, images, or captivating video content that is generally used on social media platforms. Microcontent should be concise, compelling, catchy, and easy to understand. Micro-content can be written in many ways, such as clickable headlines, striking images, compelling videos, infographics and so on. This helps businesses grab audiences’ attention in a short span and foster more audience reach, social shares and engagement through comments. It is mainly used to navigate the audience to its long-form versions, like blog posts, videos or website content. Hence, it makes a good SEO strategy and helps businesses boost their SEO performance to a great extent.
Benefits of micro-content: how it boosts social media engagement
Micro-content helps you grab attention
Micro-content has the power to attract audiences in a sea of competing content. You can captivate audiences easily with short, impactful messages and visually striking imagery that swiftly engages the target audience. Businesses can distil brand messages into bite-size snippets that provide a distinctive presence amidst competition and inform the audience of their offerings. Hence, micro-content attracts users and builds meaningful relationships in the sea of content on social media platforms.
Increases virality of the content
Micro-content has the benefit of instant sharing. The user can easily share it and it has the potential to go viral. This helps businesses increase their reach to target audiences across other social media platforms. Hence, businesses can improve their visibility and take their business to the next level.
Foster social media engagement
With reduced attention spans, businesses can use micro-content to grab the attention of users in the first instance. It is a quick and convenient way to encourage users to interact with your brand. They can interact through likes, shares, comments or DMs.
What are the different types of micro-content you can leverage for social media engagement
Micro-content can be a small piece of information you provide in the form of text content, captivating images, or engaging videos. There are several types of micro-content that you can use to enhance your social media engagement. These are:
Short videos such as Instagram reels, stories, courses, etc.
Infographics
social media updates
Google snippets
Captivating Images and illustrations
Graphs and tables
White paper abstracts and memes
Podcast teasers
Short listicles and email marketing subject lines
Webpage titles
How micro-content improves SEO performance: key factors to consider
Businesses today use micro-content to rank higher in SERPs, as it attracts more organic traffic and increases the visibility of the website. Let’s learn how microcontent improves SEO performance with key factors:
User experience
Micro-content allows you to write short and catchy descriptions that can be easily digested and engage users to learn more about them. Moreover, providing valuable content to users in the form of micro-content also reduces the bounce rate on your website and further increases website rankings. In addition, visually appealing and valuable content also increases social shares, which again offers more exposure to the brand.
Optimises for featured snippets
Micro-content also provides an opportunity to appear your content on a feature snippet. It can be achieved by answering the questions asked by the users or search queries in the form of micro-content i.e., short and simple, and targeting users with concise solutions. Hence, driving more traffic to your website.
Micro-content helps increase the time duration on your website
The time duration spent by users on your website is crucial for better ranking on search engines. Micro-content helps in increasing your dwell time. Sharing engaging and informative videos, valuable and concise summaries and engaging content with images fosters more engagement. This ensures that your user spends more time on your website and, thus, signals search engines about your valuable content.
Micro-content supports internal linking
Micro-content can also be used as part of your SEO strategy. You can interlink your website pages in your micro-content, which helps search engines crawl and index your pages effectively. It ensures you better SEO rankings. Moreover, it highlights the best content on your web pages, improves reach to target audiences, and increases dwell time.
Allows social sharing and backlinks
One of the major benefits of micro-content is that it can be used in various forms, such as infographics, images, short video clips, reels and quotes. This form of micro-content gets more traction and induces more social sharing. Hence, the more sharing, the greater the chance of getting backlinks from high authority websites. Hence, getting good backlinks can also boost your SEO performance and improve your domain authority as well.
Tips and strategies to write effective micro-content on social platforms
Study target audience persona
You should craft micro-content from the audience’s perspective, targeting their preference, pain points, interests, and more. Following this strategy can attract more users and engagement. The audience can easily relate to the content and can generate leads and conversions.
Micro-content should be short and crisp
Social media has too much competition and a short audience engagement span; therefore, crafting clear and to-the-point content can attract busy users scrolling through their feed. You should ensure clarity and engagement points; whether it’s a headline, caption, video reel or anything else, it should immediately grab the attention of users, who should find them valuable.
Include storytelling for more social engagement
Empower your micro-content using a storytelling technique that targets and resonates with audience needs and connects them emotionally. Try inserting captivating videos, compelling images, infographics and more such valuable insights to make it more memorable for users. Further, including compelling visuals that align with your brand identity can make a lasting impression on audiences.
Ensure brand presence across platforms
Businesses must manage their brand presence on every social media platform to get the most benefit from online audiences. It can foster more engagement, identity, and leads. Ensure that you also follow your brand identity across various platforms with regular messaging, tone, and brand images.
Monitor performance of your micro-content
Regularly monitoring the performance and ups and downs of your micro-content can help you reach the target audience more effectively. Businesses seeking growth should track their performance metrics such as CTRs, engagement rates, likes, social shares, dwell time, etc. Through this, you can craft a strategy that resonates most with your audience and attracts them.
Be agile and follow current trends
With the ever-evolving latest trends in social media and continuously changing dynamics, it becomes crucial for businesses to stay ahead of the curve. Businesses should focus on changing their content strategies according to the current trends in the market, which can grab more attention and engagement from users. Try including new formats, and trends, trying viral challenges, exploring trending social media features, and so on.
Ensure engagement through polls, questions, and giveaways
Businesses should also focus on grabbing more interaction and engagement, which hooks the audience with your brand. You can leverage micro-content here to foster engagement through polls, questions, giveaways, asking users for their thoughts and more such things. Leveraging two-way communication can help you build relationships with your potential customers, generating leads and conversions.
Case studies of successful micro content campaigns
You have heard the most famous saying from Red Bull – “Red Bull gives you wiiings”. But in fact, they got wings with successful micro-content campaigns on social media. Red Bull leveraged YouTube to target their audience and promote their drink among consumers. They focused on creating captivating and high-quality videos on extreme sports and adrenaline-fueled activities. They consistently shared several thrilling and engaging videos that resonated with their target audience and captured the attention of many users. They garnered more fame, brand loyalty, millions of subscribers and many viral videos.
Airbnb’s Instagram strategy has attracted many users worldwide. They not only promote their mere accommodation but extend beyond it. They tap into the needs of diverse audiences incorporating an emotional touch to their travel destinations using visual storytelling techniques, which includes showcasing diverse cultures, landscapes and real experiences of people. They focus on delivering high-quality and visually captivating video content. They have successfully created an emotional connection by offering an unforgettable experience through their platform. Moreover, adding real stories from travellers and hosts has added an extra layer to their services.
Starbucks launched the “#RedCupContest,”
In 2015, Starbucks launched the “#RedCupContest,” a creative and engaging social media campaign that invited customers to showcase their artistic flair and holiday spirit. The contest encouraged participants to create and share photos or videos of their customized holiday-themed red cups on various social media platforms, using the designated hashtag “#RedCupContest.”
The campaign garnered immense popularity, with over 1.2 million entries from enthusiastic customers eager to display their creativity and celebrate the holiday season with Starbucks. These submissions ranged from simple festive designs to intricate and elaborate works of art, each reflecting the personal style and imagination of the participants.
The “#RedCupContest” not only generated a staggering number of entries but also achieved billions of impressions, significantly amplifying Starbucks’ reach and brand awareness. Through this campaign, Starbucks successfully tapped into the power of social media to connect with its audience on an emotional level and create a sense of community around the holiday season.
By encouraging customers to share their creative holiday cups, Starbucks created a platform for self-expression and fostered a sense of belonging among its patrons. Participants eagerly anticipated the reveal of the winning entries, which were selected by a panel of judges based on creativity, originality, and adherence to the holiday theme.
The contest also provided Starbucks with valuable insights into customer preferences and trends, enabling the company to better understand its audience’s tastes and expectations. This information proved invaluable for future marketing campaigns and product development initiatives.
Overall, Starbucks’ “#RedCupContest” campaign proved to be a resounding success, effectively leveraging the power of social media to engage customers, enhance brand loyalty, and create a memorable holiday experience for all involved.
Spotify’s “Wrapped” campaign
Spotify’s annual “Wrapped” campaign is a highly anticipated event that provides users with a personalised and engaging look into their listening habits over the past year. This innovative campaign has become a global phenomenon, garnering immense popularity and excitement among music enthusiasts worldwide.
At the heart of the “Wrapped” campaign is its ability to offer users a unique and tailored experience. Through advanced data analysis and algorithms, Spotify creates personalised insights that showcase each user’s individual music preferences, top artists, genres, and more. This level of personalisation makes the campaign highly relatable and captivating for users, as they can see their unique listening journey reflected in the results.
One of the key elements of the “Wrapped” campaign is the creation of shareable playlists and personalised Spotify Wrapped stories. These interactive features allow users to not only explore their own listening habits but also share them with friends and followers on social media platforms. This social aspect adds an extra layer of engagement and excitement to the campaign, as users eagerly anticipate and compare their results with others.
The “Wrapped” campaign has evolved significantly over the years, incorporating new and innovative elements to keep users intrigued and engaged. In recent years, Spotify has introduced features such as interactive quizzes, personalised videos, and even augmented reality experiences to enhance the user experience. These additions have further solidified “Wrapped” as a cultural phenomenon that transcends mere music streaming and has become a cherished end-of-year tradition for music lovers around the world.
The success of Spotify’s “Wrapped” campaign lies in its ability to tap into users’ desire for self-expression and community. By providing a platform for users to celebrate their unique music preferences and share them with others, Spotify has created a sense of belonging and camaraderie among its vast user base. This campaign has not only strengthened Spotify’s position as a leading music streaming platform but has also fostered a deeper connection between artists and their fans, making it a truly transformative and memorable experience for all involved.
Conclusion
From the above details, we can state that micro-content plays a crucial role for businesses seeking more visibility and engagement. It allows them to get a competitive edge over their competitors in the growing digital landscape. In addition to this, micro-content allows businesses to gain more interaction and build brand loyalty, leading to more conversions. Hence, leveraging micro-content can help businesses enhance their social media presence and also ensure all marketing goals are met.
In today’s data-driven world, businesses are continually seeking methods to extract valuable insights from the vast amounts of data within their reach. This process relies heavily on data analytics tools and software, which empower organisations to effectively analyse, interpret, and visualise data. In this article, the benefits of using Power BI and how it can revolutionise the way businesses harness their data for strategic decision-making are explored.
Apart from its robust data visualisation capabilities, Power BI provides advanced analytics features that empower businesses to delve deeper into their data. The inclusion of built-in machine learning capabilities allows users to uncover hidden patterns, forecast future trends, and derive predictive insights. This functionality empowers organisations to anticipate market shifts, identify emerging opportunities, and maintain a competitive edge.
Furthermore, the integration of Power BI with other Microsoft products and services ensures a seamless experience for users. Effortlessly, data from Excel spreadsheets, Azure databases, and other sources can be imported, ensuring a unified view of information across the organisation. Effortlessly importing data from Excel spreadsheets, Azure databases, and other sources ensures a unified view of information across the organisation.
Beyond data sources, this integration extends to collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, facilitating real-time communication and decision-making among team members. Moreover, Power BI’s scalability renders it suitable for businesses of all sizes, ranging from startups to multinational corporations.
Whether it’s a small team analysing sales data or an enterprise-level organisation processing massive datasets, Power BI can accommodate diverse needs and workloads. The flexible deployment options of Power BI, including cloud-based and on-premises solutions, ensure adaptability to evolving business requirements. Furthermore, Power BI’s robust security features offer peace of mind for organisations handling sensitive data.
Through role-based access control, encryption, and compliance certifications, Power BI ensures data remains secure and compliant with regulatory standards, instilling confidence in organisations regarding data protection.
This allows businesses to concentrate on extracting insights from their data without compromising on security or privacy concerns. Overall, Microsoft Power BI provides a comprehensive suite of features and benefits that empower businesses to fully harness the potential of their data.
From intuitive data visualisation to advanced analytics and seamless integration with other Microsoft products, Power BI revolutionises how organisations analyse and leverage data for strategic decision-making purposes. In their quest for data-driven success, businesses find Power BI to be a reliable ally as they continue to navigate the complexities of the digital age.
Considerate power BI
Developed by Microsoft, Power BI is a business analytics tool that empowers users to visualise and share insights from their data. Power BI offers a comprehensive suite of features for data preparation, analysis, and visualisation, making it suitable for both beginners and advanced users alike. Due to its intuitive interface and seamless integration with other Microsoft products like Excel and Azure, Power BI has gained popularity among businesses across various industries.
Its primary goal is to provide users with the capability to effectively visualise and disseminate insights derived from their data. With a comprehensive suite of features, Power BI covers every aspect of the data analytics process, from meticulous data preparation to in-depth analysis and dynamic visualisation. The intuitive interface of Power BI streamlines the user experience, ensuring seamless navigation across its array of functionalities. The true strength of Power BI resides in its seamless integration with other Microsoft products, notably Excel and Azure.
Regardless of whether it’s a small team aiming to optimise sales strategies or a large enterprise analysing complex datasets, Power BI offers the flexibility and scalability necessary to meet diverse business requirements.
Aids of power BI
Improved decision making
One of Power BI’s primary benefits is its capacity to facilitate informed decision-making. By converting raw data into interactive visualisations and dashboards, Power BI empowers stakeholders to gain valuable insights into key metrics and trends. Whether it’s sales performance, customer behaviour, or operational efficiency, Power BI equips users with the tools necessary to analyse data in real-time and identify actionable insights. This empowers decision-makers to make timely and informed decisions that foster business growth.
The capability of Power BI to enhance decision-making extends beyond merely providing visualisations and dashboards. A range of analytical tools and features offered by Power BI enable users to delve deeper into their data. For instance, Power BI’s built-in AI capabilities enable advanced data analysis, encompassing forecasting, clustering, and anomaly detection. Decision-makers are empowered by these tools to unearth valuable insights that might not be readily apparent from raw data alone. Furthermore, the integration of Power BI with other Microsoft services, such as Azure Machine Learning and SQL Server Analysis Services, further enhances its analytical capabilities.
Data visualisation and explanation
In data visualisation, Power BI excels, providing a broad selection of customisable charts, graphs, and maps for presenting data in visually appealing and easily understandable ways. From bar charts and pie graphs to heat maps and scatter plots, Power BI offers numerous options for visualising data according to specific requirements. Moreover, its interactive features enable users to delve into the data and explore various perspectives, facilitating deeper insights and analysis.
Convenience and cooperation
Its accessibility and collaboration capabilities stand out as another key advantage. Through Power BI’s cloud-based platform, users gain secure access to their data and reports from anywhere, at any time, using any device. This guarantees that decision-makers can access the most recent information, even when they’re not at their desks. Moreover, Power BI facilitates seamless collaboration among team members, enabling them to share insights, collaborate on reports, and collectively make data-driven decisions in real-time. Additionally, Power BI’s capabilities are enriched through its integration with other Microsoft products and services. For instance, the seamless integration with Excel enables users to effortlessly import data and utilise familiar functionalities for analysis. Similarly, integration with Microsoft Teams fosters real-time communication and collaboration among team members, thereby streamlining decision-making processes.
Cost effectiveness
When compared to traditional business intelligence solutions, Power BI provides significant cost savings for organisations. Thanks to its flexible pricing plans and pay-as-you-go model, businesses have the freedom to scale their usage according to their needs and budget. Furthermore, being part of the Microsoft ecosystem, Power BI seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft products and services, thus minimising integration costs and streamlining workflows. This characteristic renders Power BI a cost-effective solution suitable for businesses of all sizes, ranging from startups to enterprise-level organisations.
Real-world submissions
Across various industries and use cases, the benefits of Power BI are evident. For example, retail companies can leverage Power BI to analyse sales data, identify trends, and optimise inventory management. Likewise, healthcare organisations can utilise Power BI to monitor patient outcomes, track resource utilisation, and enhance clinical decision-making. In finance, manufacturing, marketing, and logistics, Power BI empowers organisations to unlock the full potential of their data and drive business success.
Limits and trials
While acknowledging the numerous benefits of Power BI, it’s important to recognise its limitations and challenges. For example, novice users may find that complex data modelling and transformation require advanced technical expertise, posing a challenge. Moreover, concerns about data security and compliance can arise, particularly when dealing with sensitive information. Moreover, integrating data from various sources and upholding data quality can demand significant time and resources. Nevertheless, with adequate training, governance, and support, organisations can effectively tackle these challenges, thereby maximising the value of Power BI.
Conclusion
In summary, Power BI emerges as a formidable asset for data analytics, presenting a multitude of advantages for businesses. Empowering organisations to leverage their data effectively and drive business growth, Power BI offers a spectrum of benefits, spanning from enhanced decision-making and data visualisation to accessibility and cost efficiency. Through the utilisation of Power BI’s capabilities, businesses can obtain valuable insights, optimise operations, and maintain a competitive edge in today’s dynamic marketplace.
Furthermore, the integration of Power BI with other Microsoft products and services enhances its utility across a variety of business environments. Through the utilisation of Power BI’s capabilities, organisations unlock their data’s potential to propel business growth. Informed insights, streamlined operations, and a competitive edge enable businesses to navigate the complexities of the contemporary marketplace with agility and foresight. Informed insights, streamlined operations, and a competitive edge enable businesses to navigate the complexities of the contemporary marketplace with agility and foresight.
Yet, acknowledging the challenges presented by data complexity, security concerns, and resource-intensive integration is crucial. With strategic investments in training, governance, and support, organisations can effectively mitigate these challenges, thereby ensuring the optimal utilisation of Power BI’s capabilities. Power BI offers the flexibility and scalability necessary to meet diverse business requirements, whether it’s a small team aiming to optimise sales strategies or a large enterprise analysing complex datasets.
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