Roundtable On Trade Secret Protection in India: Road Map for a Legislation

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India) along with the Chair on Intellectual Property Rights and CIPRA, NLSIU, is organising a Round Table on ‘Trade Secret Protection in India: Road Map for a Legislation.’

Concept Note:

Trade Secrets as an intellectual property right plays a key role in the protection of business interests of an organization. The potential of Trade secrets is immeasurable, at same time the loss incurred after the theft of the trade secret is also immeasurable. Current online model of working, which became a new normal all-round the world raises many challenges considering safe preserving and protection of business models, Trade secrets. Remote working model challenges the need for the more strict and better model for the protection of Trade secrets. In India Protection of Trade secrets is a big challenge which needs to be addressed.

Unlike other Intellectual properties like patents, trademarks etc., In India, there is no statute or legislation that governs the protection of trade secrets. However, rights in respect of trade secrets are enforced through contract law (Indian Contract Act, 1872)principles of equity or by way of a common law action for breach of confidence.

Trade Secret Protection is one of the key points mentioned under 3rd Objective of the National IPR policy. On 23rd July 2021 a report submitted to the Parliament of India titled “Review of Intellectual property rights regime in India”( 161st REPORT) report highlighted the need for a separate legal framework for protection of Trade secrets as trade secret protection lacks clarity on several aspects.

Further, the report suggested for “A Separate legislation “on trade secrets, highlighted the significance of a separate legislation in protecting business environment and attracting business investments in India. India is also a signatory of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). Under article 39(2), TRIPs allow members the flexibility to frame laws that prevent the unauthorized disclosure and use of certain information.

Who Can Participate?

Law researchers, Law faculty and students, IP Attorneys, lawyers, and other interested participants.

Agenda:

Inaugural Session

2.00 pm – 2.05 pm  – Welcome & Opening remarks
Prof. (Dr.) T. Ramakrishna, Chair Professor, IP-Chair, NLSIU
2.05 pm – 2.10 pm – Presidential Address
Prof. (Dr.) Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Vice-Chancellor, NLSIU, Bengaluru.
2.10 pm -2.15 pm – Inaugural Address
Ms. Shruti Singh, (TBC) Joint Secretary, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industries, GoI
2.15 pm -2.20 pm- Special Address
Mr. Karan Thapar (TBC), Deputy Secretary, DPIIT, GoI
2.20 pm -2.25 pm – Special Address
Mr. John Cabeca (TBC), U.S .Intellectual Property Counselor for South Asia.
2.25 pm -2.30 pm – Vote of thanks

Session I

2.30 pm – 2.45 pm – Trade Secrets: Analyzing its position in the IP Landscape,
Chair: Prof. Dr. Prabuddha Ganguli, CEO, Vision -IPR, India.
2.45 pm -3.00 pm – a) Conceptual Clarity on Trade secret: Confidential Information and Trade secret
Dr. Niharika Sahoo Bhattacharya, Assistant Professor, Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT Kharagpur.
3.00 pm – 3.15 pm – b) Gaps in Existing Legal framework for protection of Trade secrets
Dr. S.K Murthy, Patent Counsel, Intel India, India
3.15 pm -3.30 pm – c) Trade Secret as an IP
Prof. Sudipta De Sarkar, Associate Dean(TP), HOD, Dept. Of IPR Law and Practice, School of Law, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneswar, Odisha
3.30 pm -3.40 pm – Q & A

Session – II

3.40 pm– 3.55 pm -Trade Secrets : Need for Protection
Chair: Prof. Dr. Mark Schultz,University of Akron School of Law, Ohio, USA
3.55 pm – 4.10 pm – a) Position in other jurisdictions
Ms. Ankita Tyagi, Deputy Head, IP & Projects at European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC)
4.10 pm – 4.25 pm – b) Best practices and enforcement
Mr. Dinesh Sharma, (TBC), Senior IP Policy Advisor- India, USPTO
4.25 pm -4. 40 pm – c) A framework for India?
Mr. Pranshu Negi, Research Scholar , NLSIU, Bangalore
4.40 pm– 4.50 pm – Q &A

Session – III

4.50 pm– 5.05 pm – Trade secret protection in the Digital contest
Chair : Mr. M.S. Bharath, Founder, KRIA Law
5.05 pm – 5.20 pm – a) Vulnerability of Trade secrets
Ms Divya Kumat , Executive Vice President, Chief legal officer & Company Secretary,Datamatics Global Services Limited.
5.20 pm – 5. 35 pm – b) Emerging technologies in protecting Trade secrets
Dr. Vijaya Sarathy, Growth leader, Technology Incubation at GE
5.35 pm – 5.50 pm – c) Post Covid Challenges
Ms. Chitra Iyer, Director/ Licensing Program Leader-India, Philips India Limited.
5.50 pm – 6.05 pm – Post covid Challenges (Pharma/ Biotechnology prospective)
Dr. Arshad Jamil, Vice President – IPR, Biocon Biologics Limited.
6.10 pm – Vote of Thanks & Conclusion

Coordinators:

Jnana Teja Bandi,
Research Associate, DPIIT Chair on IPR
9848230253,

Jothsna Chikkodi
Research Associate, DPIIT Chair on IPR