Geographical Barriers Have Been Broken; Jurisdictions Have Become Easy: Safir Anand

A stimulating chat on the importance of Intellectual Property laws in the Age of Digitisation between Safir Anand, Senior Partner, Anand and Anand and Sumes Dewan, Managing Partner, Lex Favios engaged the audience and presented many aspects of Intellectual Property in India. When asked about the impact of technology and digitisation on intellectual property, Anand said that with the impact of digital has made it increasingly easier to violate Intellectual Property (IP). “Piracy and plagiarism is a problem that has surfaced post digitalization. There is a difference in the way IP has been treated on the digital side,” says Anand.

However, in the digital age, it is also easier for IP to get recognized. “The geographical barriers are been broken and jurisdictions have become easy. So the overall value of brands is going up,” he adds.

Citing a recent study conducted by WTO Anand says 90 per cent of the wealth of the world is now in IP.

Commenting on the IP laws in India, Anand says, “The courts are coping up with the changes and amendments and the liability issues will not only be limited to the manufacture of goods but to intellectual property as well.”

Speaking about the role of lawyers and law firms vis-à-vis artificial intelligence, Dewan, Managing Partner, Lex Favios says that in the West, especially in the US, many law firms have started deploying AI or artificial intelligence. Taking the example forward, Anand says that the role of a paralegal will come to an end because of the ability of machines to provide a lot of data is getting more pronounced. “And this has become an opportunity from the lawyers’ perspective as it makes them empowered with more data points,” adds Anand.

Artificial Intelligence, Anand says, has brought about more accuracy in the analysis done by lawyers and hence helped them to create more value through their work.