In Conversation With Tusha Malhotra, Partner, Anand & Anand

How and when did you know becoming a lawyer was your life’s true calling? 

I never planned to do law. Suddenly, in my final year B. Sc. (graduation), I impulsively decided to pursue law. The realization of true calling was after I started practicing.

Would you please tell us about your specialisation and the array of work you handle at your firm? 

I am an Intellectual Property lawyer. A Partner with Anand and Anand.

I have been regularly:

•            Advising clients and strategizing for their lawsuits;

•            Arguing before Courts and conducting trials;

•            Collaborating with foreign independent experts and legal experts;

•            Negotiating settlements;

•            Collaborating with senior advocates.

Apart from the legal representation in court, I also help clients with:

•            Brand acquisitions and divestments;

•            Patent licensing including pharma patents, standard essential patents;

•            Negotiations and Contract drafting;

•            Global brand dispute resolution and settlements;

•            Arbitrations;

•            Mediations and conciliations;

•            Brand launch strategies;

•            Media management for lawsuit related and other IP related issues

The portfolio of clients serviced by me include mostly the SIG clients of the firm panning over various industries including pharmaceutical, telecom, FMCG, luxury fashion, electronics etc.. My portfolio of clients are of different nationalities – American, European, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean etc.

What are your predictions for 2022 in the area/s of specialisation mentioned above? What are some of the upcoming trends of the industry? 

The coming years, not just 2022, will see:

1. Pharma patent disputes – a new look at it after the covid experience. The public interest will be seen differently i.e. not only with respect to cheaper medicines but with respect to innovation and invention of new therapies;
2. Disputes related to Innovation or generation of other related IP rights with the intervention of Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence;
3. Cyber security issues.

One recent landmark judgement or the best judgment of 2021 that you’d like to share a word about.

Not just 2021, even 2020 has seen very restrictive court functioning. Yet the court, which is my primary practice domain – Delhi High Court, has entertained and passed key orders on different aspects of Intellectual Property – starting from balancing the rights of patent holder in the wake of covid crisis and opportunistic attempts made by infringers (Indoco v. BMS – appeal – Delhi High Court) and the anti anti suit injunction passed in the Interdigital v. Xiaomi matter

As a new age lawyer, what to your mind is the one thing in the current legal ecosystem at the Bar, Bench, or in the Law Firms that needs our attention.

I must start by saying that the legal ecosystem is largely progressive, at least I speak of Courts in Delhi. But we may think of ways of making things streamlined by easing out the procedure and especially, find digital means to substitute them. This has started being done, and it saves a lot of time on technicalities and the disputes are being more effectively and quickly heard.

Many Congratulations on joining the BW Legal World Elite 40 Under 40 Club of Achievers 2021. What to your mind has helped you get to where you are and what advice would you have for others who want to set off in a similar direction? 

Initiative, hard work, different approaches towards resolving a dispute (not always traditional or conventional), availing the unutilised or under utilized provisions in statute, understanding client and business needs – ever changing.

While it is encouraging to see the increase in statistics of women in law and in leadership roles, would you say things have become easier, or does the way to the top continue to be a journey through labyrinths and mazes for women?  

Still a mixed bag of people – while there are some who are super supportive, there are also other for whom having a woman on the table that too in a leadership role is a non starter. I would definitely like to add that women should keep going and be assertive in what they believe in as the world is largely receptive, we may just, at times, have to push harder.