Prof. Sunita Tripathy

Prof. Sunita Tripathy

Associate Professor and Director-Student Welfare and Assistant Director, Centre for Intellectual Property and Technology Law

B.S.L. LL.B. (Symbiosis Pune);

LL.M. (NALSAR Hyderabad);

LL.M (Western Ontario, Cananda)

: stripathy@jgu.edu.in : ++91 1303057998 

Prof. Sunita Tripathy earned her LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law as a NALSAR-Western Scholar from Canada in the year 2011. She has studied in the reputed Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, India; she graduated from the Symbiosis Law School, Pune, India earning a degree in Bachelor of Socio-Legal Sciences and Law (B.S.L., LLB) in the year 2007. Prior to joining JGLS, she worked in the area of Asset Reconstruction (Corporate) Resolutions at one of India’s leading financial institutions.

Sunita enjoys advanced scholarship and research about law and its role in society with special focus on its nexus with technology, intellectual property, business and public policy. Her primary focus of writing has been on issues interfacing intellectual property law and competition policy, and legal issues concerning technology use in contemporary times. As one of the founding members of CIPTEL, the University’s IP research group she regularly engages in academic collaborations with several organisations, centers, labs and think-tanks as well as the Government to direct discussion panels, moot court activities, workshops, seminars as well as lecture series on important socio-legal issues such as standard essential patent commercialization, innovation and technology monetization, free and open source software, information security, patent prosecution and technology transfer and delivers addresses before audiences in intellectual property conferences and forums in India and abroad. In her administrative capacity, she is currently co-leading the development of an institutional policy to operationalize ethical data use and big data management by coordinating with the various schools alongwith the IT department at JGU. Previously, she has been instrumental in working with the Jindal Global Library to make policies that adopt the merits of the Marakkesh Treaty signed by India on June 27, 2013 which advocates for the rights of the blind, visually impaired or print disabled by making educational material at JGU disability-friendly and has also coordinated to conduct research work with the UN Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights and student researchers in the year 2012.

Her ongoing academic engagements include her appointment as invitee visiting research scholar at Applied Research Centre for Intellectual Assets and the Law in Asia (ARCIALA), Singapore Management University School of Law, Singapore (July 2017) and appointment as member of the editorial board of the peer-reviewed International Journal for Private Law (2017 onwards).

Teaching

Currently as faculty of Law at JGLS, she primarily teaches courses related to Intellectual Property Law which includes the following subjects:

  • The survey course on Introduction to various forms of Intellectual Property Rights.
  • The post-graduate course on General Principles of Intellectual Property Law.


Elective courses on: 

  • Advanced IP course on “Law for preserving IP in products of Group Intelligence.”
  • Advanced IP course on “Legal perspective on Managing Intellectual Property to gain competitiveness in markets”.
  • Jurisprudential understanding of the Traditional and Alternate approaches to Intellectual Property Rights.
  • Law and business aspects of Intellectual Property Licensing (offered to the Business School).
  • Law related to Traditional Knowledge and Geographical Indications.
  • Media and Entertainment Laws.
  • Personality Rights: The Law & Commerce of Show Business in the Internet Era.
  • Applied Research Center for Intellectual Assets and the Law in Asia, School of Law, Singapore Management University: Visiting scholar at ARCIALA, SMU (July 2017).
  • Nominated as Govt. of India representative (academic expert) of the official delegation for the text-based negotiations at the 32nd WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources at Geneva, Switzerland from November 28 to December 02, 2016. Currently involved in developing the National strategy, policy and law for protection of Traditional Knowledge with the Ministry of Ayurveda Yoga Unani Siddha Homeopathy (AYUSH) in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
  • Qualcomm Inc (2015 – 2016- 2017): Research Fellow of the Jindal Initiative on Research in IP and Competition (JIRICO), which is the recipient of a grant from Qualcomm Corporation, USA for conducting conferences, workshops, moot court competition and pursue research in the area interfacing Intellectual Property and Competition in India.
  • Invitee fellow at the Global Health Law Summer Institute Conference titled “The Access Challenge” at University of Washington School of Law, Seattle (July 14-18, 2014).
  • Microsoft IP Teaching Fellow at the University of Washington, Seattle in January 2013.
  • NALSAR-Western scholar for research thesis within the Masters in Law programme at the University of Western Ontario, London, CANADA for the academic year 2011.
  • “Redefining Innovation 4.0: Shaping a humane fourth industrial revolution” in the World Youth Forum at the Munich Conference Series on Ethics in Innovation on June 26-27, 2017 in Munich at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, Germany. 
  • “Enforceability of No-Challenge Clause in Patent License Agreements” at the panel discussion on Patents and Antitrust: Building or Burning Bridges? for the Second International Conference on Standardization, Patents and Competition Issues: Developments and Perspectives in the Asia Pacific Region and Europe, organized by the Jindal Initiative for Research on IP and Competition of the O.P Jindal Global University on June 10-11, 2017 at The Imperial, New Delhi.  
  • “Metric for measuring the vertical restraints resulting from Standard Essential Patent licensing agreements in the Smartphone handsets Industry in India” at the panel discussion on Role of Regulatory Agencies and Courts for the Jindal-Hoover IP2 (Stanford) International Workshop on Standard Essential Patents and Existing Debates in India – Busting patent myths through evidence organized by the Jindal Initiative for Research on IP and Competition of the O.P Jindal Global University on December 18, 2016 at New Delhi.  
  • “Legal and Policy Obstacles in Innovations and IPRs” for the Global Innovators Dialogue 2016 organized by the Jindal Initiative for Research on IP and Competition of the O.P Jindal Global University on November 12, 2016 at New Delhi. 
  • “India’s Agro-biotech transfer policy: A need for regulatory oversight” at the ‘Workshop on Innovation, Economic Development and IP in India and China’ held in collaboration with School of Law, Singapore Management University, IP School Renmin University and Max Planck Institute of Innovation and Competition, Germany on the Track: Developments in the protection of Patent, Plant Varieties and Food Security (Day 2, Session VI) on September 28, 2016 at Jindal Global Law School, and New Delhi, INDIA. 
  • “Standard Essential Patent litigations in the Smartphone Industry: A suggestive model for achieving FRAND outcomes in India” at the 16th Annual IP Scholar’s Conference Session on: Patent Pools and Standards on August 11, 2016 at Stanford Law School, Palo Alto, CA. 
  • Panelist address discussing “Open Assessments” for Open Education in Consilience 2016: A Conference on Open Access and Intellectual Property organized by the Law Tech Society of the National Law School of India University and SpicyIP on May 28, 2016 at Bangalore India.  
  • “Patents for Computer Related Inventions” at the Roundtable on Patents & IP in IT/ITES Sector: What Do We Know? Organized by the Center for Policy Research on March 22, 2016 at New Delhi.  
  • “e-Data and the impact of technology on client confidentiality” at the Conference on Ethics and Professional Responsibility in The Indian Legal Profession organised by Jindal Global Law School at New Delhi (November 01, 2015).  
  • “Reverse Payment Settlements and the Future of Health, Access to medicines and Pharmaceutical Patents: A comparative legal view” at the Refresher Course on Intellectual Property Rights for Law Teachers held at the Inter University Centre for Intellectual Property Rights Studies, CUSAT, Kochi (June 24, 2015).  
  • “The right to health: Reviewing the trans-pacific partnership agreement from the lens of intellectual property rights” in The 4th Conference of the Postgraduate and Early Professionals/Academics Network of the Society of International Economic Law (PEPA/SIEL) 2015 – Milan, 16-17 April 2015 organised at Università degli Studi of Milano, Faculty of Political, Economic and Social Sciences, Department of International, Legal, Historical and Political Studies, via Conservatorio 7, 20122, Milano, Italy (April 16, 2015).  
  • Seminar address on “A Right of personhood: a comparative understanding of the notion and policy of the Author’s moral rights in Copyright law” in The LawTech Intellectual Property Law Seminars 2015 at the Facoltà di Giurisprudenza in April 14, 2015 at Università di Trento, Italy.  
  • Speaker and Moderator of “Session I — “Digital Identity and e-Services” at the International Conference titled Information Society: Challenges for India organised by OP Jindal Global University (June 07-08, 2014).  
  • Speaker at the Round Table Discussion on the topic “The Turning page : Print, Online, Copyright Issues” on the occasion of the World Book and Copyright Day on April 23, 2014 organised by the UN Information Centre for India and Bhutan at the UN Conference Hall, UN House, New Delhi.
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  • Co-organizer of the Third International Conference on “Innovation for Shared Prosperity: Deliberations on Standard–Setting and Patent Licensing” organised by Jindal Initiative on Research in IP and Competition (JIRICO) to be held on 4th-5th of November, 2017 (forthcoming)
  • Co-organizer of the First Global Writing Workshop & Research Colloquium for young scholars organised by Jindal Initiative on Research in IP and Competition (JIRICO) held on 17-23 August, 2017.
  • CIPTEL celebrates World IP Day on April 26, 2017 with a series of student activities on the theme — “Innovation – Improving Lives”
  • Discussant for Guest lecture by Prof. Barbara Lauriat, Senior Lecturer in Law, King’s College London on “Origins of Originality : The True Story of Walter v Lane” at JGU (February 23, 2017)
  • Discussant for Guest lectures by Prof. Iain Macneil, Head of School, Alexander Stone Chair of Commercial Law, University of Glasgow and Dr. Sukhpreet Singh, CREATe Programme Leader, University of Glasgow on “IP and Financial Markets” at JGU (November 03, 2016)
  • Convener of the First Annual Jindal Technology Law & Policy International Moot Court Competition, April 28 to May 01, 2016 (Jindal Moot)
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Recent Articles: 

  • “Harnessing the Power of Intellectual Property and Competition policy through RCEP: An Indian outlook on the telecommunication industry” (accepted with Economic & Political Weekly) (forthcoming 2017).
  • “Consumer Welfare & Concerns Regarding Accountability for Digital Aggregators: The Case of Amazon India” (clubbed as a series of Law and Tech papers as a joint-effort by International professors of Law and technology) at the 2nd Law Schools Global League Academic Conference at Cape Town, South Africa (accepted with Inderscience) (forthcoming 2017).

Recent Book Chapters:

  • “The right to health: Reviewing the trans-pacific partnership agreement from the lens of intellectual property rights” in Adinolfi.G, Baetens.F, Caiado.J, Lupone.A and Micara.A eds., International Economic Laws – Contemporary Issues (Springer 2017).
  • “Bio-patent pooling and policy on health innovation for access for medicines and health technologies that treat HIV/AIDS: A need for meeting of [Open] minds” in Perry. M ed., Global Governance of Intellectual Property in the 21st Century:  Reflecting Policy Through Change (Springer 2016).

Policy Reports/Opinions:

  • Invitee academic intervenor at the 2-Day workshop on ‘Protecting Health related Traditional Knowledge in India: Towards a National Policy Instrument’ organized by the ‘Trans-disciplinary Research Cluster on Plural Health Care’ (Jawaharlal Nehru University) and the Ministry of AYUSH, New Delhi (January 23-24, 2017).
  • Academic stakeholder at “Stakeholder consultation on developing a strategy on issues related to Traditional Medicine including Trade, Standards and IPR” organized by Ministry of AYUSH  and Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi (January 19, 2017).
  • Interviewed for the Swiss National Science Foundation project on “Global biodiversity governance and traditional knowledge held by peasant communities” for expertise in the subject-area as an academic stakeholder by the lead investigator, Prof. Yohan Ariffin of the Université de Lausanne (December 2016).
  • Policy comments on the Draft National IP Policy before the Government of India (2014-15) (Co-authored).[available online : https://spicyip.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CIPTEL-Jindal-Global-Law-School-Comments-on-Draft-IP-Policy.pdf ]
  • Country report: “Understanding the dynamic role assumed by Online Intermediaries in regulating cyber defamation in India” in University of Washington School of Law-Google Online Intermediary Liability Research Project on BRIC Countries (2015) (Co-authored). [available online: https://www.law.uw.edu/media/1397/india-intermediary-liability-of-isps-defamation.pdf].
  • Contributory participation in the consultative exercise on the ‘National Program on Intellectual Property Management’ at New Delhi (February 2014)


Training & Capacity building work:

  • Specialised Law Course for the students from Murdoch University, Australia (February 07, 2017) on “Introduction to Intellectual Property Law in India: Contemporary debates” as an invitee lecturer at the JGU Winter School for the module on An Introduction to Law, Business and Society in India at the India Immersion Programme organized from January 23-February 10, 2017 by the Center for India-Australia Studies, Jindal Global Law School.
  • Specialized Law lecture for the students from the School of Social Sciences at Tsinghua University, Beijing China (January 25, 2016) on “Protecting Software in India: An understanding of the law, policy and regulatory framework governing the sector” as an invitee lecturer for the module on Science and Technology Development in India at the Jindal-Tsinghua India Immersion Programme organized by Jindal School of International Affairs.
  • Training and creator of open access e-contents for postgraduate courses on “Subject-matter requirement in Copyright Law”, “Trademarks- Concept of Distinctiveness and grounds for refusal of trademarks registration” and “Industrial Designs” for University Grants Commission’s e-Pathshala Project coordinated by National Law University, Delhi in 2014-15.
  • Specialised Law Course for the administrative officers of the Odisha Government (August 04, 2015) on “Granting Patents in India: A Case for Administrative Reform” as an invitee lecturer at the Jindal Institute of Leadership Development and Executive Education.
  • Specialised Law Course for the officers of the Indian Armed forces (November 14, 2014) on “The Army, Information security and the law governing Cyberspace in India” as an invitee lecturer by the Jindal Global Business School.
  • Issues interfacing intellectual property law and competition policy
  • Licensing and commercialization of intellectual property