Vaishali Mittal

Ahigh-flyer in the ever-evolving domain of Intellectual Property and a natural attorney, given her strategic planning and analytical abilities, Vaishali Mittal serves as a Litigation Partner and Strategist at Anand and Anand. Often recognised as a ‘Top Tier Litigator’, Vaishali’s is clearly a legacy of landmarks - Her cases are hotly contested, heavily debated, extremely complex and equally decisive for the future of IP jurisprudence.

Her practice is both transactional and litigation. Vaishali has enabled the firm to secure India’s first Anti-Anti-Suit Injunction in InterDigital Corp & Ors v Xiaomi Corp & Ors; nation’s first final judgement on the issue of Standard Essential Patents in Philips v. KK Bansal; Philips v. Rakesh Bansal; landmark judgement on highest ever quantum of damages in a copyright, trademark and design infringement case in Philips v. Amazestore & Ors; first judgement recognising a colour combination (green and yellow) a well-known trademark in Deere & Co. & Anr. v. Mr. Malkit Singh & Ors. She also led from the front in the high-stake face-off between Nokia and Lenovo resulting in a multi-year, multi-technology Patent Cross-license Agreement between the two tech giants, and settlement of all pending patent litigation worldwide.

Clearly an expert on Standard Essential Patents and so recognised by leading benchmarking institutions, Vaishali also brings in exceptional expertise in matters where clients look for integration of a variety of legal solutionsincluding not just the knowledge of law but also a deep understanding of science and technology.

Entrusted by some of the leading pharmaceutical companies and businesses with their high-stake court battles, Vaishali almost always engenders a result that shocks the conventions surrounding the “done thing”.

Also to her credit are the landmark judgement on issue of trans-border reputation; judgement providing much-needed relief to patent holders from strict liability under the disclosure regime of section 8 of the Patents Act, 1970 and also the judicial recognition that “trade-secret” disputes can be considered as “commercial disputes” under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 despite lack of statutory recognition of trade secrets as intellectual property in India. She also represented Vifor Pharma International (Galenica Group), in Vifor v. High Court of Delhi in a writ petition before the Delhi High Court resulting in, to the relief of scores of intellectual property owners, a stay of the transfer of at least 20,000 intellectual property lawsuits (valued under `1 crore) from the High Court to subordinate district courts, in the aftermath of the promulgation of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.

Besides the litigation, she has also advised and assisted on various transactions with leading companies securing protection for their Intellectual Property and other legal compliances in India on issues such as Advertisement-Media campaigns, regulation requirements for electric products imports, imports of milk and other health hygiene products for infants etc.

Dabbling in IP, Vaishali makes time for giving back to the community via pro bono engagement – the latest being a petition that fetched free medical aid to children living with rare disorders.

When not on her legs, Vaishali chooses the medium of writing to express her genuine ingenuity and commitment to the cause of IP through articles published in leading national and international publications like Managing IP, Kluwer Patent Blog, Asia IP, Vantage Asia, Chambers and Partners, Expert Guides, Thomson Reuters, Lexology etc. She has also co-authored ‘IPONOMICS’, a picturesque coffee table book compiling celebrated IP matters, and ‘Origami’, an in-house knowledge manual on Best Practices and Procedures of IP practice in India, for law firms and companies. With her contribution to the IP jurisprudence and for the trust of her clients, Vaishali makes it to the top of the rankings by leading publications like Euromoney, IAM, Chambers and Partners, Legal 500.

Professional Honours:

• Ranked amongst Asia’s Top 15 Female 2022 Lawyers by Asian Legal Business

• IP Stars 2022 – Patent Star by Managing Intellectual Property

• IAM Strategy 300 Global Leaders 2022

• World’s Leading Patent Professionals IAM 1000 2022

• IBLJ A-list lawyer 2021-22

• Ranked amongst India’s Top IP Lawyer 2021 by Asian Legal Business

• WIPR Influential Women in IP 2021

• Leading Individual – Legal 500 Asia Pacific Rankings (2021 & 2022)

• Ranked in IP Litigation department of Chambers and Partners Asia Pacific Guide 2022

• Ranked amongst Top IP Litigators in India 2021 by Thomson Reuters Asian Legal Business

• Amongst Top 10 Women in IP – ASSOCHAM IP Excellence Awards 2021