Four years ago, on New Year’s Eve, I wrote a post on “generalizing” Intellectual Property Law. In the intervening period, particularly in the last two years, I have been blessed with ample opportunities to apply that sentiment to my work which has improved (I think) my understanding of IP Law and its practice. I have had multiple occasions to understand IP through the prism of Constitutional law, Criminal law and Competition law, and also go through the entire process of trials. The latter has strengthened my firm belief that a lawyer who banks solely on his knowledge of substantive law to deliver the goods is not even half a litigator because procedure will prove to be his Achilles’ heel.
Also, increasingly, I am of the opinion that although it might help to have a dedicated forum to deal with technology litigation, technology litigators must themselves not limit the scope of their practice and learning to their specialized areas. Regardless of what one chooses as her or his area of core competence, a litigator shouldn’t lose touch with fundamentals such as jurisprudence, Constitutional Law and Contracts. In fact, I’d go a step further to say that it is counter-productive, at least in Indian Courts, to project oneself as a specialist technology/IP litigator. Of course, the approach depends on what one wants to be seen as. If the objective is to have a larger appeal and be sought after as a counsel for multiple areas of the law, it helps to be a generalist with core competence in select areas, which is vastly different from exclusively practising niche subjects.
As I have said before, this is important because an internalized understanding of general areas of the law helps a litigator connect with non-specialist Courts which are seized with specialized subjects like IP. I have personally benefited as a litigator by employing this approach each time I have had to present the peculiarities of an IP statute before a Court, hence the conviction. Which is why it surprises me when I hear students of the law, who are yet to set foot in the profession and who wish to litigate, declare with absolute certainty in the first or second semester of law school that all they wish to study and focus on is IP or some other specialized subject.
It is certainly important to closely follow the evolution of jurisprudence in one’s chosen area, but it is equally important to connect it to the big picture because ultimately a litigator must be in a position to present to the Court the larger implications of specific arguments. And staying constantly in touch with general principles of the law helps present such arguments with greater effectiveness. Therefore, I think students would benefit immensely from paying attention to the fundamentals of general subjects instead of rushing through them. It would also help in the long run to having a basic understanding of economics and accounting.
This applies all the more to students of law who come from an engineering or pure sciences background. Although I don’t think law is meant to be taken up only by students from commerce or humanities streams (since I am engineer-turned-litigator myself), I do believe engineers and science grads in particular must invest more efforts in understanding the spirit of the law by systematically and rigorously examining theories of law and principles of common law. Engineers and science grads can certainly bring to the law skillsets and attitudes which are unique to them, but it is also imperative to “acclimatize” themselves to the dialectics of the law and its parlance.
When they do so, they will not only find greater acceptance in the fraternity, but will also perhaps be rightfully heard first on areas such as patent litigation given their training in technology. This also has a critical and positive consequence for the quality of discourse on patents. In the last few years, although the level of IP awareness has increased in India, the discussion on patents seems limited to broad and generalized propositions which may be attributed to lack of training in science, and negligible or no experience in the practice of the subject on the part of certain commentators. There are notable exceptions to this trend, but by and large the reluctance to deal with specifics probably stems from a clear paucity of training and experience.
I personally believe that the bar on academics from practising the law must also be held significantly responsible for this trend, which may not be peculiar to the patent discourse. As long as this bar remains in force, academics will be deprived of the opportunity of sharpening their perspectives through practice. Until such time this bar is lifted and even after, patent litigators with training or experience with technology must play a greater role in shaping the discourse on patents and in volunteering with realistic policy initiatives. This will hopefully bring about a more nuanced discussion on the subject. I must clarify that none of these suggestions are meant to claim an exclusive space for litigators with scientific training because there are patent practitioners whose lack of formal scientific training has not come in the way of professional brilliance.
With this, I wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New year! May we learn more and be blessed with opportunities to apply what we learn!
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