After an engaging pre-final round on February 10, we are delighted to announce the finalists of the 1st National Policy Brief Competition on Intellectual Property & Innovation, 2025 organized by SpicyIP and CIPAM, DPIIT!
The pre-final round witnessed thoughtful presentations from our shortlisted teams, followed by rigorous engagement with questions from the fantastic panel of judges comprising Ms. Sumathi Chandrashekaran, Ms. Abhilasha Nautiyal, and Mr. Murali Neelakantan. We are immensely grateful to our judges for their time and careful evaluation, and to all the teams for their in-depth and thought-provoking responses on some pressing policy questions concerning trade secrets and SEPs.
Selecting the finalists was no easy task. The high quality of both the written submissions and oral presentations made this an especially challenging exercise. While we are only able to move forward with 8 teams for the finals, we’re thrilled to see that the future of policy discussions on these areas is in good hands. We do strongly encourage all shortlisted teams to consider different avenues of taking forward their research and written submissions into outputs that contribute to the discourse on these topics in the country.
Without further ado, the following teams will be proceeding to the final round of the competition (in no particular order) :
| Team Code | Law University |
| TEAM 15o | Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab |
| TEAM 99u | NALSAR University of Law |
| TEAM 117m | Ramaiah College of Law, Bangalore |
| TEAM 135e | National Law University Delhi |
| TEAM 141k | Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow |
| TEAM 143m | Keshav Memorial College of Law – Osmania University |
| TEAM 144n | O.P. Jindal Global University |
| TEAM 145o | Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law |
The finalists will now make their oral presentations on February 27 in Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi before our panel of distinguished judges:
Shwetasree Majumder
Shwetasree Majumder is a leading intellectual property lawyer and the Founder & Managing Partner of Fidus Law Chambers, a boutique firm she established in 2008. An alumna of NLSIU, Bangalore, she has appeared in over 500 matters before the High Courts and Supreme Court of India, handling complex IP, technology, and trade secrets disputes. She serves as a WIPO Panelist and was the first Indian woman elected to INTA’s Board of Directors. Widely recognised for her expertise, she is also a committed mentor and advocate for diversity, inclusion, and the preservation of India’s traditional handloom heritage.
Justice (Retd.) Prabha Sridevan
Justice (Retd.) Prabha Sridevan is a distinguished jurist, writer, and public intellectual whose work bridges intellectual property, social justice, and literature. Beginning her practice in 1983, she went on to serve as a judge of the Madras High Court (2000–2010), delivering impactful rulings, including in the landmark Novartis Glivec case. She later chaired the IPAB, overseeing key decisions such as India’s first post-TRIPS compulsory licence (Nexavar). A former head of the Government’s IPR think-tank, she is also an acclaimed columnist, translator, and speaker. She has long supported SpicyIP and IDIA, even contributing artworks for fundraising.
Dr. Zakir Thomas
Dr. Zakir Thomas is a former Indian Revenue Service officer with over 35 years of experience in tax administration, public policy, and innovation governance. He has served as Registrar of Copyrights and has held senior roles, including Director General (Systems), Income Tax Department, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, and Commissioner in the CBDT, and founded the Directorate of Income Tax (Risk Assessment), earning the Finance Minister’s Award. He has also led the Open Source Drug Discovery programme at CSIR. An IP scholar trained at UNH School of Law, he has written on copyright and innovation policy and was one of the coordinators of the SpicyIP Summer School 2025.
Prof. (Dr.) V K Unni
Dr. V. K. Unni is a Professor at IIM Calcutta, where he works at the intersection of law, public policy, and management. He teaches across doctoral and postgraduate programmes, offering courses on intellectual property, corporate transactions, and the regulatory environment of business. A Ph.D. in Intellectual Property Law from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, he previously served at NALSAR and the National Innovation Foundation. His research explores patent law, copyright, standard essential patents, and competition law, and has been cited in international legal and policy forums. A Max Planck India Fellow and Thomas Edison Innovation Fellow, Dr. Unni remains deeply engaged with contemporary debates on innovation and intellectual property.
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We thank them once again for graciously agreeing to preside over the finals.
The teams will be judged by the above panel based on their written submissions, core policy recommendations, the content and delivery of their oral presentations, and their responses to questions posed by the judges.
We will be reaching out to the finalist teams shortly with further details regarding schedules and presentation logistics.
Once again, congratulations to all the teams. We look forward to an engaging and stimulating set of discussions in the final rounds.
