And it’s a wrap!
After five months of engaging with thought-provoking policy recommendations on pressing issues concerning SEPs and trade secrets, we are delighted to announce the results of the 1st National Policy Brief Competition on Intellectual Property & Innovation 2025, organised by SpicyIP in collaboration with CIPAM, DPIIT. The final round of the competition was held on February 27 at a grand and elegant setting befitting the occasion, in Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi. The event saw eight finalists present their recommendations to address issues faced by the fictional country of Tau Ceti, mirroring real-world complexities with challenges spread across two problem statements: One dealing with trade secrets and confidential information, and the other dealing with SEPs and technological progress. As the competition demonstrated, these bright law students are more than capable of engaging seriously with pressing issues in these areas and contributing meaningfully to policy discourse. In our current context where we see very limited academic or student participation in policy discourse (call for comments, feedback on draft policies, etc), this competition, we hope, also helped underscore that student groups and academics can very much contribute, usefully, should they put their voices out there.
The finalists presented their recommendations and responded to the deep engagement provided by our esteemed panel of four judges: Justice Prabha Sridevan, Dr. Zakir Thomas, Ms. Shwetasree Majumder, and Dr. V. K. Unni. The teams were evaluated on the quality of their research and policy analysis, the strength and feasibility of their recommendations, the effectiveness of their oral submissions and presentation style, and the clarity of their responses to questions. We are also thankful to our judges of the pre-final rounds- Ms. Sumathi Chandrashekaran, Ms. Abhilasha Nautiyal, and Mr. Murali Neelakantan for their wonderful guidance and engagement in the pre-final rounds of the competition.
After a closely contested and impressive final round, we are pleased to announce the winning teams!
Winners
Team 135e
National Law University Delhi
(Policy Brief on Problem Statement 2: Standard Essential Patents)
Priysha Malviya, Arjit Bansal, and Khyati Chaturvedi
(pdf)
(ppt)
1st Runners Up
Team 145o
Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law
(Policy Brief on Problem Statement 1: Trade Secrets and CI)
Nivedita Krishnakumar, Rudra Rituraj Pandey, and Jacob Eldho Kalarikkal
(pdf)
(ppt)
2nd Runners Up
Team 141k
Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow
(Policy Brief on Problem Statement 1: Trade Secrets and CI)
Tejaswini Kaushal, Gunja Tandon, and Avesta Vashishtha
(pdf)
(ppt)
The other finalists included:
Team 15o
Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab, team consisting of Vishwas Kumar Tripathi, Gunjan Jain, and Gurmander Singh
Team 99u
NALSAR University of Law, team consisting of Bhavathi Ram Gubbala, Shravya Pandre, and Vaishali Singh
Team 117m
Ramaiah College of Law, Bangalore, team consisting of Vaishnavi Kulkarni, Varshini R A, and Judith Lara J
Team 143m
Keshav Memorial College of Law, Osmania University, Hyderabad, team consisting of Chityala Jonathan, Seshabhattar Harini, Divya Agarwal
Team 144n
O.P. Jindal Global University, team consisting of Kavya Nair, Sania S. Bafna, and Sharan Sai Venkata Subhash Pokuru.
This competition was envisioned as a platform to encourage rigorous and analytical engagement by young lawyers with real and pressing issues in India’s innovation ecosystem. The aim was to encourage students to go beyond the classroom and the plain text of the law, and to think of IP in relation to innovation and progress, advancing the discourse on contemporary IP topics, which are crucial for the development of the Indian IP landscape. In many ways, the quality and depth of engagement we witnessed throughout the competition truly reflected this vision in action.
The success of the competition stands on the shoulders of the hardwork put in by the SpicyIP team and volunteers – Swaraj Barooah, Praharsh Gour, Deepali B. Nayak, Yogesh Byadwal, Bharathwaj Ramakrishnan, Tanishka Goswami, Shivam Kaushik, Sonisha Srinivasan, Anjali Tripathi, Arnav Kaman, Shivani Sharma; and the DPIIT, CIPAM Team – Ms. Himani Pande, Ms. Simrat Kaur, Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Mr. Vishal Kumar, Ms. Shivalika Bakshi, and Mr. Nachiket Wadalkar, and other members of the team whose efforts were equally invaluable.
Once again, heartiest congratulations to the winning teams and to all the participants who made it to the finals after a rigorous review by the SpicyIP team and the pre-final judges; our sincere thanks to the judges for taking out their valuable time, and to CIPAM and DPIIT for co-organising this competition and for the on-ground management of the finals.
