Last month saw SpicyIP converting a long-standing idea into reality, with the successful completion of the 2025 SpicyIP Summer School! An idea that had first been mooted maybe a decade or so ago by Shamnad, it was something that we had just not been able to get to for various reasons. This year too, as we moved close to March, we had almost given up on trying for it this year. But fortunately, a conversation with Dr Zakir Thomas took place – “Don’t worry, just move ahead, we’ll make it happen”, he said. And so we did! We did not, as Shamnad had hoped back then, hold the event in the remote locales in a mountain somewhere but I dare say the Summer School was quite a success. Thanks to the immediate and wide support we received from the extended SpicyIP family, as well as finding a supremely green and peaceful venue right in Bangalore (Ecumenical Christian Centre, Whitefield) we were fortunate enough to have some of the most amazing speakers in the IP arena come forward generously with their time as well as so importantly, their interest and attention towards our inaugural batch of eager learners. One of our wonderful student volunteers, an enterprising student from Christ University’s law school, Sonisha Srinivasan has put together a detailed write up of the Summer School below, so I won’t spend more words talking about it here. But I do want to say that with the wonderful success we had of this first edition, we fully intend to make this a regular affair. And as she mentions below, this has also kickstarted the recording of episodes for our soon to be launched SpicyIP Podcast! More details on all of that in the coming weeks. For now – her report! (Long post ahead!)
Inside the 2025 SpicyIP Summer School – A Student’s Perspective
Sonisha Srinivasan
Ever imagined an eight-day immersive learning retreat with like-minded passionate individuals and expert professionals in the world of Intellectual Property, set amidst nature, in the heart of Bangalore, filled with learning, experiences and conversations? That was the SpicyIP Summer School 2025 for us!
SpicyIP conducted its first edition of the annual SpicyIP Summer School from June 21st to June 29th, 2025 at the lush green 29 acre campus of Ecumenical Christian Centre, Whitefield, Bangalore, as an 8-day residential program for law students and professionals.
The program was intentionally limited to a selected group of 26 participants from all over India allowing close knit interactions and engagement.
The Summer School aimed at moving away from the traditional approach, towards adopting an interdisciplinary approach shaped by political economy, markets, public welfare and knowledge ecosystems. In order to achieve this, a pedagogical methodology that Prof (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer had put forward earlier was adopted: an immersive learning approach grounded in real world complexity. After months of planning and discussions, this program was thoughtfully curated by our Co-ordinators:Mr. Swaraj Barooah, Dr. Zakir Thomas, Ms. Deepali Nayak, and Ms. Shruthi Chandrasekaran focusing on two thematic areas: the “Pharma Stack” and “Creativity, Culture and Contracts”.
The first day started off with the participants confirming their attendance and checking in to their rooms at the Dialogue House. Yes, the Dialogue House was where all the participants stayed for the eight days- single rooms spread around a central quadrangle and a discussion room where dialogue, collaboration and lasting bonds unfolded. We began with an orientation session including a warm welcome by V. Rev. Dr. Sham P. Thomas, a quick primer on the what and why of IP to warm up our thinking caps for the sessions, and a cute little campus tour, familiarizing ourselves with the space that would be our home for the next one week and the people we would be living alongside.
The Pharma Stack
And with that the main sessions began! We had Mr. Murali Neelakantan kickstarting the Pharma Stack by screening for us the documentary “Fire in the Blood”, a story of AIDS crisis in the 90s-2000s, the impact of affordable lifesaving drugs, and how different stakeholders behaved. This set the grounding to everyone’s “Whys” for the days ahead and deepened the understanding of the urgent need to explore both innovation and access to medicine. Mr. Murali Neelakantan concluded the day with a brief discussion around the documentary and posed questions like: Is IPR essential for innovation? Why exactly do we need Patents? For many students who had only been taught to think of IP in terms of how to apply the law, how to ‘protect inventions’, these questions set the tone for the rest of the week, nudging everyone to think outside our familiar comfort zones into a space of unlearning and rethinking.
Day 2 started off with Mr. Murali Neelakantan’s session where he walked us through the entire Life-cycle of a drug from the research and development to various stages of Clinical trials – who are the players in each stage, what role do they play, etc. We went on to understand the market of generics and reflected on thought provoking questions like: Should we monopolize the shape and color of a medicine? What are the effects of clinical trial data not being published? He also pushed us to think from a business perspective, highlighting the broader implications on trade, competition, and market access.
Flowing straight from there, Mr. Sandeep Rathod, through his sessions got us to think about pharma from the point of view of Generic Companies reflecting on their role in the pharma pipeline and political economy of pharmaceuticals. He went on to touch upon the role of the government as well the civil societies in issues of access. That night, we also had an intimate chat session with both of them in the discussion room of the Dialogue House.
The conversation, hosted by Yogesh Byadwal, regaled us with backstories, how they climbed their respective ladders, and advice on life and the law, filled with humorous as well as awe-inspiring anecdotes! Informal sessions like this were a treat, as it gave us a chance to be up and close with such accomplished people who were so generously sharing their time and thoughts with us. Would you believe that a roomful of participants who had completed a packed day of sessions, didn’t want the conversation to end even at the extended time of 11pm! We can only be grateful to the speakers for sharing our enthusiasm too.
Monday Blues is what we generally hear of, but our Monday on Day 3 of the Summer School was refreshing and energizing. We had our first outdoor session with Mr. Sandeep Rathod, amidst the greens, understanding the Patents Act 1970 , where he walked us through some important first principles and their application in different provisions as well as in practice.
Finally, he shared his experiences and insights with us with regards to pre and post grant oppositions and their role in the patent system, as well as general tips on dealing with clients, the patent office, and fellow lawyers!
The second half of the day saw what was called “Offbeat but critical issues” where Mr. Adarsh Ramanujan delivered a quick yet impactful session on Patent litigation, where, through judgements he broke down complicated technical concepts in such a clear and simple manner. Even students with self-professed mental blocks against ‘scary’ technical concepts in patent law were participating and discussing the session after it was done. Mr. Adarsh Ramanujan’s sessions did leave us all wanting for more, not to mention, leading to some follow up discussions for some about how patent litigation may actually be a career path worth more consideration than they had given it this far!
Post dinner (a pause to mention here: the food was uniformly great, throughout our stay at ECC!), Swaraj and Akshat held an open house at the Dialogue House that turned into another evening full of vibrant conversations on making the most of law school, internships, and career guidance.
We were all geared up for Day 4, excited to have a Patent workshop by TWN- Third World Network where Ms. Chetali Rao and Mr. K.M Gopakumar shared a Civil Societies’ perspective. They took us through the patent regime addressing the need for urgent reforms to uphold transparency, accessibility and public interest. The workshop touched upon some hands-on skills in Patent searches where we got to do it for one molecule and discuss it: aspects rarely explored in law schools, yet crucial to real world practice. They sparked interest among many students in the work they do and helped them better understand the perspective of Civil Society.
Culture, Creativity and Contracts
We couldn’t have asked for a better wrap up of the Pharma Stack than Mr. Murali Neelakantan beautifully tying together all the sessions we had, connecting them to first principles and the basics. This made the most complex aspects of Patent Law accessible. Students who used to dread the complexity of the subject started approaching it with interest and curiosity and such are the examples that stand as testimony to the success of the sessions. There’s something to be said about learning outdoors, under green trees, blue skies and lovely Bengaluru weather. The breakout sessions had activities like a flash debate that kept students on their toes to think and make logical arguments for and against the topics given to them within a short span of time. Throughout, in breakout sessions and informal discussions, the team was clearing doubts and raising further questions to think over. Notably, Dr. Zakir Thomas brought in his perspectives and insights based on his experience which opened new ways to look at and approach the pharmaceutical industry.
With the Pharma Stack all but wrapped up, the day ended with a mesmerizing start to the Creativity and Culture Stack where we had Mr. Siddarth Abraham, a musician and vocalist for Blind Graffiti join us for an evening of music and conversation, reminding us how law intersects with lived experiences. This served as a valuable mental warm up to the following days to help us appreciate how law is perceived by creative professionals as well as understand the challenges they face in terms of monetization, licensing and navigating life as artists.
As we entered day 5, the “Copyright Stack” (Creativity, Culture, Contracts), saw a different approach to account for the variety of topics that fall under this stack. Here, we had the pleasure of a number of expert speakers touching upon several different issue areas, for us to apply our critical thinking and understanding muscles that had been developed in the first 4 days. First up, we had Ms. Zara Kaushik starting off the Stack with a session on Sports Law where we discussed broadcasting rights, access to sports, gaming and e-sports and its intersection with Copyright Law. The session gave an insider’s perspective into how different legal domains like IP, contract, and competition come into place when we talk about a sporting event. This included an explanation on the medley of rights interacting when we watch our favorite matches and how media rights are valued across different sports leagues. From sports, we switched to a session by Prof. Aakanksha Kumar on Personality rights where she laid the foundation for her future session getting us to understand “celebrity” as a semiotic sign and the elements of Personality Rights umbrella. No one who attended her session would ever dare to say Right to Publicity or Publicity Rights! We understood the importance of the terminology “Right of Publicity”.
Yes, we were doing all Copyright, but in between, we hopped back to a topic we needed for our Pharma stack: a scientist’s perspective. We had Prof. Dr. Binay Panda bringing in his Biotechnology cap and breaking down concepts like how exactly a gene functions right up to how that is seen in biotech patents. His sessions were indeed like an icing on the cake for the Pharma Stack, rounding up a very interdisciplinary set of lenses with which to approach patent law!
We then got back to our 3Cs stack with Ms. Manojna Yeluri coming in for a brief refreshing session getting us comfortable with what it is like to work with Artists, while discussing Culture v Creative Expressions. Ms. Monica Datta’s session , shared industry perspectives, made us negotiate clauses of Contracts in the Media and Entertainment Industry and guided us through some logical ways of arguing on both the side- Plaintiff and Defendant. She shared expert insights on contract negotiations in the media industry, particularly between producers and authors of underlying works, highlighting the role of due diligence and regulatory mapping in securing client interests and avoiding controversies. Though her time with us was short, it was very impactful in terms of understanding how contracts are negotiated real time. The sessions came to an end with Ms. Kruttika Vijay taking a procedural session on CPC. The passion that she had for a subject like CPC which most students usually find dry and boring, spilt over to our participants who then fell in love with the subject. Who would have thought CPC could be so interesting? All credits to our speaker! The intense day ended with yet another post-dinner (voluntarily extended) panel discussion with Ms. Zara Kaushik, Prof. Aakanksha Kumar and Ms. Kruttika Vijay, moderated by Ms. Deepali Nayak. They spoke about what helped them in their respective journeys, gave some insights into what is to be the legal professionals they are today and shared valuable guidance as well as truth bombs on struggles they overcame along the way.
Day 6 started with Ms. Zara Kaushik taking a session on Media Law where we discussed Digital Media, Intermediary guidelines and content around TV and OTT. Once again, her ability to synthesize complex topics into digestible, short bullet points around which to frame our thinking, was very appreciated.
Have you ever imagined a Summer School where you do art? Yes, Ms. Manojna Yeluri brought us some colours, sketches, paper and we spent time outdoors creating zines on the theme “What do Artists really need?” This got us to tap into our inner artistry, resulting in a variety of creative and thoughtful crafts that were presented later. We also went on to do a simulation exercise discussing various situations artists face. From thinking outside the box with regards to artists, we then moved on to thinking outside the box with regards to research. Mr. Prashant Reddy delivered a session on the Right to Information Act and gave us his insights on RTI request strategies from his 2 decades of investigative research and writing. The students also found it very interesting to see actual government files that he showed and listen to the backstories of various extensive pieces written by him.
Day 7 started with a short yet impactful session by Ms. Zara Kaushik on Mediation. We loved her approach of drawing from her experience as a commercial corporate lawyer as well as her work with businesses, while discussing concepts and sharing insights on how things work in the real world. We then moved to a session by Mr. Prashant Reddy on the 2012 Copyright Amendments. This was a much-needed session, where we went over not just the basics, but also understood the functioning of Copyright Societies and the implications of the Amendments. This was followed by an intense session with Prof. Aakanksha Kumar on Personality Rights where she tried to give us everything that she could in the short time span she had. . True to her holistic approach, she even wore a saree with pictures of multiple “celebrities”(!) and with hypotheticals got us thinking on how to argue from both sides- Plaintiff and Defendant.
We also had an outdoor session with Mr. Prashant Reddy where we discussed perspectives and thoughts on some readings he shared.
The day ended with a session by Ms. Kruttika Vijay continuing on the procedural aspects of IP Litigation as well as court craft. She not only gave us important pointers that would be used in court during practice, but also used hypotheticals to make us think and frame logical arguments. I don’t know if she realised but she certainly won her case with us by getting several students, who had not even thought about litigation interested in IP Litigation!
We had been so immersed in everything that had been unfolding that none of us saw the last day arriving. The day started off with Mr. Nikhil Narendran taking a session on AI and Copyright, allowing multiple divergent perspectives to be put across the floor. He went deep into conveying analogous understandings to make the debate simpler in the heads of students (without oversimplifying the issue of course). He brought in his expertise of law and technology and gave space to students to make informed arguments. We discussed AI generated content with examples and received a tech perspective to the future of GenAI along with its legal implications. Dr. Kailash Nadh took an outdoor session on Open source software and brought perspectives to rethink IP in the context of the Open Source movement and AI. He patiently answered the numerous questions that were posed to him, and by the time he had to leave, several students were asking about how to contribute in some way or the other to this debate! ̑
The second half of the final day saw two speakers from our Knowledge Partner ALG India, deliver a set of unique and thought provoking sessions. Mr. Ashwani Balayan first delivered a session on the different approaches to claims in Patents and Design as well as got students to draft (rough) claims for a Patent on a hair clip! Ms. Sheja Ehtesham took a session on IP in Outer space, which was a new regime altogether that many if not most of us had not even known existed. She ended with a session on career guidance, with her lessons and take on leadership, really inspiring the students.
Finally, as all good things do, the Summer School came to an end. We wrapped up with a campfire where we bonded over the last week and students put forward their experiences over pizza.
It was beautiful how we got to engage with and learn from everyone through the course of the program. Outside of class conversations went beyond tea breaks, deep into life, ideas and shared passions making it a space for like-minded people to grow. It was also such a privilege to have the speakers all generously and interestedly spend so much of their time with us, in and out of the class. As a student myself, I cannot imagine other situations where this level of access to so many star-studded IP professionals would even be a possibility. I think I speak for all the students, when I say we started the program thinking this would be a great learning opportunity and maybe good on the CV, and left with so much more – how to think and apply critical thinking skills in different scenarios, experience laden words of career and life advice, and a rare opportunity to form close bonds with peers from across the country with a shared interest in IP.
I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to volunteer for the Summer School in the capacity of not only a student volunteer, but also the Podcast host for the soon to be launched Spicy IP Podcast- Summer School Edition! We interviewed almost all of our speakers who shared valuable insights on legal education, various aspects of Intellectual Property and offered guidance for students aspiring to enter the field. (Episodes will be aired soon, keep an eye!).
And with that, let me end this event report – Looking forward to the next edition!
About the Team:
The Co-ordinators for the SpicyIP Summer School 2025 wereSwaraj Barooah, Dr. Zakir Thomas, Deepali Nayak and Shruthi Chandrasekaran. The Organizing Team consisted of Praharsh Gour, Akshat Agrawal, Md Sabeeh Ahmad and Niraj Seth and the Student Volunteers were Yogesh Byadwal, Bharathwaj Ramakrishnan and Sonisha Srinivasan. And a big shout out to our social media volunteer Rishiraj Chandan who though not physically present was constantly pushing our content online. It was truly a joy working alongside this incredible team who put so much heart in making it come together.
We are also extremely grateful to ALG Law Offices LLP for generously stepping in as our Knowledge Partners, and to Mr. Adarsh Ramanujan and Ms. Swathi Sukumar for their kind support to the 2025 SpicyIP Summer School!
Last but not least, a big thank you to the the wide team of virtual volunteers for their assistance at various points in the months leading up to the event helping ensure it turned out the way it did: to Ms. Namrata Dubey, Ms. Gaurangi Kapoor, Ms. Tanishka Goswami, Ms. Akriti Bopanna, Ms. Anushka Dhankar, Mr. Lokesh Vyas, Ms. Anjali Tripathi, and Mr. Sanil Chhetri.
Some testimonials from the students:
“The course was designed beautifully, starting with dismantling current beliefs, unlearning and then re-learning that helped bring critical engagement”
– Avani Marudwar
“It’s really interesting because it gave a new perception about IP itself, something you don’t learn in law school and now it’s like a whole new world has opened up.”
– Ayush Shetty
“As someone who has been in the field for a while- teaching IP course for 4 years my idea to come here was to be a student again- and I think I’m extremely happy about how it played out in the last week”
– Saraswathy Vaidyanathan
“The best part for me was being able to interact with such a great bunch of people who also shared the same interest as me and I think if it happened again, I would definitely come back”
– Shreya Sampathkumar