Hello and welcome back to Bells & Whistles!
I hope you had a joyful Dussehra and Durga Pooja break. As we all settle back into work, I’m kicking off something new — a featured listing “Bell of the Week” each week, where I’ll spotlight a tool, event, or resource in the IP and legal world that caught my eye.
BELL OF THE WEEK!
This week, I’m featuring IndianKanoon, a free legal search engine created by Sushant Sinha in 2008. What started as a personal initiative to make Indian court judgments and laws more accessible has grown into one of the most widely used legal resources in the country. Sinha noticed that legal documents were often complex and hard to access, and he wanted to create a platform that anyone could use to find and understand legal information. Today, IndianKanoon links court judgments with relevant legal provisions, making it easier for students, researchers, lawyers, judges, and the public to navigate the law.
Since its inception in 2008, Indian Kanoon has been an indispensable tool for SpicyIP. Many of our blog posts link directly to judgments on the platform, helping readers access primary sources easily. By providing free and searchable access to court documents, IndianKanoon has democratized legal information, making it more transparent and accessible to everyone.
Beyond free access, IndianKanoon also has some interesting premium features. Two that stand out are the ability to curate research topics and sub-topics for neatly organizing case materials, and a note-taking tool that lets you annotate judgments as you read. Together, these make it far easier to keep track of complex legal research without losing the thread.
As part of my Bells & Whistles series, I’ll keep highlighting resources, tools, and initiatives that I find particularly valuable or interesting in the IP and legal world.
Disclaimer: While Indian Kanoon kindly provides SpicyIP with complimentary access to its premium features, we can confidently say that we would’ve had this very same feature even if they hadn’t.
EVENTS
1. Capacity Building Webinar on “IP & Digital Data Protection” (Tamil Nadu Legal Rights Consortium – TNLRC)
11 October 2025 | 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM IST | Online (Google Meet)
Deadline: 10 October 2025 | 11:59 PM IST
Brief: TNLRC hosts a free webinar featuring Jhansi Rani Gunasekaran, IP Attorney and Advocate, on the interface between intellectual property and digital data protection. The session will cover IP in the digital era, data ownership and licensing, AI-driven inventions, and compliance strategies.
More info | Register here
2. Technology for the Public Interest: Preventing Capture and Promoting Welfare (LSE – Department of International Development)
20 October 2025 | 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM London (10:30 PM – 12:00 AM IST) | On-campus and Online (LSE Live)
Brief: Padmashree Gehl Sampath compares pharmaceuticals and AI to show how weak regulation can lead to technology capture and reduce public benefits. The lecture will propose regional and global approaches to promote technology for the public interest.
More info | Register here
3. WIPO Conversation on Intellectual Property and Frontier Technologies
28 October 2025 | 29 October 2025 | Virtual
Brief: The twelfth session will explore legal and policy dimensions of synthetic media, including AI-generated images, video, audio and text, and their implications for IP law and regulation. Sessions will highlight challenges in voice, likeness, and personal attribute protection, and discuss possible new frameworks.
More info
3. WIPO Conversation 12th Session – Intellectual Property (IP) and Synthetic Media
28 & 29 October 2025 | Virtual
Brief: This session will consider how existing IP frameworks apply to synthetic media, identifying gaps, new approaches, and disputes involving replicas of voice, image, and likeness rights.
More info
OPPORTUNITIES
1. JSW Centre for the Future of Law Graduate Research Fellowships (NLSIU – 2 Positions)
Deadline: 6 October 2025 | 5 PM IST
Brief: NLSIU invites applications for two graduate research fellowships at the JSW Centre for the Future of Law, Bengaluru. Fellows will develop research programs on law and technology, publish in academic and public forums, and teach one elective course annually.
Apply here
2. Academic Fellowships (National Law University Delhi)
Deadline: 22 October 2025 | 11:59 PM IST | Online Application
Brief: NLU Delhi invites applications for full-time Academic Fellowships across multiple fields including Constitutional Law, Law & Technology, Business Law, Legal Research, ADR/Sports Law, and Sociology/Criminology. Fellows will assist in research, publish scholarly papers, and contribute to academic activities at the university. The position is contractual (six months, extendable) with remuneration of ₹50,000/month.
More info | Apply here
3. Internship Programme (Competition Commission of India – CCI)
Deadline: Rolling Applications | New Delhi | Offline
Brief: Internship for Indian law students to gain practical exposure to the Competition Act, 2002. Open to 2nd–3rd year LL.B. students (3-year course), 4th–5th year integrated LL.B. students, and LL.M. candidates. Students with confirmed job placements are ineligible.
Honorarium: ₹15,000 per month.
More info | Apply here
4. PhD Candidate in Law – Generative AI in the Media (University of Amsterdam)
Deadline: 1 November 2025
Brief: PhD position at the Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam, as part of the AlgoSoc project. The role explores regulatory and legal challenges of generative AI in the media sector, with a focus on EU regulatory frameworks.
More info
5. Call for Papers – Global INTAN-Invest Conference 2026 “Better Data for Better Policy” (WIPO & Luiss Business School)
Deadline: 15 November 2025 | 11:59 PM CET | Online Submission
Brief: WIPO and Luiss Business School invite research paper submissions for the 2026 Global INTAN-Invest Conference, to be held 7–8 May 2026 in Rome. The event focuses on the economic and policy dimensions of intangible assets, including their measurement, role in productivity and growth, and implications for competition and innovation. Researchers are asked to submit an extended abstract (max 1,500 words) outlining empirical method, findings, and policy implications.
More info
5. Doctoral Supervision Opportunity – McGill University Faculty of Law
Start: September 2026
Deadline: 15 December 2025
Brief: McGill University Faculty of Law is inviting doctoral applicants interested in researching the economic contributions of innovation in Canada, with relevance to IP, economics, or regulation. Applications to be made directly through McGill Graduate Office.
More info
6. ATRIP Essay Competition for Young Researchers in IP
Deadline: 6 February 2026
Brief: Essay competition open to early-career scholars in intellectual property. The winning paper will be presented at the ATRIP Annual Conference 2026 in São Paulo, Brazil from June 28 to July 1, 2026. Funfact: Prof Basheer won the inaugural edition, and Lokesh Vyas won the 2023 edition. Will the next winner also be from the SpicyIP community?
More info
All non-sponsored listings featured here are events or opportunities free or nominally charged and ones we think our readers may be interested in. Sponsored listings will be marked as such. Unless specifically mentioned, SpicyIP has no affiliation to anything listed here. Know of an event worth sharing? Write to us at contact[at]spicyip[dot]com.