The legal system has played a role of paramount importance since the beginning of civilisation. The very reason of establishing laws and regulations is for the institution of society to prevail without distortion of peace and to ensure no citizen is denied their fundamental rights. Over the years, the Indian legal landscape has undergone an intensive development spearheaded by industry experts and thought leaders. One among these experts is Adv. Sheela Ram Kumar, the Head of Trademarks and Copyrights Division at WORDICT-IP.
Adv. Sheela exhibits utmost proficiency in filing Trademarks and Copyrights online and prosecuting applications before various registries. As a qualified lawyer, she not only looks after trademarks or copyright filings for various clients but also deals with Oppositions, Rectifications and Revocations. A good command over English and alacrity of mind are the additional traits that she carries to the table.
Adv. Sheela graduated as a Bachelor of Law from Osmania University in May 2017 and enrolled with the Telangana Bar in October of the same year. She also holds a master’s degree in commerce from Osmania University and a Post Graduate diploma in Computer Applications from Department of Electronics, New Delhi. Since her venture into the practice Adv. Sheela has been managing the family law firm WORDICT-IP. She effectively took over the management of the firm and has been handling various clients and catering to their requirements of Intellectual Property Rights, especially filing, and prosecuting before the various registries.
Adv. Sheela has also been appearing before the civil courts in Hyderabad in other Civil Litigation matters in Intellectual Property, as well as matters before the High Court of Telangana. She has played a significant role in setting up an IP mentoring firm named “Innovpath” which purely caters to spreading IP awareness through training programs, symposiums, lectures, and conferences.
Sharing her philosophy on the discipline of law, Adv. Sheela says, “Law according to me is a highly analytical subject that demands a continuous study. I believe that a lawyer represents the client in a court. He/she should be found defending the client and not being defensive about the client. I take up a case for the purpose of fighting it out. I reject a case when I find that I am being misled in it.”
Exemplifying Expertise
WORDICT-IP, established in 1992 as a boutique IP firm, is one of the oldest and premier law firms in the city of Hyderabad. The firm possesses and exhibits a diverse experience of more than 29 years in handling issues specifically in Intellectual Property – Registration, Enforcement and Valuation.
WORDICT-IP is backed by a dexterous, persevering, and assiduous team of attorneys, lawyers and Para Legal. The firm’s mission is to provide high quality, creative, and result oriented legal services to individuals and businesses and serve as a primary resource and partner in all aspects of clients’ business growth and development. The firm has garnered a growing list of clients varying from multinational companies, large corporates, business houses, small and medium enterprises in the fields of chemicals, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, etc.
In-tune with Technology
When asked about how the firm leverages technological developments to facilitate its services, Adv. Sheela asserts, “WORDICT-IP is a technologically oriented IP Law firm and has used technology to an extent where our office has become almost paperless. Technology has helped us during the pandemic, and work did not suffer at all and we were able to maintain all the timelines without any glitches. We also used technology widely to give Virtual internships to college students under our new brand Virtutern and we have successfully completed six Virtutern programmes so far. This enabled our interns to have a good feeling that they were able to intern and learn topics even when everything was shut down.”
On Digitalisation of Law
Sharing her opinion on whether e-court platforms and digitization of judicial process will help law firms and the citizens equally, Adv. Sheela says, “Yes. As India is growing into a digitalized country, it would be an appropriate step to continue e-court platforms. Law firms are already equipped with necessary equipment and technology to perform effectively on e-court platforms. They can cater services at ease due to the decrease in travelling time to courts scattered at distant locations.”
“For citizens, the process of adaptation might be a little cumbersome. There should be special emphasis on educating citizens on the usage of such platforms and creation of apps that facilitate citizen’s usage. If the mentioned measures are taken, even citizens would benefit from e-court platforms as it allows them to save time and money.”
In conclusion, Adv. Sheela shares with us, her objectives for the near future saying, “My ideas and plans for the near future are to conduct programs in schools and colleges on innovation and basic concepts of IP. I also want work towards introducing Artificial Intelligence in Legal Documentation.”
