S.S. Rana & Co. has contributed the chapter Best practices for managing IP threats across the supply chain to IAM’s Inside India’s IP Market: a Guide 2026. Written by Managing Partners Vikrant Rana and Lucy Rana, Associate Partner Rupin Chopra and Shilpi Saurav Sharan, the chapter looks at how India’s growth as a manufacturing and outsourcing hub has widened the IP risks that brand owners and technology companies face, and sets out practical steps to manage them.
About Inside India’s IP Market
IAM is a specialist publication that treats intellectual property as a business asset. Inside India’s IP Market is its guide to how IP is created, protected, managed and enforced in India.
Who contributes. Chapters are Insight articles written by selected contributors as part of IAM’s co-published content, drawing on practitioners with direct experience of the Indian market.
Who reads it. IAM describes itself as an intelligence service that informs boardrooms worldwide, and the guide gives its readers a practical view of the Indian IP landscape.
The format. The 2026 edition is published as a digital guide on IAM, with each chapter available to read online and to download.
What the chapter covers
Why supply chains create IP risk. Outsourcing and collaborative manufacturing require companies to share pre-existing IP, trade secrets and proprietary data with contract manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers and vendors. The chapter explains how that sharing exposes companies to misuse and loss of control, drawing on the USTR’s 2025 Special 301 Report and research on IP theft in global supply chains.
Four common threats. The authors identify poor transparency and traceability across multi-party networks, IP leakage through joint ventures and failed outsourcing arrangements, counterfeit goods entering sourcing, production and distribution, often through e-commerce, and cyber intrusions that target proprietary information.
India’s supply chain context. The chapter places these risks against India’s growth as a global supply chain hub, supported by initiatives such as Make in India and production linked incentive schemes, and the many contract manufacturers, suppliers and agencies that now sit between raw materials and the end consumer.
Indian case studies. It examines four decisions that show where supply chain relationships break down:
- Bisleri International v. Laxmikanta Nayak: the Bombay High Court restrained a former bottling partner from selling look-alike bottles made from the brand owner’s moulds after its trademark user agreement had ended.
- Koninklijke Philips Electronics v. Maj (Retd) Sukesh Behl: the Delhi High Court held that DVD manufacturers who commissioned and used stampers carrying a patented encoding process had infringed the patent, even though replication was outsourced.
- Pine Labs v. Gemalto Terminals India: a dispute over source code developed under a master services agreement and passed to a sub-contractor, which turned on Sections 19(5) and 19(6) of the Copyright Act, 1957 and ended with an injunction in the developer’s favour.
- ECG Easy Connect Logistics v. Commissioner of Customs: a courier agency was held complicit in the misdeclared import of counterfeit smartphones, underlining the role intermediaries play in the counterfeit trade.
A protection checklist. The chapter closes with practical measures: need-to-know access to trade secrets, NDAs with employees and vendors, IP clauses in supplier scorecards and contracts, vendor audit rights, controlled and encrypted digital documents, training for vendor staff, blockchain and digital markers for traceability, and long-term incentives for trusted contractors.
Key takeaways for businesses in India
Contract for the end of the relationship. Vendor and licensing agreements should require the return of moulds, tooling, data and confidential material when the relationship ends, as the Bisleri case shows.
Fix duration and territory in assignments. If a copyright assignment does not state its period and territory, Indian law treats it as limited to five years and to India, which can undo the intended ownership of commissioned work.
Protect IP where the work is done. Contracts are not enough on their own. The authors stress that IP owners should also register and enforce their rights in the jurisdictions where they outsource.
About the authors
Vikrant Rana, Managing Partner. Vikrant leads S.S. Rana & Co. and advises Fortune 500 companies, multinationals and grassroots innovators on IP protection and strategy. In 2026 he is featured in IAM Global Leaders, listed in the IAM Strategy 300 and ranked Gold for Prosecution & Strategy in WTR 1000.
Lucy Rana, Managing Partner. Lucy’s practice spans trademark enforcement and litigation, prosecution and strategy, and corporate and commercial work. She is ranked in WTR 1000 2026 for trademark enforcement and litigation.
Rupin Chopra, Associate Partner. Rupin has more than 14 years of experience advising multinational clients, including Fortune 500 companies, and Indian businesses on trademark matters in India and abroad. He is ranked Silver for enforcement and litigation in WTR 1000 2026.
Shilpi Saurav Sharan. Shilpi Saurav Sharan of S.S. Rana & Co. co-authored the chapter.
Continued thought leadership and recognition
| Publication | Contribution or recognition | Edition |
| IAM: Inside India’s IP Market | Chapter: Best practices for managing IP threats across the supply chain | 2026 |
| IAM Patent 1000 | S.S. Rana & Co.: Gold, Firms: prosecution; Bronze, Firms: litigation | 2026 |
| WTR 1000 | S.S. Rana & Co.: Gold, Prosecution & Strategy; Silver, Enforcement & Litigation | 2026 |
| IAM Global Leaders | Vikrant Rana featured | 2026 |
| IAM Strategy 300 | Vikrant Rana listed | 2026 |
Read the full chapter on IAM. Related pages include the firm’s IAM Patent 1000 2026 Gold ranking, Vikrant Rana’s IAM Global Leaders 2026 feature and The Trademark Lawyer 2026 recognition.
Frequently asked questions
Managing IP Threats Across the Supply Chain
S.S. Rana & Co. contributed the chapter “Best practices for managing IP threats across the supply chain” to IAM’s Inside India’s IP Market: a Guide 2026, written by Vikrant Rana, Lucy Rana, Rupin Chopra and Shilpi Saurav Sharan.
Inside India’s IP Market is a guide published by IAM, the specialist publication on IP as a business asset, made up of Insight chapters written by selected contributors on how IP is created, protected and enforced in India.
The chapter identifies four main risks: poor transparency and traceability across multi-party supply chains, IP leakage through joint ventures and outsourcing, counterfeit goods entering sourcing, production and distribution, and cyber intrusions that target proprietary information.
It discusses Bisleri International v. Laxmikanta Nayak before the Bombay High Court, Koninklijke Philips Electronics v. Maj (Retd) Sukesh Behl before the Delhi High Court, Pine Labs v. Gemalto Terminals India on copyright in outsourced source code, and ECG Easy Connect Logistics v. Commissioner of Customs on a courier’s role in importing counterfeit phones.
Under Sections 19(5) and 19(6) of the Copyright Act, 1957, if an assignment does not specify its period, it is treated as five years, and if it does not specify its territory, it is treated as extending to India only. The chapter highlights this as a point to address in outsourcing and commissioning contracts.
The chapter recommends limiting access to trade secrets on a need-to-know basis, signing NDAs with employees and vendors, building IP clauses into supplier scorecards and contracts, auditing vendors, protecting digital documents, training vendor staff, using blockchain and digital markers for traceability, and building long-term incentives with contractors.
The chapter is available on IAM at the link given on this page.
Write to info@ssrana.com with a short description of your matter, and the firm will connect you with the right team.
Closing
We thank IAM for including our chapter in Inside India’s IP Market 2026, and congratulate Vikrant, Lucy, Rupin and Shilpi on its publication.
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