World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR) has named Vikrant Rana, Managing Partner of S.S. Rana & Co., in WIPR Leaders 2024, its guide to the world’s leading IP practitioners. The 2024 edition, launched on 2 July 2024, profiles more than 2,000 practitioners from over 80 countries.
About WIPR Leaders
World Intellectual Property Review is an international publication covering IP law, and a sister title of Life Sciences IP Review. WIPR Leaders is its flagship global rankings project.
Who qualifies: Private practice IP practitioners in each jurisdiction are eligible, across patents, trademarks, copyright, designs and related areas.
How individuals are chosen: WIPR describes the 2024 edition as its most rigorous yet. Leaders were chosen after a four-month nomination process in which WIPR sought the views of around 12,000 IP professionals, combined with its own research.
The format: Each WIPR Leader has a profile in the directory, which WIPR presents as a one-stop guide to the world’s leading IP practitioners.
What the recognition reflects
Breadth across IP rights: Vikrant’s practice covers patents, trademarks, designs and copyright, on both contentious and non-contentious matters.
Clients of every size: He advises Fortune 500 and multinational companies as well as grassroots innovators, and helps start-ups through his role as an IP facilitator under the Government of India’s SIPP scheme.
From filing to court: His work runs from clearance, filing and portfolio strategy to oppositions, enforcement and litigation before courts across India.
Peer recognition: A selection process built on thousands of peer views makes WIPR Leaders a measure of standing among fellow IP professionals worldwide.
Protecting product designs in India
Designs are often the least understood of the IP rights, yet for consumer products, packaging and devices they can be the most valuable.
What can be registered: Under the Designs Act, 2000, a design covers the shape, configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours applied to an article, judged by the eye. It must be new or original, not published or used anywhere before the filing or priority date, and significantly distinguishable from known designs. Purely functional features and mechanical devices are excluded.
How long protection lasts: A registered design is protected for 10 years from registration, extendable once by 5 years, for a maximum of 15 years.
Why copyright is not enough: Under Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act, 1957, copyright in a design that could have been registered but was not ends once an article bearing it has been reproduced more than 50 times industrially. For products made at scale, design registration is the safer route.
Enforcement: Copying a registered design is piracy under Section 22 of the Designs Act, and the owner can sue for an injunction and damages.
About Vikrant Rana
Vikrant Rana is the Managing Partner of S.S. Rana & Co., a full-service IP and corporate law firm founded in 1989 and headquartered in New Delhi. He is an Advocate on Record with the Supreme Court of India and a registered patent agent, has been appointed Professor of Practice by Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University, and has served as a NIXI arbitrator on domain name disputes.
Recognition in 2024
| Publication | Recognition | Edition |
| WIPR Leaders | WIPR Leader | 2024 |
| IP STARS (Managing IP) | Trademark Star | 2024 |
| WTR 1000 | Recommended individual | 2024 |
| Chambers Asia-Pacific | Ranked, Intellectual Property (India) | 2024 |
| Asia IP Experts | IP Expert, India | 2024 |
| IBLJ A-List | A-List Icon | 2024-25 |
Read about Vikrant’s 2024 recognitions as a Trademark Star, in the WTR 1000, in Chambers Asia-Pacific, as an Asia IP Expert and in the IBLJ A-List 2024-25, and the firm’s Annual Newsletter 2024. Each recognition is recorded on our Awards page.
We congratulate Vikrant on this recognition and thank the IP professionals in India and around the world whose views shaped it.
Frequently Asked Questions
WIPR Leaders 2024 VR
Yes. World Intellectual Property Review lists Vikrant Rana, Managing Partner of S.S. Rana & Co., in WIPR Leaders 2024, its guide to the world’s leading IP practitioners.
WIPR Leaders is World Intellectual Property Review’s annual directory of leading IP practitioners worldwide. The 2024 edition, launched on 2 July 2024, profiles more than 2,000 practitioners from over 80 countries.
WIPR describes the 2024 edition as its most rigorous yet. Leaders were chosen after a four-month nomination process in which WIPR sought the views of around 12,000 IP professionals, combined with its own research.
A registered design is protected for 10 years from the date of registration, and can be extended once for a further 5 years, giving a maximum of 15 years.
Under the Designs Act, 2000, a design must be new or original, must not have been published or used in India or elsewhere before the filing or priority date, must be significantly distinguishable from known designs, and must relate to the visual features of an article rather than how it works.
Only to a limited extent. Under Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act, 1957, copyright in a design that could have been registered but was not ends once an article bearing it has been reproduced more than 50 times by an industrial process, so registration is the safer route for products made at scale.
Write to info@ssrana.com with a short description of your matter, and the firm will connect you with him.
For more information on Design Searches, Design Filing, Design Registration, Design Examination, Design Objection Reply, Design Hearing, Design Cancellation, Design Piracy, Design Infringement, Design Litigation, Design Licensing, Design Assignment, Design Renewal, International Design Filing, Copyright and Design Overlap, and Product Design Protection in India write to us at info@ssrana.com
For more information on Patent Searches, Patent FTO search, Patent Prior Art Search, Patent Novelty search, Patent Landscape search, Patent Invalidation Search, Patent Invention Disclosure, Patent filing, Patent registration, Patent of Addition, Divisional Patent, PCT Patent filing, Convention Patent filing, National Phase Patent Filing, Patent Grant, Patent First Examination Report, Patent Objection Reply, Patent Hearing, Patent Pre grant Opposition, Patent Post Grant Opposition, Patent Publication, Patent Request for Examination, Patent Expedited Examination, Patent Renewal, Patent Annuity, Patent Maintenance, Patent Invalidation, Patent Cancellation, Patent Rectification, Patent Infringement, Patent Litigation, Patent Licensing, Patent Assignment, Patent Working Statement, etc. in India write to us at info@ssrana.com