Internship Experience @ Agnihotri & Jha Associates, Mumbai: Strong foundation in IPR

Name

Urvi Mitra studying in 5th year of BLS/LLB

College

Rizvi Law College, Mumbai University

Period of Internship

January-April, 2017

Name of the Organisation

Agnihotri & Jha Associates.

Application Process:

You can send your CV along with a cover letter at this email address info@adjlegal.com , orelse check out their website www.adjlegal.com for further information. I applied to the above email id and within a week I got a call for interview from the firm. My interview was taken by Mr. Neeraj Jha who is one of the partners of the firm. He asked a few general law related and basic current affairs questions after which he asked me to join.

Duration

January-April, 2017

Timings

10.30AM to 7PM (Saturdays are Half Day)

First Day Impression, first day formalities

I was introduced to everybody in the firm by the Admin Head and was given a separate computer to work on. Since the firm strictly deals with IP Laws and I was totally unaware of Intellectual Property Law, the advocates of the firm advised me to read the Bare Acts related to Trademarks, copyright, designs and patent.

I met Mrs. Rati Agnihotri on my first day who happens to be the another partner of the firm and she encouraged me to read and ask her any doubts.

The firm has two separate offices. The main office is where Neeraj Sir and Rati Maam sit and there is another wide room where most of the interns and other associates  and advocate sit.

Main Tasks

Agnihotri and Jha Associates mainly deals  with all types of IP laws dominantly working on the area of trademarks and copyrights and designs. My main task was to  Conduct Public Searches in the Intellectual Property Website on various wordmarks, brand names for Trademark Application and Registration.

I also had to prepare availability reports on different word marks for Trademarks Application and give remarks in the report also to the concerned advocate and client  on whether one can proceed with the filing of the Trademarks.

I drafted replies to the examination report for more than 20 Trademark Applications under Trademarks Act, 1999. Further conducted researches on various IP issues and also intimated the same to the associates.

I successfully handled one client regarding the registration of a logo name  and was quite appreciated by all my colleagues.

Work environment and people

The work environment is really positive and makes the interns feel good about coming to work. The staff is nice and kind and the advocates are friendly but at times they use to become really strict when they wanted a particular work to get done in a certain manner.

Best things

Apart from all things that I have discussed above, the best thing about this internship was that the firm really takes their interns seriously and we are given equal responsibilities like the advocates. We are encouraged to do quality work like client handling, drafting of legal replies, notices and not just restrict to research work.

Bad Things

There were no bad things as such except that interns were not allowed to accompany the advocates of the firm to the Trademark Registry for the hearings.

Biggest lesson

It is a good internship if you are really interested in IPR Laws. Interning in this firm will actually lay a foundation in your career if you are planning to pursue  a career in IPR in future.

Stipend

None, however got a certificate from both Neeraj Sir and Rati Maam.

Accommodation

Since I live in Mumbai, accommodation was not a problem. However, you can find a lot of PGs and hostels near Goregaon, Jogeshwari, Oshiwara belt as these places are  nearest from the office. The office is a 5 mins walk from Jogeshwari Railway Station, Western suburbs.