Announcement - New member of The Lawyer Network in India

Published: Tuesday, December 7, 2021

We are delighted to announce that Francis Groser of 'Groser & Groser' has joined The Lawyer Network. Francis has joined the network as our exclusive Intellectual Property member in India.

Groser & Groser is a pioneering full-service Indian intellectual property firm with a full complement of professionals possessing the requisite expertise, qualifications and experience to provide service and advice with respect to Indian patents, trade marks, designs, copyrights and domain names with emphasis on patents and trade marks and, to a lesser extent, designs.

Groser & Groser was established by IP stalwart Francis Groser who has over five decades of industry expertise working in the intellectual property industry. Over the course of his career, Francis has played a significant role in the development of IP in India in general and has made numerous contributions for the overall development of the industry. Francis Groser started his career as technical assistant in what was then the largest firm of patent and trademark attorneys in India. That firm was at the time owned by two British Chartered Patent Attorneys and in accordance with the practice followed by British patent attorneys, Francis Groser was employed in the capacity of a technical assistant to be groomed in due course to becoming a patent attorney. Initially, Indian patent law contained no provision for the registration of patent agents and it was only after the Patents Act, 1970 came into force that such provision was introduced following which Francis Groser duly qualified as an Indian patent agent in 1978. He stayed with his earlier firm to be head of its patent department for seventeen years until he resigned in 1993.

Even with the success he had as a professional working in the industry, the incentive and ambition to start an intellectual property practice of his own was always with him. So, in 1993, Francis took the first step towards bringing his dream to fulfillment through the establishment in January 1994 of Groser & Groser. The firm was established with the specific objective of providing clients, particularly clients aboard, with prompt, efficient and effective assistance in the specialist area of Indian Intellectual property. At that time, it was felt that the Indian intellectual property profession as it then existed, did not always fulfil this need. In any given calendar year, forty percent of all trade mark applications and approximately eighty percent of all patent applications filed in India originated from abroad as they still do. Against this, the number of experienced Indian Intellectual property attorneys was by comparison extremely small. The result was that the prosecution of the greater majority of this large volume of work lay in the hands of just three or four firms. The problems that could and did accrue from such a situation are not difficult to perceive. Groser & Groser was conceived as an appropriate answer to those problems and over the intervening almost twenty-eight years has been able to cement its legacy in the Indian IP industry and carve a niche for itself in the market.

Groser & Groser is aware that assistance and advice from reliable Indian intellectual property attorneys are even more relevant in present times which have seen the mushrooming in India of a very large number of alleged IP firms whose credentials are yet to be proven. Understanding this, Groser & Groser operates with an aim to providing its clients prompt, efficient and effective assistance in the specialist area of Indian intellectual property. The commitment of the firm never to compromise on the quality of its services has helped it not only to create but also maintain an impressive clientele that includes both Indian and international clients. Starting from modest beginnings, Groser & Groser has been able to develop into a sought-after Indian IP consultancy provider covering all major technological disciplines. Its success is a testament that showcases the quality of the services offered by the firm and its mentality always to strive for constant improvement and not simply to rest on its past laurels.

Through its qualified personnel Groser & Groser is a member of the Indian chapters of the Asian Patent Attorneys Association and AIPPI while Francis Groser was mainly responsible for setting up in 2009 the Indian chapter of Fédération Internationale des Conseils en Propriété Intellectuelle (FICPI) on which he served as its first president. Additionally, Francis is one of a very small number of Indians to be elected in 1997 as an overseas member of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, London.

Groser & Groser consists of an overall staff of about 40 persons involved in various aspects of intellectual property filing, prosecution, renewal and management. This number includes eleven attorneys each of which is specialized in the knowledge of patent and/or trade mark law as well as, in the case of patents, a background in one or more scientific disciplines. These disciplines include the fields of electronics, biotechnology, chemistry and mechanical and electrical engineering

Intellectual property involving the filing, prosecution and eventual grant particularly in respect of patents and trademarks is indeed a complex procedure which calls for specialized knowledge of the respective laws as well as, in the case of patents, a background in one or more scientific disciplines. It is to this end that Groser & Groser is staffed with patent and trade mark attorneys versed not only in the respective laws but, as far as patents are concerned, also possessed of the requisite qualifications and skill in one or more of the sciences. This means that our attorneys have the experience and the qualifications to advise on all aspects of intellectual property in so far it relates to all areas of technology as well as non-technical matters such as trade marks, designs and copyright.

While the firm does act for a number of Indian companies and individuals, the very great majority of our clients are foreign. This is a reflection of and a testimony to the achievement of the essential purpose for which Groser & Groser was set up, namely to provide intellectual property expertise, advice and assistance to clients abroad desirous of protecting their IP assets in India.

A potential applicant for IP protection in India who is interested in working with a firm that possesses the desired blend of expertise and experience in all aspects of Indian IP, is responsive to its clients' needs, presents a pragmatic approach to their problems and acts expeditiously on all matters referred to it - in a word is professional - would be well advised to approach Groser & Groser. Not for nothing have we acquired the reputation of “the patent attorney’s patent attorneys”.

If you have a requirement in this area, please get in touch with Francis via the below profile.

We welcome Francis to the network and look forward to working with him on future transactions.

Announcement - New member of The Lawyer Network in India

Member Introduction

The Lawyer Network in numbers