About the role
- Manage the company's trade mark, design, copyright and patent portfolio across India and key export markets — filings, prosecution, oppositions, renewals and portfolio audits.
- Handle IP enforcement: cease-and-desist notices, anti-counterfeiting and passing-off actions, John Doe orders, customs recordals and market raids, working with investigators and external counsel.
- Advise brand, marketing and NPD teams on clearance of new brands, packaging, trade dress, taglines and product designs before launch.
- Draft and negotiate IP-centric agreements — licensing, co-branding, brand ambassador, influencer, design and NDA arrangements.
- Manage domain names, social-media handles and online enforcement — marketplace takedowns (Amazon Brand Registry, Flipkart IPR), UDRP/INDRP proceedings and grey-market/parallel-import actions.
- Maintain the IP database and periodic MIS on filings, deadlines, disputes and spends.
- Conduct and supervise title due diligence for land acquisitions, plant expansion and warehousing; review title search reports, revenue records and encumbrance certificates.
- Draft, vet and negotiate sale deeds, conveyance deeds, leave & licence agreements, lease deeds, development agreements, MOUs and power of attorney documents.
- Handle stamp duty, registration, mutation, land-use conversion and related statutory filings, and liaise with local authorities and consultants.
- Advise on tenancy, encroachment, easement and land-related litigation, including coordination of proceedings before revenue authorities and civil courts.
- Support site-level statutory approvals for plants and warehouses — factory licence, environmental consents and clearances, fire and municipal NOCs,
- Advise on Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, BIS, EPR/Plastic Waste Management, E-Waste and other product-compliance requirements applicable to consumer glassware and appliances.
- Vet packaging artwork, labelling declarations, product claims, warranties and marketing collateral; advise on misleading-advertisement and dark-pattern guidelines.
- Handle consumer complaints and Consumer Protection Act matters, including proceedings before District/State Consumer Commissions and CCPA notices.
- Advise on product liability, product safety and recall protocols, customer communication and coordination with quality, insurance and PR teams.
- Advise e-commerce and modern-trade teams on marketplace, distribution and channel-compliance issues.
- Track regulatory developments affecting the FMCD/FMCG business and issue practical compliance advisories to business teams.
- Draft and reply to legal notices; review and settle pleadings, affidavits and written statements in coordination with external counsel.
- Manage the litigation docket end-to-end, including case strategy, hearing tracking, briefing counsel and settlement negotiations.
- Draft, review and negotiate commercial contracts — vendor, distribution, C&F, job-work, logistics, services and facility agreements.
- Advise on competition-law issues in the distribution network — resale price maintenance, exclusivity, territorial restrictions and online-pricing policies — and support any CCI enquiries.
- Support on labour and employment matters, contract-labour compliance, POSH Act compliance and Internal Committee proceedings, and disciplinary matters.
- Drive recovery actions against defaulting channel partners and vendors — Section 138 NI Act complaints, arbitration, and claims in insolvency proceedings before the NCLT.
- Advise on data privacy and consumer-data handling under the DPDP Act, 2023 — consent notices, privacy policies, vendor data-processing terms and breach response, working with IT and marketing.
- Supervise the legal team — allocate the docket across team members, review their drafting and advice, manage the external counsel panel and legal budget, and report on team performance to the Head of Legal.
- Maintain the legal MIS — contract and litigation database, risk register, legal spend tracking and reporting to the Head of Legal.
- Conduct legal research and support internal training for business teams
- Education: LLB from a reputed college/university; LLM or IP-specific qualification an added advantage
- Experience: 12–15 years post-qualification experience, preferably with an FMCG/consumer-durables company or a law firm servicing consumer brands
- B. Land, Property and Real Estate ( Jaipur/Rajasthan working experience will be advantage)
- Strong drafting and negotiation skills across IP, property and commercial documentation.
- Working knowledge of the Trade Marks Act, Designs Act, Copyright Act, Patents Act, Transfer of Property Act, Registration Act, Stamp Act, Legal Metrology Act and Consumer Protection Act.
- Ability to give crisp, commercially practical advice to non-legal stakeholders.
- Experience in managing and cost-controlling a panel of external counsel.
- Team management — ability to lead, mentor and appraise a small team of in-house counsel and paralegals, allocate work across IP, land and regulatory streams, and build bench strength.
- Ability to set priorities and SLAs for the team, review juniors' drafting and hold quality standards under tight business timelines.
- Comfort with legal-tech tools for contract and litigation management (added advantage).
- Strong communication, stakeholder management and ownership mindset; able to work independently with limited supervision.