Technology, Internet, Media & Telecommunications
Given that we are headquartered in the “Silicon Valley of India”, we have a very strong focus on technology, internet, media & telecommunications (TIMT) sector, and our TIMT practice group regularly advises blue-chip corporates and start-ups in the sector on regulatory, operational, and transactional matters. We are also often engaged by reputable private equity and venture capital investors in such companies for their transactional needs.
We have expertise in cutting edge areas such as fintech, blockchain, artificial intelligence/machine learning, IoT, virtual currencies, among others, as well as in areas like e-commerce and internet aggregation platforms, that are subject to a challenging and ever-changing regulatory landscape. The rapid evolution of technology has often resulted in a legal vacuum and complexities, and our specialized experience comes handy in overcoming such challenges and offering commercially viable solutions to our clients.
Some of the matters that we regularly advise on are:
Complex FDI related issues in e-commerce/internet businesses and structuring investments into the sector, where the regulatory landscape is very dynamic.
Regulatory advice and procuring approvals/clarifications from the sectoral regulators.
Privacy and data protection related issues.
Agreements relating to development, licensing, and use of software.
Agreements between artist/author of literary and musical works and the publishing/production companies.
Few of the interesting matters where we have advised in recent times include:
Advising a reputable, VC-funded US start-up with operations in more than 50 countries on its proposed launch in India of its gold-backed e-wallet business which employs blockchain technology to source gold responsibly from the mine-to-vault and thereafter to digitize them and offer the digitized gold tokens to its customers. We advised on the Indian regulatory, legal, and tax related issues, and in structuring the client’s business in India.
Represented a leading bitcoin mining and trading company in India in relation to the first foreign investment transaction in the virtual currency space in India.
Represented Flipkart in connection with its strategic investment in Zapr, a company engaged in the data analytics and digital media advisory services sector.