Advisory Board
Rodney D. Ryder
Chief Mentor & Board Chair
Rodney D. Ryder is a Partner with Scriboard, a full-service commercial law firm with cutting edge specialization in technology, new media, and intellectual property laws.
He is the author of Guide to Cyber Laws: the Information Technology Act, 2000, E-Commerce, Data Protection and the Internet, the first section-wise analysis of the Indian Information Technology Act, 2000.
Rodney is presently Advisor to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India on the implementation of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Mr. Ryder has been nominated as a ‘Leading Lawyer’ in intellectual property, technology, communication, and media law by Asia Law, Who’sWhoLegal, Asia Legal 500, amongst other International publications. Mr. Ryder has been listed as one of India’s leading lawyers in the ’40 under 45’ study conducted by WhosWhoLegal, United Kingdom.
His second book, Intellectual Property and the Internet [published by LexisNexis] has been acknowledged to be an authoritative work on domain name disputes by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and has been quoted in the first and only judgement by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India on domain names [Satyam Infoway Ltd. v. Sifynet Solutions Pvt. Ltd.; (2004) 6 SCC 145].
He is an advisor to the National Internet Exchange of India [NIXI] and a member of the panel of independent and neutral arbitrators with NIXI.
Subhash Bhutoria
Board Chair
Subhash Bhutoria is an Indian lawyer and has been practicing Intellectual Property Rights and Art Laws for over a decade. He has graduated from the National Law University, Jodhpur in 2009. Thereafter he has worked as a Senior Associate at Lall and Sethi Advocates, Lakshmi Kumaran and Sridharan Attorneys and was the Managing Associate at Luthra & Luthra Law Offices. In 2017, he became a partner at Krida Legal and founded the IPR and Art Law practice. Presently, he is a Partner Designate at Luthra & Luthra Law Offices, New Delhi.
His keen interest in art coincides with the legal expertise in this field, which he has gained from working with leading art galleries and artists.
He has delivered several lectures on Intellectual Property Rights and has written various articles on existing and changing laws in India. He is also a member of the ADR Committee (2022-23) at the International Trademark Association (INTA).
Harsh Bajpai
Project Coordinator and Development Manager
Harsh is a full-time Ph.D. candidate at Durham Law School. He is an Indian qualified attorney with substantive legal and policy experience. He holds a B.B.A.LL.B degree from Symbiosis International University, Pune, India, and an LL.M in Public International and Comparative Law from the George Washington University (GWU).
While at the GWU, he co-founded GWU Pro Bono Matters, a post-graduate led pro bono group based at the GWU Law Department that engages in human rights advocacy. Prior to coming to Durham, he served as a Legislative Assistant to a Member of Parliament to Shri Derek O Brien in India. He was also a Policy Officer at Centre for Internet and Society, New Delhi where he undertook the ‘Future of Work’ program. Since 2019, he has been working in a think-tank – ‘The Dialogue’ on issues concerning privacy, Internet governance, surveillance, and encryption policies.
Arpit Gupta
Chair, InfoTech
Arpit Gupta is currently a lawyer. He graduated from National Law University, Jodhpur in 2016, after which he worked with Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. (SAM & Co.) for two years and as a Senior Associate at Ikigai Law.
In 2018, he was selected for the Legislative Assistant to a Member of Parliament (LAMP) Fellowship programme. As part of the programme, he worked with Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, former Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and former Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Along with researching on a wide range of issues from the Rafale deal to crop insurance schemes in India, he also worked extensively on the issue of appointment of the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
At Ikigai Law, he worked extensively on data governance-related issues in India (including the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019) and digital payments-related issues. Other technology-related policy areas that he has dealt with include e-commerce, intermediary liability, cybersecurity and digital health.
Shravani Deshmukh
Chair, Intellectual Property
Shravani Deshmukh graduated from Symbiosis Law School, Pune with a BBA LLB degree. In pursuit of her keen interest in Intellectual Property, she regularly takes up additional courses to upgrade her knowledge in the field. She has certifications such as Distance Learning Courses on Intellectual Property and Patent Cooperation Treaty by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and Advanced Skill Development Program on IP by IP India and WIPO under her belt.
She is currently working with an IP start-up called “Create and Protect IP Partners” which specialises in Technology Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights. Her creative acumen along with the ability to grab technology concepts gives her the edge in her profession. She effortlessly promotes traditional knowledge while keeping in mind the changing business strategies.