Arty Rajendra

Osborne Clarke

Arty Rajendra has been given a mission: build up Osborne Clarke’s intellectual property practice to compete with the biggest players in that market, the likes of Bristows and Bird & Bird. Rajendra herself was co-counsel on a case in 2020 that any IP lawyer would be proud of, Unwired Planet v Huawei, a case where the impact is enormous for the IP world and for telecoms, because no other court had previously decided global terms of a FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) licence.

That case has sparked a dozen more that are set to go through the UK courts in the coming years, including one Rajendra is involved in herself, Optis vs Apple, where a novel issue being run for the first time in England is at what stage a licensee becomes a willing licensee.

These cases take up much time but are not the only matters on her plate. Rajendra has a full slate of big-name clients who followed her to Osborne Clarke when she joined in 2017, plus new ones she has won for the firm since. The plan now is to bring 10 or 11 additional partners into the IP team over the coming years.