Committee Chairs
• Ursula Widmer (Chair) contact  
• Axel Funk (Vice Chair, EU) contact
• Jenna Leavitt (Vice Chair, US) contact
• Sajai Singh (Vice Chair, Asia) contact

For more information on the IVAP Committee and chairs, please visit the IVAP Committee page.

Traveling Fellowship Award
At ITechLaw’s First International Asian Conference 2005, in Bangalore, India, the Committee assigned its first fellowship award, the India Traveling Fellowship Award (TFA) where a lawyer from India was given the opportunity to visit four law firms in Europe for a period of eight weeks.

ITechLaw's objective is to expose an Indian lawyer to the different legal systems in the field of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) law, which has a steadily increasing cross border dimension, and to allow the recipients of the Awards to experience at first hand how ICT law is practiced in these jurisdictions.

ITechLaw hopes that this will enable the Award winners to return to India and apply the experience gained in Europe and the US to his or her home jurisdictions, and use the knowledge acquired to educate other lawyers practicing in India on the current key issues emerging as a consequence of the explosive growth of the ICT business.

By creating this opportunity for 2 Indian lawyers to learn about ICT law in Europe and the US, through practical insights in law firms, ITechLaw also hopes to expand across the globe its network of ICT lawyers who are committed to the development of ICT law in their respective legal systems, and to make a contribution to a better legal and cultural understanding between Indian and European lawyers as well as lawyers in the US, which is the basis for a prosperous and efficient professional working relationship between lawyers in different jurisdictions.

Due to the success of the first Traveling Fellowship Award, the IVAP Committee presented the Nordic European Traveling Fellowship Award at the European Conference 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden. The two Award winners, from Nordic European countries, interned with a number of sponsoring law firms from all over Europe in spring 2006. At the International Asian Conferences in 2006 and 2007, in Bangalore, India, the Committee assigned the International Traveling Fellowship Award for the second and third time. Three lawyers were given the chance to visit a total of 11 law firms in 2006 and 2007. In 2009, the Traveling Fellowship Award was attributed at the 5th International Asian Conference in Gurgaon, with the award winner having the opportunity to visit six renowned law firms in Europe.

The Award program will be expanded to the USA in 2010. Stay tuned for more information on the IVAP page.

Each winner of the award has the opportunity to intern with a number of sponsoring law firms from all over Europe and the US, exposing them to the different legal systems in the field of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) law, and to allow the recipient of the Award to experience at first hand how ICT law is practiced in these jurisdictions.

Winner of the 2009 ITechLaw India Traveling Fellowship Award, Talha Salaria:
ITechLaw's 2009 Traveling Fellowship Award Winner from the 5th International Asian Conference in Gurgaon. Talha Salaria, has been travelling to the following law firms: Setterwalls in Göteberg, Sweden, CMS Hasche Sigle in Stuttgart, Germany, Dr. Widmer & Partners in Bern, Switzerland, Lovells in Münich, Germany, Gassauer Fleissner in Vienna, Austria and Matheson Ormsby Prentice in Dublin, Ireland. See below for a full report on Talha's experiences.

Winner Reports

Report by Talha Salaria I would like to express my appreciation and thank you to the ITech Law Association, the selection committee and the participating law firms, i.e. Setterwalls in Göteberg, Sweden, CMS Hasche Sigle in Stuttgart, Germany, Dr. Widmer & Partners in Bern, Switzerland, Lovells in Munich, Germany, Gassauer Fleissner in Vienna, Austria and Matheson Ormsby Prentice in Dublin, Ireland for the time, effort and thought that has been put into this program and thank each one of them for this fabulous opportunity.

One of the most interesting aspects of the fellowship was that I had the chance and sufficient time to experience each of the firms and the beautiful cities that they are located in, not just as an attorney or as a tourist, but as a balanced mix of both. I was always warmly welcomed, met so many wonderful people and had many discussions with colleagues on issues varying from legal systems, markets and education to the economic crisis, politics and history of the places. Such discussions were very enriching and provided me a good insight into the similarities as well as the differences between the legal cultures and customs followed in each of the regions.

Setterwalls was the first law firm that I visited. I had the interesting opportunity to review the EU Directive on Point of Single Contact and providing my views thereon on issues raised, which, I have been given to understand, are currently a hot topic of debate in the EU. I also had the occasion to conduct research on patent laws in Europe, from the perspective of the Paris Convention, the PCT and the EPC and the inter-relation between the same. Pursuant to the research, I provided my inputs on a Notice of Opposition which was filed in relation to a patent granted under the EPC. I also reviewed a distributorship agreement between a Swedish company and a UK based company, which was governed by the laws of England. I provided comments on certain issues that had arisen between the parties from the perspective of contractual obligations as well as from the perspective of the applicable sale of goods act. I had the occasion of drafting a letter/notice of intimation relating to PCI DSS. The firm also arranged for me to make a presentation on the Indian legal market and other practical aspects of the manner in which law firms operate in India. During a dinner hosted by the firm for its clients, I was provided the opportunity of interacting with people from other fields and had a very enjoyable evening. I visited several sights in the city including a visit to one of the islands, Marstrand, which was lovely and refreshing.

At CMS Hasche Sigle, I assisted in providing inputs on a query regarding data protection, from an Indian law perspective. I also provided comments on and amended documentation for an Indian subsidiary of a German company. I was given the opportunity of participating in a matter regarding software development documentation between a Slovenian company and a German company. It was very interesting to note and observe the behaviour and style of negotiations of the parties from different jurisdictions. I spent a lot of time with a colleague at CMS Hasche Sigle while we worked on an article regarding Legal Process Outsourcing in the context of India and Germany. In the process of co-authoring the article, we got an opportunity to exchange ideas on the applicable laws in our respective jurisdictions which was very informative and enlightening and provided me with a better understanding of German law, the various issues relating to Legal Process Outsourcing and its relevance and development in the German market. I had a great time visiting Tuebingen, Lake Constance and Castle Hohenzollern, which I understand is one of the most beautiful and popular castles in Germany.

During my stay with Dr. Widmer & Partners , I had the exciting opportunity to attend a session of the parliament. It turned out to be an eventful session since one of the Swiss ministers announced his resignation on that day. I could draw comparisons between the parliamentary sessions held in India and those held in Switzerland and was able to share and exchange information with my colleague, who accompanied me to the parliament. On another interesting day, I attended a rotary club lunch where I had the occasion to introduce myself as well as my firm, MMB Legal, to the attendees. I also attended a conference, the Swiss Telecommunication Summit. At the office, I worked on an agreement regarding software development between a Swiss company and a Canadian company. The team at Dr. Widmer & Partners and I also had discussions on social networking, its implications and the issues that arise therefrom, especially from a legal point of view. Pursuant to the discussions, we agreed to jointly write an article relating to social networking and I commenced work on the same during my stay in Bern. In this context, I also did some work on the terms of use of social networking sites and their enforceability under law, in the Indian context. I had the opportunity to visit Interlaken, Luzern and Zurich, which were stunning and enjoyable.

While at Lovells, I carried out extensive research on the VoIP related laws and regulations currently in force in Germany and compared the development of law from the year 2004 till date. I also continued to work on and completed a first draft of the article on social networking that I had commenced in Bern. I had the opportunity to visit the Palace of Justice. I met with nearly the entire TMT team and interacted closely with them. I was also given a lovely farewell party by the team, which was wonderfully arranged. I was also presented with a very informative and extremely well illustrated coffee table book on Munich.

My days at Gassauer Fleissner were spent working on a complex and voluminous ICC arbitration matter, wherein I provided inputs on various aspects that needed attention at the current stage of the arbitration. As a part of working on the ICC arbitration, I had discussions with my colleagues on various aspects of law and obtained a better understanding of Austrian law. I also visited the parliament in Vienna. I had the opportunity to attend a hearing in a labour matter in the labour court – it was the first time that I visited a labour court outside my country and it was interesting to note how the proceedings were conducted. During my stay, I visited several spectacular sights around the city which included spending an enjoyable evening at the Schloss Schoenbrunn followed by dinner and a concert. The firm also organized an outing with all the people at the firm as a farewell party for me, where I had the opportunity to interact with everyone from the office. I also visited Bratislava in Slovakia over the weekend, which had a charm of its own.

While at Matheson Ormsby Prentice, I worked on an outsourcing agreement relating to services and provided my comments thereon. I also spent a day visiting the different courts, including the filing sections of the courts and was given a detailed practical understanding of the manner in which filings are done at the High Court, the district court, the circuit court, the revenue office and the company registration office. I also watched two proceedings at the high court. During a meeting with the marketing department of the firm, I had the occasion to discuss the marketing efforts and channels used by the firm. I also prepared and made a presentation on Irish-Indian Business Projects, with an overview from an Indian legal perspective. It was interesting to note the similarities in the history of Ireland and India. During my stay, I also visited the various sights of the city.

As evident from the above narrative, this unique and generous ITechLaw Travelling Fellowship has, without doubt, been an invaluable and memorable experience for me, which I will never forget. I would strongly recommend it and urge my colleagues in the legal fraternity to apply for it.

Report by Vineet Subramani

At the outset, I would like to thank the International Visiting Associate Program Committee for having selected me for what is obviously a wonderful opportunity, and the sponsor firms for making my visits to their offices an educational yet enjoyable experience.

My personal thanks are due to Don McAleese at Matheson Ormsby Prentice (Dublin, Ireland), Ursula Widmer at Widmer & Partners (Berne, Switzerland), Wolfgang Büchner at Lovells (Munich, Germany) and Axel Funk at CMS Hasche Sigle (Stuttgart, Germany) all of whom took great pains to make the experience of working in their office extraordinary. I was warmly included in their team, and was encouraged to participate in their work and professional discussions.

During the course of the fellowship, I was asked to prepare and make a presentation to lawyers and business leaders on doing business in India. Essentially, this assignment was to provide an overview of the regulatory and commercial environment in India, the major investment avenues and tax structures applicable, as well as recent developments in the outsourcing sector. I also presented an analysis of recent Supreme Court judgments on the taxation of offshore service providers / suppliers on income arising from Indian customers. Other assignments included reviewing contracts, drafting confidentiality agreements, preparing a fairly exhaustive comparison of the major Open Source Licenses and related projects. I was also given an introduction to Irish and Swiss contract law. The Civil Law traditions are obviously different from the Common Law, but it was educational to note that there are key distinctions even within the Common Law traditions.

The social activities provided a perfect setting for understanding the social underpinnings of the legal systems, which was one of my objectives in securing the Fellowship. The Fellowship offers an unbeatable opportunity to gain insights into international traditions and cultures, an understanding of which can so often make a difference in maintaining client relations or a successful closing in our ever-shrinking world. My experience was unquestionably enriched by the people I worked with in each of the Sponsor firms and I can look back on many of them as friends.

I strongly recommend the TFA as an enriching experience for young lawyers.

Report by Sunita Jagtiani

I would like to thank ITechLaw, the host firms (and their staff) of the ITechLaw India Traveling Fellowship Award program for the time, planning, effort and care they have invested and their tremendous hospitality and my boss Mrs Cj Ortega, and my team-mates from ACS for their unstinted support in allowing me the time off to attend this program.

With Oosterbahn & Van Eeghen in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, I learnt about the way the EU and Dutch courts work, the differences between Regulations and Directives and I was given plenty of study material. I drafted a panel decision for an ADR on a domain name registration case which EURid had rejected under the Sunrise rules. I read thru a complicated infringement claim by a company including studying the law for protection of computer software with particular emphasis on the rights of the licensees to carry out error corrections and whether third parties could provide error correction and/or maintenance services and studying private international laws. I also studied the law of Data protection under Dutch law. I stayed with Mr Dinant Oosterbahn and his wife, Marie-Anne in their beautiful home. They took me to Haarlem, Eindhoven & Noord and Hague and treated me to a Mahler recital.

With Dr. Widmer & Partners in Berne, Switzerland, I was given an Indo-Swiss agreement to review and commented on the steps to be taken to improve enforceability of a contract in the Indian context. I re-drafted an OEM agreement for integrating a customer’s software into another software. I drafted an FAQ document on Escrow Agreements for source code and the risks arising if a party submitting a source code for escrow undergoes liquidation. I also reviewed and re-drafted a Software License agreement for and discussed the same with a software vendor. Numerous outings were organized in Bern including a multi language Mozart opera and a beautiful trip to Mt. Schilthorn and the fascinating cities of Lucerne, Thun and Gruyere.

With Lovells in Munich, Germany, I had the opportunity of reviewing an acquisition thru purchase of shares of a local software development company by a US based company including reading thru the documents available in the Data Room and the Due Diligence report and reviewing the Share Purchase Agreement. I also reviewed a sub-contracting agreement for hardware manufacture and re-drafted a Master BPO agreement. The highlights of the Munich stay were the visit to the Oktoberfest and the traditional launch procession.

With CMS Hasche Sigle in Hamburg, Germany, I reviewed and commented on an outsourcing agreement sent by the outsourcer, read through a software development and maintenance sub-contract and read the European block exemptions on vertical agreements and technology transfer agreements in connection with sale of a technology company and a re-assessment of its reseller agreements. I also read articles on hybrid open source software, data protection laws in Germany and the validity of Open source license. I took the opportunity provided by a week-day holiday to visit Berlin and was invited to spend the weekend at Luneburg where I attended a Bach concert.

My bags and my heart are bursting at the seams with all the wonderful memories of this trip. I would like to sincerely thank ITechLaw and all the people who have made this truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, above all Dr. Ursula Widmer, member of ITechLaw’s Executive Committee and chair of the TFA program India and Europe.
 

All past winners reports will soon be available in a web archive.