Law Jobs by Akinchan Aggarwal, Advocate — B.A. (Hons.) Gold Medalist, LL.B. (University Rank 2), LL.M. (Dispute Resolution), UGC–NET, Ph.D. (Pursuing)
Tata Steel is hiring an IP Counsel, and the vacancy is being circulated on legal news sites. The word "Counsel" is in the title. It is filed under law jobs.
Read the essential qualification before you spend an evening on the application:
Essential Qualification and Experience, as advertised
- B.Tech / M.Tech / M.Sc. / Ph.D. / Research Fellows
- Preferably in Metallurgy, Physics, Mechanical Engineering
- Registered Patent Agents / LL.B. / LL.M. in IP law preferred
The technical degree is the essential qualification. The law degree is in the "preferred" line, alongside patent agent registration.
On a plain reading, an LL.B. or LL.M. on its own does not meet the essential requirement for this role. That is not a quirk of Tata Steel's drafting. It reflects how Indian patent law is built — and it is worth understanding properly, because it governs an entire branch of IP practice.
The Vacancy
| Particular | Detail |
|---|---|
| Post | IP Counsel |
| Employer | Tata Steel Limited |
| Job ID on the careers portal | 639739 |
| Location | Reported as Delhi — see the caution below before relying on this |
| Essential qualification | B.Tech / M.Tech / M.Sc. / Ph.D. / Research Fellow |
| Preferred disciplines | Metallurgy, Physics, Mechanical Engineering |
| Preferred additional | Registered Patent Agent, LL.B., or LL.M. in IP law |
| Apply | Online, through the Tata Steel careers portal (RippleHire) |
Verify the location and the closing date on the portal itself.
The widely circulated write-up of this vacancy opens with the sentence "Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP invites online applications for the post of IP Counsel" — while its own headline, tags and application link all point to Tata Steel. That is a template left over from a different posting. The employer is Tata Steel; the careers page for job 639739 is titled "Tata Steel Ltd — IP Counsel". But because the same paragraph that names the wrong company is also the paragraph carrying "Location: Delhi", that detail should be treated as unconfirmed until you see it on the Tata Steel portal. No closing date appears in the circulated summary at all.
Why a Law Degree Alone Will Not Do
The answer is in Section 126 of the Patents Act, 1970, which sets out who may be registered as a patent agent in India. A person qualifies only if he or she:
- is a citizen of India;
- has completed the age of 21 years;
- has obtained a degree in science, engineering or technology from a University established under law in India, or possesses such other equivalent qualifications as the Central Government may specify; and
- has either passed the qualifying examination prescribed for the purpose, or has for ten years or more functioned as an examiner or held a Controller-function post in the Patent Office and has ceased to hold it.
Read clause (c) again. The statutory gate is a degree in science, engineering or technology. A law degree is not one of those things. On the plain terms of the section, an LL.B. or LL.M., however specialised in intellectual property, does not by itself make a person eligible to register as a patent agent in India.
There is one narrow saving: a person who was already registered as a patent agent before the commencement of the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005 is entitled to continue as, or be re-registered as, a patent agent on payment of the prescribed fee. That is a grandfathering clause for an existing cohort, not a route open to anyone qualifying today.
What registration as a patent agent actually buys you.
A registered patent agent is entitled to practise before the Controller — to file and prosecute patent applications, draft specifications, and act in proceedings before the Patent Office. That is the day-to-day work of patent practice, and it is the work an in-house IP function at a manufacturing company mostly needs done. It is a distinct professional register, with its own statutory qualifications, sitting alongside enrolment as an advocate rather than inside it.
The Career Point Worth Absorbing
Indian IP practice is not one field. It splits, and the split is statutory rather than a matter of preference.
| Work | Open to a law graduate without a technical degree? |
|---|---|
| Patent drafting and prosecution before the Patent Office | No — registration as a patent agent requires a science, engineering or technology degree under s 126 |
| Patent litigation in the courts | Yes — that is advocacy, and an advocate appears as an advocate |
| Trade marks, copyright, designs, geographical indications | Yes — no technical-degree gate of the s 126 kind |
| IP licensing, technology transfer, transactional and due diligence work | Yes |
| Enforcement, anti-counterfeiting, customs recordal, injunctions | Yes |
So the honest summary for a law student who wants to "do IP": everything except patent prosecution is open to you. Patent prosecution is not, unless you also hold a science, engineering or technology degree.
This is why the strongest patent practitioners in India are almost always dual-qualified — a B.Tech or M.Sc. followed by an LL.B., and then the Patent Agent Examination. It is also why a role like this one, sitting inside a steel company whose patents are in metallurgy and process engineering, puts the technical degree in the essential column and the law degree in the preferred column. The employer needs someone who can read the invention before they need someone who can read the statute.
Who This Vacancy Is Actually For
Match yourself honestly against the advertisement:
- Strong fit: a B.Tech or M.Tech in metallurgy, materials, physics or mechanical engineering, who has since taken an LL.B. or an LL.M. in IP, and ideally cleared the Patent Agent Examination.
- Strong fit: a registered patent agent with a metallurgy or mechanical background already working in patent prosecution, in a firm or in-house.
- Plausible fit: an M.Sc. or Ph.D. or research fellow in a relevant science who is moving into IP and has begun formal legal or patent-agent qualification.
- Poor fit: an LL.B. or LL.M. with no science, engineering or technology degree — however much IP coursework, moot experience or internship time you have. The essential qualification is not met.
If you fall in the last group, applying anyway is unlikely to be a good use of your time on this particular role. The better move is to target the parts of IP practice that are genuinely open to you, and to be specific about it in applications: contentious trade marks, IP litigation, licensing, media and entertainment IP, and the enforcement side.
If You Want the Patent Route Later
For readers with a science or engineering background who are reading this and realising the door is open to them, the sequence is straightforward:
- You already satisfy the degree requirement in Section 126(1)(c).
- Sit the Patent Agent Examination conducted by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks. It tests the Patents Act and Rules, and drafting and interpretation of specifications.
- On qualifying, apply for registration and you may practise before the Controller.
- An LL.B. on top is not statutorily required for patent agency, but it is what turns a patent agent into an IP counsel — the person who can also advise on infringement, contracts, and litigation strategy. That combination is exactly what an advertisement like this one is describing.
Before You Apply
- Go to the Tata Steel careers portal directly rather than through a link copied from an aggregator, and confirm the location, the reporting function, the experience band and the closing date on the posting for job 639739.
- Tata Steel's R&D and patenting activity is centred on Jamshedpur. If the posting turns out to be based there rather than in Delhi, that is a material fact about the role, and the circulated summary does not settle it.
- Where a job carries no advertised closing date, treat it as rolling and apply early.
- If you are a registered patent agent, put the registration number in the application. On this advertisement it is one of only two things listed as preferred.
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Disclaimer: This post summarises a vacancy for the post of IP Counsel at Tata Steel Limited, as advertised on the company's careers portal (job reference 639739) and as circulated in legal job listings. It is prepared for the information of candidates and is not an official Tata Steel publication, nor is this site connected with Tata Steel Limited or its recruitment process. The qualification details reproduced here are taken from the circulated listing; the location and closing date could not be independently confirmed against the company's portal at the time of writing, and the discrepancy noted in the text is a reason to verify every particular on the official posting before applying. Vacancy details, eligibility and dates are subject to change or withdrawal by the employer at any time. The discussion of Section 126 of the Patents Act, 1970 and of the division between patent prosecution and other IP work is the author's own commentary offered as general career guidance; readers should consult the bare Act and the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks for the current position on patent agent registration and examination. Nothing here is legal or career advice, and no representation is made that any reader is or is not eligible for this or any other post. Please read our Disclaimer for more details.
