About Raghuram

Raghuram advises and represents clients in all areas of contentious and non-contentious IP work. Extending beyond prosecution and defence of clients’ rights, his portfolio also covers IP asset management, IP audits and IP reviews, brand management, anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting and domain names and cyber laws.

He has worked and appeared as lead counsel or co-counsel with senior partners of the IP Department in various IP and regulatory compliance cases at the subordinate courts, High Courts, Court of Appeal and the Federal Court. Raghuram is also one of the very few lawyers in the firm who has been involved in criminal litigation.

Over the years, he has built and secured good rapport with the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, the Royal Malaysian Customs and the Royal Malaysian Police, which provides him an added advantage in enforcement of clients’ IP rights.

Outside IP, his experience also extends to other practice areas including E-commerce, Technology, Media, and Telecommunications, Competition and Anti-trust, Entertainment, Advertising, Sponsorship and Broadcasting, Regulatory Compliance and Government Relations, Privacy and Personal Data Protection, Consumer Protection, Price Control, Anti-Profiteering and Product Liability, and Anti-Corruption and Anti-Money Laundering.

Apart from being a member of various organisations including ASEAN IPA and MIPA, he is also part of MyIPO’s Copyright-Industrial Design Task Force and has contributed towards the amendments to the Copyright and Industrial Design laws. He is also active in the IP Committee and IP Mediation Task Force of the Bar Council, and is working closely with senior members of the Bar towards the implementation of mediation for IP cases in Malaysia.

Raghuram has been invited to speak at various IP, consumer protection and domestic trade talks and has also authored or co-authored various publications, including “Manual for the Handling of the Applications for Patents, Trademarks and Designs (Brown Book)” by Kluwer IP Law and “World Intellectual Property Rights and Remedies (Malaysian chapter)” by Thomson Reuters Corp. He is The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific’s Rising Star for the years 2022 and 2023 and Managing IP Stars’ Rising Star for 2021-2023.

Raghuram’s notable achievements and experiences include the following:
• Civil Litigation
a) Patent Litigation
i) Mah Sing Plastics Sdn Bhd – a landmark patent invalidation and infringement case involving a novel point of law that went up to Federal Court (resisted leave application which was later withdrawn).
ii) Vringo – a patent infringement suit involving complex and technical issues, and was part of a global series of actions.
iii) General Video vs Vivo – assisted the Head of Department with an ongoing patent infringement action that was part of a global series of actions.

b) Anton Piller Order
i) Babas Nadi Sdn Bhd – was a trademark and copyright infringement suit involving an interlocutory injunction and Anton Piller order.
ii) Giga Shipping – he assisted in the preparation and execution of an Anton Piller order at the one of the Defendant’s premises for the Dispute Resolution department.

c) Trademark, Copyright Infringement or Domain Name Disputes

i) OATLY – a trademark revocation action, being the first to be decided by the IP Court under the new Trademarks Act 2019, where he single-handedly represented and won for the Plaintiff.
ii) Wahl Clipper (Civil) – a trademark infringement and passing off case that followed suit from an enforcement action involving interlocutory applications including an O14A Rules of Court application.
iii) BAT American Legend – an ongoing non-use trademark cancellation case involving large volumes of documents or evidence, and where the Defendant is located in Europe.
iv) Bulgari Gerald Genta – a trademark cancellation action in which he defended the action.
v) Hermes International – a trademark infringement and passing off suit against a notorious infringer.
vi) PCA Architecture – involving a copyright infringement of an architect’s drawing
vii) Upin-Ipin – defended a trademark infringement action for a small-time innocent seller
viii) Prada and Miu Miu – a trademark infringement and/passing off action against a parallel importer
ix) Tamin – assisted with the Court of Appeal trademark infringement matter
x) Hermesparis.online Domain name dispute – in which order was obtained in favour of our client and the domain name taken down
xi) Oatly BAKED – an Indonesian trademark infringement matter commenced by our client Oatly

• Criminal Litigation

a) Mead-Johnson – a criminal case filed by MOH, in which Raghuram was a co-counsel defending the action, with an external counsel from Akberdin & Co. He was responsible for drafting the defence papers and running the case at the Magistrates’ Court and the appeal at the High Court. He was reported and featured in various Chinese dailies.

b) Wahl Clipper – a criminal case at the Sessions Court, where Raghuram worked with the DPP and MDTCA to prosecute the infringer.

• Enforcement – His achievements include:

a) Spearheading many large scale searches and seizure actions involving multiple parties/targets across Malaysia, where he often leads teams of lawyers, pupils-in chambers and executives. He was also involved in the largest seizure of counterfeit Luffman cigarettes in Malaysia in 2020 worth over RM20 million, which has since led to an ongoing criminal action at the JB High Court. Other notable clients include Hermes International, Longchamp Paris, Lacoste, Liverpool Football Club and Athletics Grounds, LVMH Group, including Dior, Tag Heuer, Hublot, Zenith, WAHL Clipper Corporation, ASICS, Goyard St-Honore, Johnson & Johnson and many more.

b) Working closely with MDTCA, the Customs and the Royal Malaysian Police.

c) Conducting trainings/workshops/seminars for MDTCA officers, Customs officers and RMP cadets, as recent as March 2022 in Penang.

d) Speaking at IPR seminars/trainings by external organisations or clients such as INTA, ALSA, ITECHLaw, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, FGV, MR DIY and Port of Tanjung Pelepas.

• IP Transactional Work, and Technology and Media Work – due diligence exercises and drafting of complex IP transactional and technology acquisition and licensing agreements, on his own or with partners and colleagues of the IP department and the Corporate Department. Some of his reputable clients are Jaya Grocer, Wilcom Pty Ltd, Silterra, Geely and Omesti Bhd.

• Anti-Competition, Personal Data and Regulatory and Compliance Work – regulatory and compliance work for various MNC clients, including advising and assisting with review of operating documents and agreements, applications for licenses and approvals, liaising with governmental bodies such as MOH and MDTCA. Clients include Microsoft, ResMed, Mead-Johnson Nutrition, Reckitt Benckiser, Dynatrace and Kraft Heinz.

• Business development, marketing activities, seminars and talks, including:

a) Speaker, INTA Virtual Roundtable “Landlord Liability in Malaysia: Brick and Mortar and Online” (February 2022). Other speakers included myself and the Assistant Director-General of Enforcement at MDTCA.
b) Speaker, ALSA IP Workshop (2021). Other speakers included myself, Janet Toh and Jessica Chong
c) MC and Speaker, “Countdown to Trademarks Act 2019” (2019). Other speakers included partners and associates of the IP department.
d) Speaker, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers’ Seminar on Consumer Protection Act (2018). Other speakers included Janet Toh.
e) MC, ITECHLaw Forum 2018
f) MC and speaker, JIPA visit and trainings. Other speakers included partners and associates of the IP department.

• Publications – Raghuram has also authored or co-authored articles, books, manuals and/or publications including

a) Manual for the Handling of the Applications for Patents, Trademarks and Designs (Brown Book), Kluwer IP Law (2022)
b) World Intellectual Property Rights and Remedies (Malaysian chapter), Thomson Reuters Corp. (2021)
c) Trademark Protection beyond borders – What it means for local businesses, Business in Action – Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers’ Framework (2020)
d) CorporateLiveWire Virtual Round Table – Intellectual Property (2019)
e) Malaysia’s Trademark Legislation Goes Under the Knife, Asia IP (2019)
f) Monetising IP assets – Malaysia, Managing IP (2018)
g) Doing Business in Asia (Malaysia chapter), Thomson Reuters Corp. (2016 – 2017)
h) Doing Business in Asia, Thomson Reuters Corporation (2013 – 2016)
i) Annotations to the Statutes of Malaysia: Trade Marks Act 1976, Trade Descriptions Act 2011, Patents Act 1983, Copyright Act 1987 and Industrial Designs Act 1996, LexisNexis Malaysia (2013)

• IAM Patent 1000 (2024)
“Bronze Individual” in Litigation

• Member, Malaysian Bar (Since 2012)
• Member, International Bar Association (IBA)
• Member, ASEAN Intellectual Property Association (ASEAN IPA) (Since 2018)
• Member, World Law Group (Since 2021)
[Public Profile: https://www.theworldlawgroup.com/news/raghuram-supramanium-wlg-beyond-borders-participant]
• Member, Malaysian Intellectual Property Association (MIPA) (Since 2021)
• Member, Malaysian Intellectual Property Office (MyIPO)’s Copyright-Industrial Design Task Force (Since 2022)
• Member, Bar Council Intellectual Property Committee (Since 2022)
• Member, Bar Council IP Mediation Task Force (Since 2022)

• Manual for the Handling of the Applications for Patents, Trademarks and Designs (Brown Book), Kluwer IP Law (2022)
• World Intellectual Property Rights and Remedies (Malaysian chapter), Thomson Reuters Corp. (2021)
• Trademark Protection beyond borders – What it means for local businesses, Business in Action – Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers’ Framework (2020)
• CorporateLiveWire Virtual Round Table – Intellectual Property (2019)
• Malaysia’s Trademark Legislation Goes Under the Knife, Asia IP (2019)
• Monetising IP assets – Malaysia, Managing IP (2018)
• Doing Business in Asia (Malaysia chapter), Thomson Reuters Corp. (2016 – 2017)
• Doing Business in Asia, Thomson Reuters Corporation (2013 – 2016)
• Annotations to the Statutes of Malaysia: Trade Marks Act 1976, Trade Descriptions Act 2011, Patents Act 1983, Copyright Act 1987 and Industrial Designs Act 1996, LexisNexis Malaysia (2013)