Accenture

DIRECTOR GLOBAL INNOVATION PROTECTION
accenture.com

Renju Harikumar is an attorney with around 20 years of experience in the field of Intellectual Property. She did her Electronics and communication engineering and later did her Law degree to pursue her career in the field of Intellectual property. She is currently working with Accenture as the Director- Global Innovation protection. In this role, she is responsible for managing the global patent team, the defining and implementing business relevant strategy for IP generation & protection across Accenture. She is also responsible for the global patent portfolio management and budget. She also leads the IP team across globe including people from India, US, Europe and Argentina. She oversees the outside counsel development and management across multiple geographies for Accenture. Collaboration with the business, marketing and technical team is also a major part of the role. Prior to this role she was the Vice President, Intellectual Property for the APAC region. She is considered to be an expert in advising on software patentability, resolving patentability issues related to AI and machine learning in various jurisdictions. She brings in a wealth of experience in patent preparation, prosecution, portfolio management, IP transactions, Research agreements, Data leakage prevention, IP litigation and Open Source. She is also a known IP speaker and an avid writer on IP related topics. In 2017 and 2021 World Intellectual Property Forum recognized her amongst the Top 100 Powerful Women in Law.

Prior to joining Accenture, she worked as Sr. IP counsel at GE Healthcare for about 10 years, responsible for their South Asia region. During responsible for their South Asia region. During that period, in addition to the IP management, she was the lead for Research agreements and the legal lead for Technology, Mergers & Acquisitions. She was also instrumental in developing and rolling out Data Leakage Prevention Policy. She also has the rich experience of working with some of the prominent IP firms in India, K&S Partners Bangalore and DePennning & DePenning Chennai. She brings in a wealth of experience in patent preparation, prosecution, portfolio management, IP transactions, Research agreements, Data leakage prevention, IP litigation and Open Source. She is an Electronics & Communication Engineer with a bachelor’s degree in Law.

She loves teaching and has worked as a lecturer in RV college of engineering for a short period. She is actively involved in influencing the IP policies, patent examination rules and guidelines and multiple other aspects of Patents Act and Patent Office in India through various industry bodies and law firms. She strongly believes in promoting the IP awareness among younger generation. She volunteers to teach IP course in various collages to promote IP awareness among the students and encourages them to explore career in the field of IP. She also freely advises start-up companies in her personal capacity on various IP related matters including Open Source and copyright issues.

Apart from all these, she is a wife and mother of two boys!