Anthropic India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based artificial intelligence company Anthropic PBC, argued in the Belagavi district court that the Indian company is an individual legal entity distinct from the US-based company.
Anthropic India’s lawyer, Tejas C. Shetty, at the Chief District and Commercial Court, said he could not receive the subpoenas to be sent to the US company or appear in court on its behalf when the matter came up for hearing on Monday.
Mr. Shetty was responding to a court summons in a case filed by IT company Anthropic Software Pvt. based in Belagavi. Ltd., claiming that a US-based company is using the same name (Anthropic) as hers, causing huge losses.
Chief District and Sessions Judge Manjunath Naik, who is also the Chief District and Commercial Court judge, adjourned the matter till March 23 and asked the plaintiff to take appropriate action in this regard by the next date.
Advocate for Anthropic Software in Belagavi Satish Karale later told reporters that they would file an amended complaint, naming Anthropic India as an additional party.
“My client Mohammad Ayaz Mulla has suffered injustice from both companies and is seeking relief from both. We will keep the rest of the plant as it is and add the name of the Indian entity (in the amended complaint),” he said.
Mr Mulla’s lawyers had earlier argued in court that when they filed the case in the Belagavi court a few months ago, Anthropic PBC did not have an Indian office.
Mr. Shetty, meanwhile, said that if Anthropogenic India becomes a party to the case, they will accept it and present their side of the argument.
He said the original subpoena should have been sent to a US-based company. They were later sent to the Bengaluru office.
“Though we are a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based Antropic PBC, we are not their branch. We are a separate legal identity under Indian law. We cannot accept summons on their behalf or argue on their behalf,” he said.
He produced a file of documents containing citations of some old cases which stated that Indian subsidiaries could not receive subpoenas addressed to their US offices.
Anthropic PBC is a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company whose products include CLAUDE.AI.
Anthropic Software Private Limited is a Belagavi based IT company that has created IT tools like integrated AI personal tutors, safe driving technology applications, WIFI community tools and school management.
In his plea filed in court, Mohammad Ayaz Mulla, who is the founder of the Belagavi-based company, said he registered his company in 2017, while the US-based company was registered in 2021 and its Indian subsidiary was registered in 2026.
Published – 9 March 2026 21:07 IST
