A DECADE COMPLETED AS THE PRESIDENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS ATTORNEY ASSOCIATION, CHENNAI Authored by: Vidyul Dayal Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA
A DECADE COMPLETED AS THE PRESIDENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS ATTORNEY ASSOCIATION, CHENNAI
Authored by: Vidyul Dayal
Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA
Advocate P. Sanjai Gandhi was elected as the President of the Intellectual Property Rights Attorney Association in February, 2011. In the 10 years that he has held this post, he has dedicated himself to spreading awareness about intellectual property rights (IPR) amongst the common people. He has been an IPR practitioner since 2000 and was also the Additional Government Pleader at the High Court of Madras for the years 2011-18. He has been among the two IPR attorneys selected by the Japan Patent Office from India for their 17-day training programme in Tokyo in 2007. He has been the recipient of the National IP Award by the Government of India in 2018 under the ‘Top Individual for Best facilitation of Registration of GI and Promotion of registered GI in India’ category.
He is a staunch believer of the principles advocated by Mahatma Gandhi. He has always asserted the need to ensure that certain qualities and characteristics unique to a place must not be forgotten or usurped by outside vested interest. He has worked tirelessly to bring indigenous products into the limelight and to help with the cause of rural development.
Advocate P. Sanjai Gandhi is also an IPR educationalist, speaker and author. He has written a book in English titled Arts and Crafts of India: Registered GI Products and a book titled Intellectual Property in Tamil. He has disseminated his knowledge and shared his expertise with the common public, research scholars and students, all alike, through seminars, lectures and internships. The words of admiration and gratitude of his interns, who have spoken about his impeccable legal knowledge, skills, amicable nature and foresight, while expressing their luck at having gotten the opportunity to learn from him, are testamentary to his proficiency.
He has always been committed to educating the masses about their IPR. To this end, he has conducted the World IP Day program in the capacity of the President of the Intellectual Property Rights Attorney Association every year since 2011. He is credited nationally for promulgating the protection of geographical indications (GI) and working hard to preserve the local heritage of India. Through the Association, he has handled the registration and obtained GI tags for over 25 goods, including the Kancheepuram Silk Sarees, Thanjavur Painting, Thanjavur Veenai, Nachiarkoil kuthuvilakku, Dindigul lock, etc. He has helped uncountable weavers, manufacturers, agriculturists and others in various MSME sectors through the GI registration of unique Indian products.
This year of 2021 marks the 10th Anniversary of the Presidentship of Advocate P. Sanjai Gandhi at the IPR Attorney Association which was formed with the objective of spreading awareness about the importance of IP as well as, in the words of Advocate Gandhi himself, “to provide a common centre for members of the Bar practising in the High Courts, Intellectual Property Appellate Board and IP Offices among others and provide them facilities such as library, conference and consultation rooms and other professional amenities.” At this historic juncture, we can agree that the journey of Advocate P. Sanjai Gandhi has been truly inspiring and exceptional.
On this note, it would be befitting to mention that Advocate Gandhi has recently, since the swearing-in of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr. M. K. Stalin on 7 May, 2021, once again shown his devotion to the right path by filing two new GI applications, for the Chedi Putta handloom saree and the Negamam cotton saree.
