In this post, Balu Nair, our Spicy IP Fellowship applicant profiles the winner of the National Intellectual Property Award, 2016, Ganesh Hingmire and his contributions to the field of GIs.
In an earlier post, Aparajita had raised the need for India to find a saviour to protect its Geographical Indications (“GI”). Ganesh Hingmire certainly seems to be answering this call with aplomb. According to a Times of India report, Mr. Hingmire has been chosen for the National Intellectual Property Award, 2016 for his contributions towards the registration and protection of Geographical Indications. Last year also, he had won an IPO Special Mention Award at the National Intellectual Property Awards. The National Intellectual Property awards are constituted jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry and Indian Patents Office.
Mr. Hingmire runs an IP consulting group named ‘Great Mission Group Consultancy’, in Pune. His organisation has done tremendous work in the field of GI. It has been successful in assisting farmers and artisans in getting GI tags for a varied range of products such as Puneri Pagadi, Mahabaleshwar Strawberry, Nashik Grapes, among others.
His story is inspiring at many levels. The Times of India report states that Mr. Hingmire lost his father at a young age. His mother, who used to make pappads for a living and his uncle, who ran a paan shop, were his only pillars of support. His early days were mired with obstacles, he helped his uncle at the shop while studying for exams under the streetlights. The report further notes that it was his background that motivated him to set out on a mission to help farmers gain their rightful dues out of their work. After finishing his LL.B from ILS Law College, Mr. Hingmire went on to do his LL.M at Cardiff, specialising in IP law. He also has an M.Phil in Economics. He is now a noted academic in the field of Intellectual Property and has contributed to literature on GI as well.
SpicyIP wishes Mr. Hingmire more power in his quest and also hopes that he will set the tone for many more crusaders in the field.
Image from here