Hemant Thadhani is a leading IP lawyer and Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India, currently serving as Practice Head of Intellectual Property at Crawford Bayley & Co. With nearly 15 years of expertise spanning patents, trademarks, copyrights, designs, and cyber law, Hemant has advised and represented high-profile clients across industries. Known for his balanced approach that blends litigation expertise with strategic counseling, Hemant is at the forefront of addressing IP challenges in India’s rapidly evolving digital age. Beyond his legal acumen, Hemant is a global thinker, an advocate for continuous learning, and a believer in the transformative role of law in technology-driven societies.
Hemant’s journey into IP law reflects both passion and purpose. With a family background in law — his father served as a District Judge in Madhya Pradesh — Hemant grew up with legal values around him, while his own fascination with technology made Intellectual Property a natural career path. After completing his B.Sc. LL.B. from Gujarat National Law University, he pursued further specialization at Queensland University of Technology, Australia, gaining international exposure to IP systems across Asia-Pacific. Over the years, Hemant has built a distinguished practice handling complex disputes, high-stakes litigation, and advisory mandates. His career is marked by landmark cases, including precedent-setting litigation on meta tags and invisible trademark use, where he argued novel points of law before the Bombay High Court. Hemant’s approach combines doctrinal depth with practical strategy — “horses for courses” as he calls it — tailoring advice based on the business sector and the client’s unique risks.
Key highlights of Koffee Conversation with Hemant Thadhani
- The Practice Head’s role: Beyond lawyering — requires team leadership, business generation, supervision, and being the “face of the practice.”
- IP in the digital age: New challenges like invisible use of trademarks, meta tags, adwords misuse, and enforcing rights against anonymous digital infringers.
- Case highlight: Successfully argued a meta tag case before Bombay High Court, shaping Indian jurisprudence on invisible trademark use.
- Advice to startups & brands: Always begin with notices, counseling, and awareness before heavy litigation. Prevention saves cost and reputation.
- Sector-specific strategies: Pharmaceutical counterfeits demand urgent litigation & seizures; online platforms often begin with cease-and-desist.
- International exposure: His education at GNLU (science + law integration) and QUT (research-driven, Asia-Pacific comparative IP) sharpened his cross-border approach.
- Committee contributions: As part of INTA’s Data Protection Committee, he examined overlaps between IP and privacy law — especially challenges in identifying infringers in a privacy-regulated internet.
- Tech tools in IP: Legal tech and AI tools for trademark search, image matching, and portfolio management reduce human error and improve efficiency.
- Personal side: Grounded in family values, passionate about sports (cricket & tennis), adventurous (dreams of scuba diving), and fond of Indian desserts.
👉 Watch Hemant Thadhani’s full Koffee Conversation episode here:
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