In a fast reaction to the Indian military’s cross-border operation codenamed “Sindoor” operation, four different trademark applications were filed in minutes after the operation was announced to the public. The first to seek also was Reliance Industries Limited, followed by Mumbaikar Mukesh Chetram Agrawal, retired Group Captain Kamal Singh Oberoi, Indian Air Force, and Delhi-based lawyer Alok Kothari. All five applied for the trademark registration in Class 41 of the Nice Classification, i.e., entertainment, education, cultural, and media services.
All of these applications, filed between 10:42 AM and 6:27 PM on May 7, 2025, are classified as “proposed to be used”. This means that though any of the applicants has brought to the market yet a commercial product under the name, they are keen on harnessing the operation’s mighty symbolic and patriotic allure to the market within the near future.
“Operation Sindoor” is India’s high-profile military move against terror camps along the border that followed the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam. The Indian culture of sacrifice and courage linked to the word “Sindoor” quickly shifted the public discourse, media discussions, and social sentiment among the common masses. Its emotionally loaded nature renders it a potentially money-spinning brand name for movies, web series or documentaries, or other cultural ventures.
Class 41 consists of a wide range of activities from education and training services, film and TV production, live performances, digital publishing, and cultural programming, to name a few. The applications can hardly be viewed as a suggestion that the phrase may find its place very soon in some shape or form of visual media or entertainment content.
As of today, India’s Ministry of Defence does not safeguard or register the names of military operations as intellectual properties. Unless formally contested, a private party is free to pursue trademark rights, although the Trade Marks Act, 1999 facilitates the registry in refusing such registrations that are misleading, offensive or detrimental to public interest.
Some recent reports also say that Reliance has opted out of the trademark race.
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