Trademark race for 'Operation Sindoor' might come to a halt as a PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a ban on it. "Operation Sindoor" is the name given to the attack by the Indian military at nine bases in Pakistan. The attack came as a retaliation to the brutal killing of 26 civilians in Pahalgam on April 22 by terrorists.
The petitioner Dev Ashish Dubey has filed the writ petition against 4 applicants. The petitioner filed the petition against the applicants applying for Application TM-1 under Class 41 (education and entertainment sector) for the registration of the Trademark 'Operation Sindoor'.
What the plea said
In his petition, the petitioner cited emotional reasons and misuse of the term for commercial exploitation. "The Operation Sindoor involves the emotions of not only of the country man but also of those who have sacrificed their life for the country and in the instant killing of innocent civilians in Pahalgam Terror Attack on 22.04.2025 have sparked nationwide outrage," the petition read.
"The said operation under the Operation Sindoor should not be allowed to be misused for commercial exploitation by the Respondent No. 10 to 14 who only want to take an advantage of the public emotion for their own commercial gain," it further read.
"Needless to say that even otherwise the registration of the said name under the name and style Operation Sindoor cannot be allowed under Section 9 of the Trademark Act, 1999," the petition concluded.
Reliance Industries withdraws trademark registration
This comes barely a few days after Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries had also written an application to the Trade Marks Registry seeking registration of the term 'Operation Sindoor'. However, after massive backlash, the application was withdrawn and the company also issued a statement saying that a junior employee had sought registration without informing the superiors.
