PIL filed in Supreme Court against attempts to trademark Operation Sindoor

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the filing of multiple trademark applications for the term 'Operation Sindoor', which is the name of India's ongoing military operation against Pakistan..Soon after the Government of India made the name of the operation public, a number of applicants including Reliance had moved the Trademark Registry seeking exclusive rights under Class 41, which covers entertainment, education, cultural and media services.This led to public outrage, with Reliance eventually withdrawing its application. At present, 11 other entities or persons have applied for the registration of the mark in their favour..Now, a lawyer has moved the Supreme Court alleging that such attempts to seek the trademark registration for the military operation name seek to exploit public sentiment and the nation’s grief for commercial gain.The petitioner Dev Ashish Dubey is a practicing advocate based out of Delhi. He has filed the plea through advocate Om Prakash Parihar..The plea states that 'Operation Sindoor', which was initially undertaken to avenge the killings of tourists in Pahalgam, holds deep emotional value, especially for the families of martyred soldiers. It further states that the name symbolizes the sacrifice of widows — metaphorically linked with “sindoor,” a traditional mark of marriage in India..It adds that such attempts to seek trademark registration of the name is not only insensitive but also in direct violation of Section 9 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, which prohibits registration of terms likely to hurt public sentiment or that lack distinctiveness in a commercial context.Thus, the petitioner has urged the apex court to restrain the authorities from proceeding with such trademark registration so as to prevent the commercialization of a name associated with national sacrifice and military valor.As per the petitioner, the matter raises significant questions around ethical boundaries in intellectual property law, particularly when national security and public emotion intersect.