Operation Sindoor: Reliance Industries blames junior for filing trademark request, withdraws post flak

Operation Sindoor

The term Operation Sindoor was buzzing everywhere in India on morning of May 7, 2025 after India struck at terrorist camps in Pakistan in retaliation of Pahalgam terror attacks on April 22. Soon after several businesses rushed to trademark the phrase Operation Sindoor. After the news went public, Reliance Industries, on Thursday, said that the conglomerate has no intention of trademarking 'Operation Sindoor'. Reliance Industry's official statement stated that Jio Studios has withdrawn its trademark application.

Reliance withdraws trademark application

"Jio Studios, a unit of Reliance Industries, has withdrawn its trademark application, which was filed inadvertently by a junior person without authorisation," Reliance Industries added in the statement.

The statement further adds "Reliance Industries and all its stakeholders are incredibly proud of Operation Sindoor, which came about in response to a Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack in Pahalgam. Operation Sindoor is the proud achievement of our brave Armed Forces in India's uncompromising fight against the evil of terrorism. Reliance stands fully in support of our Government and Armed Forces in this fight against terrorism. Our commitment to the motto of 'INDIA FIRST' remains unwavering."

The race for Operation Sindoor trademark

Earlier on May 7 following India's precision attack on terrorist sites in Pakistan named 'Operation Sindoor', several entities, had filed trademark applications. The trade mark filings happened within hours of the military operations by the Indian Army on nine terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. The trademarks are usually filed for potential movie titles in the future.

The intellectual property of India application website of the commerce and Industry ministry shows four applications were filed between 10:42 am and 6:27 pm on May 7, 2025, for trademark applications under Class 41 of the Nice Classification, which covers education, entertainment, media, and cultural services.

Indian military operations names are not automatically protected as intellectual property by the government, neither the ministry of defence often registers or commercialize these names and they are not secured under any special statutory IP framework. So unless government or ministry of defence intervenes such names remain open for trademark claims by entities or even by private individuals.

(with inputs from ANI)