RIL Withdraws Bid To Trademark ‘Operation Sindoor’

Amid the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) filed a plea to register the trademark “Operation Sindoor” and then withdrew it within hours.

On May 7, RIL applied to the Controller General of Designs and Trademarks to register the workmark ‘Operation Sindoor’.

For context, Operation Sindoor was the name of the mission undertaken by the Indian armed forces during the night of May 6 and 7 to hit terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and  Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. 

Besides RIL, four other individuals also applied to register the trademark. However, RIL’s bid faced criticism on social media.

Later, in a media statement, the company said it has no intention to trademark Operation Sindoor.

“Jio Studios, a unit of Reliance Industries, has withdrawn its trademark application, which was filed inadvertently by a junior person without authorisation,” the statement added.

Trademark Class 41 category is generally used by OTT platforms, production houses, broadcasters, and event companies. Thus, in all likelihood, the trademark petition was filed by Jio Studios for the purpose of producing such content in the near future. 

While Operation Sindoor was India’s first retaliatory step against its neighbour post the gruesome terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam last month, the country’s defence forces have undertaken similar missions in the past. 

For instance, in 2016, the Indian army undertook a raid in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and inflicted heavy casualties on terrorists along with “those protecting them”. This “surgical strike” was the basis of a 2019 Bollywood war action movie, ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’. In its run time, the Ronnie Screwvala-produced movie grossed close to INR 400 Cr.

Similar war movies based on the defence forces’ operations like Border and Lakshya have gained cult status over the years.

Given the commercial success of such movies, it makes sense for major production houses to make movies or TV series based on such events. As per a report by Hindustan Times,  Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) and the Indian Film and Television Producers Council (IFTPC) have already received more than 30 applications to register titles exactly as or similar to Operation Sindoor.

It is pertinent to note that RIL and Disney India completed the merger of their media businesses in November last year to form one of the biggest media companies in the country. The new company combined its OTT platforms JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar to launch a new platform, JioHotstar.

In its financial disclosures for Q4 FY25, RIL said that JioHotstar’s paid user base zoomed to 28 Cr during the quarter, making it the second largest subscribed OTT platform.