A trademark in any regional or foreign language can be registered in India — but you must translate and transliterate it, and if the English meaning is descriptive, registration becomes harder.
The mandatory step: Rule 28
Marks in scripts other than Hindi/English or Roman/Devanagari are registrable, but Rule 28 of the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 requires the applicant to provide, in the application:
- a precise transliteration of each such word or number, and
- a translation into English or Hindi, and
- a statement of the language the words belong to.
This is mandatory. If the transliteration or translation is not supplied — even after the Registrar asks in the examination report — the application is deemed abandoned.
The real hurdle: descriptive English equivalents
The procedural step is easy. The difficulty arises when the English equivalent is descriptive. Courts use the doctrine of foreign equivalents — translating a foreign word into English to test descriptiveness — but India applies it as a guideline, not an absolute rule.
- Aktiebolaget Volvo v. Volvo Steels (Bombay HC, 1998) — the doctrine is only a guideline. Words from dead or obscure languages are not literally translated for descriptiveness; the test is whether buyers familiar with the language would find the word descriptive. It should be applied “only when it is likely that the ordinary purchaser would stop and translate the word.”
- C. Kamani Oil Industries v. Bhuwaneshwar Refineries (Bombay HC, 2014) — the court did not apply the doctrine, holding that a foreign word is descriptive in India only if it is commonly used and understood here; if the buying public is unlikely to know its meaning, the mark is not descriptive.
What this means for applicants
- Always file the transliteration and translation up front — skipping it can abandon the application.
- Check the English meaning. If it is descriptive and the word is commonly understood in India, expect objections.
- Obscurity can help. A foreign word whose meaning is known only to a small segment in India is less likely to be treated as descriptive.
- Distinctiveness through use or well-known status, and stylisation as a device mark, can rescue an otherwise difficult mark.
Frequently asked questions
Can I register a non-English trademark in India? Yes — marks in any regional or foreign language are registrable, subject to the Rule 28 transliteration and translation requirement.
What is required for a foreign-language mark? A precise transliteration, an English/Hindi translation of each word or number, and a statement of the language — failing which the application can be deemed abandoned.
What is the doctrine of foreign equivalents? Translating a foreign word to English to test descriptiveness. India treats it as a guideline, applied only where an ordinary purchaser would likely translate the word.
When is a foreign word descriptive in India? Broadly, when it is commonly used and understood in India; if the public is unlikely to know its meaning, it is not treated as descriptive.
Useful official resources
- The Trade Marks Act, 1999
- IP India public trademark search