Ever glanced at a pub menu and wondered if a cool cocktail name is trademarked? The surprise is that the common ones — the names everyone uses — are the registered trademarks. Does a bar listing them infringe? It’s a genuinely tricky blend.
Cocktail names on the Indian register
A search of the Indian Trade Marks Register turns up familiar cocktails — many held by big drinks companies:
- MARTINI — marks held by Martini & Rossi S.P.A. and Bacardi & Company (the companies merged in 1993).
- PINA COLADA — United Spirits Limited.
- BLOODY MARY and SCREWDRIVER — McDowell & Company Ltd.
- COSMOPOLITAN — several word/device variations by Shiva Distilleries (mostly limited to whiskey).
- JÄGER BOMB — Jägermeister marks held by Mast-Jägermeister SE; a device mark for “Jäger Bomb” applied for by a Delhi company — and since Jägermeister is the main ingredient, whether anyone else can hold it is an open question.
- SANGRIA — applied for by that same Delhi company.
- MOJITO — a single Indian application in Class 33 (how enforceable exclusivity would be is doubtful).
- BLUE LAGOON — word marks by IFB Agro and McDowell, and a label by Umeri Distillery.
The questions this raises
Who came up with the mark? Hard to trace — but if a company genuinely created the name, it has rights to it.
Can they enforce it? Only if they were first to create and use it — and even then, they may not have protected it well enough, because these marks have become generic. That’s genericide — when the public treats the mark as a general category rather than a source, as with Google and Xerox (used as verbs/nouns for the activity, not the brand). A cocktail name everyone uses generically has largely lost its source-identifying power.
Would a bar using it infringe? Difficult to say — it turns on ownership, use in India and globally, and the fact that these marks have become generic. Tellingly, an internet search reveals no infringement suits by these companies — despite virtually every bar listing these cocktails on its menu.
The takeaway
It’s a surprise that everyday cocktail names sit on the register as registered trademarks. But genericide blunts their enforceability — a name that the public uses as the general term for a drink is hard to monopolise, which likely explains the absence of lawsuits.
The takeaways
- Common cocktail names are registered marks — Martini, Bloody Mary, Screwdriver, Mojito and more.
- Genericide undercuts them — once the public uses a mark as the category, source-identification fades.
- Enforcement is doubtful — no reported suits, despite ubiquitous menu use.
- Protect distinctiveness early — the Google/Xerox lesson: don’t let your mark become the generic term.
Frequently asked questions
Are cocktail names trademarked in India? Yes — many common cocktail names (Martini, Bloody Mary, Screwdriver, Mojito, Blue Lagoon) are registered trademarks, often held by large drinks companies.
Do bars infringe by listing these cocktails on menus? It’s uncertain — enforceability turns on ownership, global use and the fact that many of these names have become generic; notably, there appear to be no infringement suits.
What is genericide? When the public comes to treat a trademark as the general name for a category of products (like Google or Xerox), eroding its ability to identify a single source.
How do brands avoid genericide? By protecting and policing distinctiveness — using the mark as an adjective with a generic noun, and stopping generic third-party use early.
Legislation referred to
- The Trade Marks Act, 1999