Someone already took your brewery name: trademarks in India
Most good brewery names are already in use somewhere. This is the process we would follow in India to brainstorm, search and clear a name before a single label goes to print.
Most good brewery names are already taken
Every founder has a name they have carried around since the first homebrew. More often than not, a quick search shows a bar, a brewery or a beer that got there first. In Bengaluru, Pune, Gurugram, Mumbai and Hyderabad that collision now happens to almost every new brewpub. This guide sits in our series on branding a new brewery.
Set expectations early. A real naming job starts with a few hundred words and ideas. After the searches, three or four candidates usually survive. Plan for that ratio from day one: start with 200 words and expect a handful of names to reach a lawyer.
Brainstorm in buckets before you search anything
Sort your ideas into themed buckets, then combine words across them. Three buckets suit an Indian brewpub:
- Your place. The neighbourhood, an old mill or market, a lake, a street, what the building used to be.
- Your beer. If you pour light lagers and wheat beers for hot afternoons, words about ease, shade and refreshment go here.
- Your difference. The thing your founders care about that no other taproom in town shares. Our guide on choosing a brewery name covers how to find it.
Write 50 words in each bucket before you judge any of them. Include Kannada, Marathi, Hindi or Telugu words where they suit your city. Then pair words across buckets. Do not search yet. Searching too early kills ideas before they have had a chance to combine.
Run the free checks yourself first
Once you have 20 or so pairings you like, run the quick checks we would run before showing anyone a name. In India that means four checks, all free:
- A web search of the name alongside words like beer, brewery, bar, pub and restaurant.
- Instagram and Untappd, where small brewpubs often exist long before they have websites.
- Domain availability for .in and .com.
- The public trade mark search at ipindia.gov.in, run by the Trade Marks Registry under the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks.
Strike any name that already shows up as a beer, a brewery or a bar. Mark near misses amber rather than red. A brewery with your word plus another one is not always fatal, but it makes the name less yours. Be extra careful with large food and drinks companies holding similar marks. They have the budgets to object.
Classes 32, 33 and 43 are where a brewery name lives
Trade marks are registered by class. Three matter most to a brewery. Beer sits in Nice class 32. Other alcoholic drinks sit in class 33, which matters if you might one day make a cider or a mead under the same name. Taproom and restaurant services sit in class 43, home to the food and service side of a brewpub.
Search all 3 classes. Search for the exact word and for words that sound or look alike, since a mark spelled differently can still clash. A restaurant group using your name in class 43 can be as much trouble as a beer in class 32. Log every near match in a simple sheet with four columns: name, class, owner and status. That sheet is what you hand to your attorney.
A trademark attorney says yes before anything is printed
The final go ahead comes from a lawyer, never from a web search. Start by asking for a knockout search, a quick professional check that throws out names with obvious conflicts. In India, use a trademark attorney or a registered trade marks agent for the full search, the filing and any objection that follows. We do not give legal advice. Fees, timelines and rules change, so take them from your attorney and the registry, not from a blog.
The cost of skipping this step is easy to count. A brewpub launching four beers in 330 ml cans and 650 ml bottles has eight label artworks. Each goes through state excise label approval, which varies by state and has its own wait. A forced rename means redoing all eight, plus signage, menus, glassware and T-shirts. Read our guide to beer label rules in India before you brief a designer.
Claim the handles the day the name clears
The day your attorney says yes, buy the domain and claim every social account, before any logo work starts. For an Indian brewery that list is the .in and .com domains, Instagram, a WhatsApp Business number, Facebook, Untappd and a Google Business Profile. Six accounts, one afternoon.
While you wait for the attorney, do one more check. Say the name aloud to people who speak the main languages of your city. A word that sounds fine in English can mean something awkward in Kannada or Hindi. Steer clear of names that nod to driving, since they can read as encouraging drink-driving. Founders are too close to their own name to hear these problems, which is where a fresh pair of ears with years in advertising earns its keep.
Your first step this week: fill three buckets with 50 words each, then run the free checks on your best 20 pairings.
References
- Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks. Trade mark search and online filing. ipindia.gov.in
Ankur Napa is a Master Brewer who also works in data and AI. Chatty Girija spent more than 30 years in advertising, hosts the Cheers Chatty Beer Podcast and teaches at Craft Beer School.
Common questions
Which trade mark class covers beer in India?
Beer falls in Nice class 32. Other alcoholic drinks sit in class 33 and taproom or restaurant services in class 43, so a brewpub should search all three.
Can I search trade marks in India myself?
Yes. The Trade Marks Registry offers a free public search at ipindia.gov.in. Use it to build a shortlist, then have a trademark attorney run the full search before you commit.
Does registering my company name protect my brewery name?
Not as a brand. A company registration or a domain is not a trade mark. Ask your trademark attorney how to protect the name you will put on labels.
What happens if I skip the attorney?
You risk a rename after launch. That means new labels, fresh excise label approvals, new signage and new merchandise.
