AHMEDABAD: Lockdown is a feared word in business circles, signifying migrating labour, falling sales, revenue losses and grim earnings forecasts. However, with the word commanding instant recall value, there is a mad scramble for “Lockdown” as a brandname. Ever since the government “lockdown” shut people in their homes, the official portal of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks in India has received at least 57 applications to secure trademark rights for the word “Lockdown” for various products.
The first application to use it as a trademark was filed on March 20, apparently following global cues, four days before the lockdown was imposed on March 24. Before March 20, not a single request had been made to secure intellectual property rights for “Lockdown”. “Lockdown” is a sought-after name for products like industrial oils, pesticides, cattle feed, pharmaceutical products, medicines, scientific and surgical apparatus, clothing, shoes, games and sports goods. The highest applications, however, have come for coffee, tea and snacks. Explaining the rush, IP attorney Jatin Trivedi told TOI, “Whenever some word becomes popular, traders and manufacturers cash in on its so-called publicity by naming products and services after it. People want to cash in on the recall value.”
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