Your menu travels faster than your filing. Lock the name, the logo and the trade dress before someone two streets away does.
An Indian restaurant brand is built on three signals: the name on the storefront, the look of the packaging, and the food itself. The first two are protectable on day one. Most owners protect neither.
The Trade Marks Act, 1999 covers restaurant names under Class 43 (food & drink services), packaging and food products under Class 30, 29 or 32, and franchise/retail use under Class 35. A single Form TM-A filed across the right classes protects the brand across menus, packaging, delivery apps and any future outlet — for ₹4,500 per class if you qualify as a startup, MSME or sole proprietor.
Three filings cover most of the IP risk on day one. Each is a standalone service and each links to a deeper walkthrough.
Three patterns repeat across the F&B briefs that reach our desk:
The common thread: the brand is the business, and the brand is unprotected until it sits on the register.
The minimum for a single-outlet café is Class 43 — restaurant, café, bar services. Add Class 30 if you sell packaged tea, coffee, sauces, baked goods under the same brand. Add Class 35 the moment you plan to franchise, open multiple outlets, or build a retail line.
The Cadila v. Cadila Healthcare test from the Supreme Court is directly relevant here — visual, phonetic and conceptual similarity all matter. A name that sounds like a famous existing café can be blocked under Section 11 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 even if the spelling is different.
A Delhi-based bakery used ‘Crumbs’ for three years without filing. A larger chain registered a similar mark in Class 30 and Class 43 and issued a cease-and-desist. The original owner had no registered right and limited prior-use evidence on record. Re-branding cost more than ten times what the filing would have.
The wordmark is the obvious filing. The logo, the trade dress (packaging look, interior signage) and the original recipes are separate questions.
For franchise-bound chains, the licensing structure is the moat. A properly drafted trademark licence ties royalty to quality control under Section 49 — without it, the licence is challengeable.
Open a new outlet this quarter? File the trademark before the signage goes up.
WhatsApp our team →Restaurants and cafés file primarily under Class 43 (food and drink services). Add Class 30 for packaged food products under the same brand, and Class 35 if you plan to franchise or run multiple outlets as a retail operation.
No. FSSAI is a food-safety licence. It does not give you any right over the brand name. Brand protection comes only from a trademark registration under the Trade Marks Act, 1999.
Recipes are not protected by trademark or copyright. The name on the menu, the logo, the packaging design and the brand can all be protected. The recipe itself stays a trade secret you control through NDAs with staff.
Filing takes 48 hours. The registration certificate typically arrives 18 to 24 months later if there is no objection or opposition. You can use the ™ symbol from day one of filing, and the rights relate back to the filing date under Section 23.