Mondaq has recognised Ananyaa Banerjee, Associate Partner, and Mandeep Singh of S.S. Rana & Co. in its Thought Leadership Awards, Spring 2026. Their article on M.S. Dhoni’s CAPTAIN COOL trade mark placed first (#1) for India in Intellectual Property, making it the most-read Intellectual Property article for India on Mondaq during the award period.
About the Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards
Mondaq is an online publisher of legal, regulatory and financial commentary written by law firms and advisers around the world, and its awards site is co-branded with The Legal 500. Its Thought Leadership Awards recognise the authors whose articles readers turn to most.
Who qualifies. The awards draw on articles published on Mondaq by contributing firms and their authors. The Spring 2026 edition covers 16 countries, with separate results for each country and for a range of topic areas, including Intellectual Property.
How winners are chosen. Mondaq decides the awards on total readership. The Spring 2026 results reflect readership between October 2025 and March 2026.
The format. For each country and topic, Mondaq names the top three placings. Articles that place are marked as Mondaq Thought Leadership Award winners on the platform.
What the award recognises
The award recognises Trade Mark Toss-Up: Dhoni Takes Guard In India’s Celebrity Intellectual Property Game, published on Mondaq on 8 October 2025. The article covers:
The application. M.S. Dhoni’s application to register CAPTAIN COOL in Class 41 for sports training and coaching services, filed on a proposed-to-be-used basis in June 2023 and examined by the Trade Marks Registry in Kolkata.
The objections. An examination report citing an earlier identical registration under Section 11 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, Dhoni’s reply relying on his exclusive association with the nickname, and his rectification application against the earlier mark on grounds of bad faith.
Acceptance and opposition. A request to amend the user claim to use since 2008, acceptance of the application in June 2025 and its advertisement in the Trade Marks Journal, followed by an opposition arguing that the phrase is generic, was earlier linked to another cricketer and lacks evidence of commercial use.
Why celebrities register their names. How registration lets public figures license and monetise a persona through coaching, merchandise, endorsements and media, while stopping false endorsements and misuse. The authors point to later third-party filings for CAPTAIN COOL across alcoholic beverages, tobacco and soft drinks, and to the Delhi High Court’s decision in ICC Development (International) Ltd. v. Arvee Enterprises.
The wider picture. Comparisons with sports and film personalities in India and abroad who have registered names and nicknames, and the link between trade mark protection and personality rights in India.
The article reflects the position as at its publication date. The opposition was pending at that time.
About Ananyaa Banerjee and Mandeep Singh
Ananyaa Banerjee, Associate Partner. Ananyaa leads S.S. Rana & Co.’s Opposition Team. She handles trademark and copyright oppositions and cancellations, prosecution and enforcement opinions, and matters before the Trade Marks Registry, and works on trademark enforcement for Fortune 500 companies in India, the SAARC countries, the European Union and other Asian jurisdictions. She is a member of INTA, the IBA, the Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group and MARQUES, and in October 2025 moderated a webinar for INTA’s South Asia subcommittee of the Non-Traditional Marks Committee on AI and non-traditional marks.
Recognition. Ananyaa is recognised as a Notable Practitioner for India in IP STARS 2026, where clients note her responsiveness and the precision of her trademark searches and risk assessments.
Mandeep Singh. Mandeep Singh of S.S. Rana & Co. co-authored the award-winning article with Ananyaa.
Continued recognition in Spring 2026
| Award | Recognition | Authors |
| Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards, India | #1, Intellectual Property | Ananyaa Banerjee and Mandeep Singh |
| Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards, India | #3, Energy and Natural Resources | Apalka Bareja and Aishwarya Rajput |
| Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards, India | S.S. Rana & Co.: Top Firms (India) | Firm-wide |
| IP STARS (Managing IP) | Notable Practitioner, India (2026) | Ananyaa Banerjee |
See the Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards for India, Spring 2026, the Intellectual Property results, our page on the firm’s Mondaq Top Firms recognition and the Energy and Natural Resources award. Each recognition is also recorded on our Awards page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mondaq Thought Leadership Award 2026
Yes. Their article on M.S. Dhoni’s CAPTAIN COOL trade mark placed first (#1) for India in the Intellectual Property category of the Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards, Spring 2026.
“Trade Mark Toss-Up: Dhoni Takes Guard In India’s Celebrity Intellectual Property Game”, published on Mondaq on 8 October 2025.
Mondaq decides the awards on total readership. The Spring 2026 results reflect readership between October 2025 and March 2026, across 16 countries and a range of topics.
A nickname can be registered under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 if it is distinctive for the goods or services claimed and does not conflict with an earlier mark. Where a nickname is widely used in public, the applicant usually needs to show that it has come to identify that person, and the application can still face objections and oppositions.
According to the article, M.S. Dhoni applied in June 2023 to register CAPTAIN COOL in Class 41 for sports training and coaching services. The Trade Marks Registry first objected on the basis of an earlier identical registration, Dhoni filed a rectification application against that mark, and his application was accepted and advertised in June 2025, after which an opposition was filed.
The article refers to the Delhi High Court’s decision in ICC Development (International) Ltd. v. Arvee Enterprises, which recognised the need to protect names and marks associated with public figures and events from commercial misuse by unrelated parties.
Ananyaa Banerjee is an Associate Partner at S.S. Rana & Co. who leads the firm’s Opposition Team. She handles trademark and copyright oppositions, cancellations and enforcement, and is recognised as a Notable Practitioner in IP STARS 2026.
Yes. S.S. Rana & Co. is listed among the Top Firms for India, and a firm article on India’s carbon credit market placed third in Energy and Natural Resources.
Write to info@ssrana.com with a short description of your matter, and the firm will connect you with the right team.
Closing
We congratulate Ananyaa and Mandeep on this recognition and thank everyone in India and abroad who read and shared their work.
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