Indian trademark law · Well-known marks · Foreign brand protection A foreign brand can walk into a courtroom in India — even without a single sale or a trademark registration here — and still win. That is the promise of the doctrine of transborder reputation. But 2025–26 judgments remind us it is a conditional promise, and conditions matter. What is transborder reputation? In a world of Instagram, international travel, and Amazon storefronts, a brand's reputation does not stop at a customs gate. The principle of transborder reputation acknowledges that goodwill can "spill over" into markets where a business has no physical footprint — through media, the internet, tourist exposure, and cross-border advertising. Indian courts have long recognised this reality. The landmark was N.R. Dongre v. Whirlpool Corporation (1996) , where the Supreme Court upheld a passing-off action by a foreign brand against a registered Indian mark, holding that international magazine advertisem...