10 Weird Trademarks That Actually Got Registered

Trademarks aren't just logos and brand names. The Department of Industry (DoI) in Nepal has, in principle, allowed some genuinely unusual marks to enter the register—everything from specific sound sequences and three-dimensional product shapes to colour combinations you wouldn't expect. Under the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965, a mark is anything that can distinguish one business's goods or services from another's, which opens the door to some weird trademarks registered here and worldwide.

Key Takeaways

• A trademark in Nepal can be any word, symbol, picture, or combination that distinguishes your goods or services—the law doesn't limit you to a logo.
• The DoI registers marks under the NICE Classification; even the strangest mark must still fall into a specific goods or services class.
• Nepal is a first-to-file country—whoever files a valid application first owns the right, no matter how famous the prior user.
• Non-traditional marks like sounds, shapes, and scents are not expressly banned by the PDTA, but proving distinctiveness is the real hurdle.
• A mark that offends public morality or damages another's goodwill will be refused, no matter how creative it is.
• Before you file anything unusual, a trademark database search shows you what's already on the Nepal register.

What exactly makes a trademark "weird"?

A weird trademark is one that falls outside the standard logo-or-wordmark box. Under the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965, a trademark is defined broadly as any word, symbol, picture, or combination used to distinguish goods or services. That definition is deliberately open-ended. Globally, registries have accepted sounds (the MGM lion's roar), scents (a floral fragrance for sewing thread), three-dimensional shapes (a chocolate bar's triangular peak), single colours (a shade of purple on packaging), and even motion sequences. In Nepal, the DoI doesn't maintain a separate register for non-traditional marks, but neither does the law exclude them — what matters is whether the mark can be graphically represented and whether it actually tells consumers who made the product.

10 genuinely weird trademarks that actually got registered

Most of the examples below come from registries abroad — the US, EU, or UK — because Nepal's register is younger and less populated with oddities. But every single one of them illustrates a principle that applies equally under Nepal's law: if a sign distinguishes your goods and doesn't trip the refusal grounds, it can be a registered mark. The DoI examines for distinctiveness, similarity to existing marks, and public morality — the same three filters that these ten marks survived.

1. The Nokia ringtone (sound mark). A short descending sequence of notes that billions of phones played. Registered in multiple jurisdictions, proving that a sound can function as a source identifier just as clearly as a logo.
2. The shape of a Toblerone bar (3D shape mark). The triangular prism with its distinctive peaks is protected as a three-dimensional trademark. Consumers see the shape and know the brand without reading a word.
3. The smell of Play-Doh (scent mark). Hasbro successfully registered the sweet, slightly musky vanilla-cherry scent of its modelling compound. It's one of the very few scent marks to pass the distinctiveness hurdle anywhere.
4. Tiffany Blue (colour mark). That specific robin's-egg blue on a jewellery box is a registered trademark. A single colour can be a mark if the public associates it exclusively with one source.
5. The Lamborghini scissor door motion (motion mark). The upward-rotating door movement was registered as a motion trademark — a sequence of images showing the distinctive opening action.
6. "THOIP" (word mark). This odd string of letters is actually the registered mark for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' holding company — meaningless on its own, but powerfully distinctive in context.
7. The Christian Louboutin red sole (position/colour mark). A red lacquered sole on a high-heeled shoe, registered as a mark limited to that specific position on the product.
8. The roar of the MGM lion (sound mark). The short growl that opens MGM films is one of the oldest and most famous sound marks in the world.
9. The Coca-Cola contour bottle (3D shape mark). Even without the script logo, the curved glass silhouette is a registered trademark because consumers identify it with one soft-drink company.
10. A single shade of orange for scissors handles (colour mark). Fiskars registered a specific orange hue applied to scissor handles, proving that even a utilitarian product can carry a colour trademark if the public recognises it.

Can you register a weird trademark in Nepal today?

Yes — in principle. The PDTA's definition of a trademark is broad enough to cover sounds, shapes, colours, and possibly even scents if they can be represented in a way the DoI accepts. The real-world bottleneck isn't the law; it's the practical requirement of graphical representation and the high bar for distinctiveness. A sound mark, for instance, would need to be submitted as a musical notation or a spectrogram. A 3D shape would need a drawing or photograph that precisely captures the contour you're claiming. The DoI examiners are most familiar with word and logo marks, so filing a non-traditional mark means you'll likely face more scrutiny and a longer examination. Our team can help you prepare the right supporting material — reach out through the contact page before you file anything unconventional.

What does Nepal's trademark law say about unusual marks?

The Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965, at Section 2(c), defines a trademark as a "word, symbol, or picture or a combination thereof." The term "symbol" and "picture" give you room. A three-dimensional shape rendered as a perspective drawing is a picture. A sound written as sheet music is arguably a symbol. The Act doesn't list categories it excludes, which is a quiet advantage — unlike some older laws that demanded a mark be "visually perceptible," Nepal's text doesn't. The refusal grounds under Section 18(1) are the same for any mark: it can't hurt anyone's reputation, damage public morality or national interest, damage another's goodwill, or be identical to a mark already on the register. If your weird mark clears those four filters and you can represent it on paper, the door is legally open.

Which NICE classes do weird marks fall into?

Every trademark registered in Nepal must be tied to at least one NICE class — 1 to 34 for goods, 35 to 45 for services. A weird mark doesn't get a special class; it goes into whatever class the underlying product or service occupies. A scent mark for a perfume goes into Class 3. A 3D chocolate-bar shape lands in Class 30. A sound mark for a telecom service fits Class 38. Nepal is a one-application-per-class jurisdiction, so if your unusual brand identity spans multiple product categories, you'll file a separate application for each class. Use the NICE Class Finder to pin down which class your odd mark belongs to before you draft the application.

What's the biggest hurdle for registering an odd mark in Nepal?

Distinctiveness. A trademark has one job: tell the public "this product comes from THIS business, not that one." For a standard word or logo, that's straightforward. For a sound, scent, or shape, you have to prove that consumers actually use that feature to identify the source. The DoI examiner will ask: does the average Nepali consumer, seeing a green tractor wheel or hearing a three-note jingle, immediately think of your company? If the answer is no, the mark gets refused on the ground that it lacks distinctive character. The more unusual your mark, the heavier your burden of proof. Many of the famous examples above — the Toblerone shape, the Louboutin sole, the Tiffany blue — succeeded only because those businesses had years of advertising and sales data showing consumer recognition. In Nepal, a brand that hasn't yet built that market presence should pair an unconventional mark with a traditional word or logo mark, so at least one component of the brand identity gets solid protection.

How a hypothetical Nepal example would work

Imagine a Pokhara-based tea company called "Himalayan Mist Tea" that sells orthodox loose-leaf tea in a distinctive pyramid-shaped wooden box — a hexagonal prism that no other Nepali tea brand uses. The company files a word-mark application for "Himalayan Mist Tea" in Class 30 for tea. Separately, it files a 3D shape-mark application consisting of technical drawings of the hexagonal wooden box, also in Class 30. The DoI examines both. The word mark sails through if it's not confusingly similar to an existing tea mark. The 3D shape application faces tougher scrutiny: the examiner wants to confirm the box isn't just functional packaging and that the tea-drinking public recognises it as a brand signifier, not just an attractive container. Himalayan Mist Tea submits evidence — photos of its café display in Lakeside, a year's worth of sales invoices showing the box, and a customer survey. The DoI publishes the shape mark in the Industrial Property Bulletin, and after the 90-day opposition window passes with no objection, the company receives a registration certificate valid for seven years. That's how a weird trademark gets registered in Nepal — same process, stricter proof.

Common mistakes when trying to register unusual marks

A mistake we see repeatedly is treating a functional feature as a trademark. A bottle shape that makes pouring easier, a handle that's ergonomic, or a colour that has a technical purpose (like orange for safety vests) won't get trademark protection — those belong in the patent or design realm, not the trademark register. Another mistake is filing an unconventional mark without also filing a standard word or logo mark. If your sound mark or colour mark gets refused, and you have no word mark on file, your core brand name sits unprotected. File the conventional mark first, then experiment with the weird one. A third pitfall is skipping the DoI trademark search because you assume nobody could have filed anything similar. Unusual marks can still be confusingly similar to existing ones — a three-note jingle might infringe a registered four-note jingle if the public can't tell them apart.

What happens if someone copies your weird registered mark?

Once a trademark is on the Nepal register, it gets the same legal protection no matter how conventional or bizarre it looks. The owner can file an opposition if a later application is too similar, and can pursue enforcement through the DoI's quasi-judicial division. The PDTA gives the registered proprietor the exclusive right to use that mark on the goods or services it covers, and copying or imitating a registered mark without permission is prohibited. The practical difference with a weird mark is in proving infringement: if your mark is a specific shade of orange on a tractor, you have to show that the alleged infringer's orange is confusingly similar to your orange, which often requires expert colour analysis. For enforcement help, our team can guide you — reach out through the opposition and enforcement service page.

Are weird trademarks worth the effort?

They can be. A non-traditional mark gives you a monopoly over something competitors aren't even thinking about as intellectual property. While everyone fights over brand names in Class 25, you might be the only one to own the exact shape of a handbag clasp or a specific store-entrance chime. That said, they're harder and slower to register, easier to challenge later on distinctiveness grounds, and often tougher to enforce. In Nepal, where the trademark register is still largely built on word and logo marks, an unconventional filing makes you stand out — but it also puts a bigger target on your back during examination. If you're considering one, start with the trademark conflict checker to screen for similar existing marks, and talk to us at the contact page about preparing an application that gives the DoI exactly what it needs to say yes.

In short: weird trademarks aren't a loophole — they're a legitimate, if demanding, way to protect the parts of your brand that competitors never thought to claim. The law in Nepal doesn't shut the door on them, but it does insist on the same standard as any other mark: be distinctive, don't confuse the public, and don't step on rights already on the register.

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Ready to check whether your mark — weird or conventional — is available? Search the Nepal trademark database now, or tell us what you want to protect and we'll guide you through the filing.