Naming Your Startup: Pick a Brand You Can Register

To name a startup you can register in Nepal, pick a word that identifies your business rather than describing the product, check it against the published register, and file at the Department of Industry (DoI) before launch. Invented and unexpected names clear most easily. Place names and praise words are the most crowded.

Key takeaways

• A trademark must distinguish your goods (Sec. 2(c)), so a name that only describes the product is weak.
• The proviso to Sec. 18(1) lists five refusal grounds, including an earlier registration.
• NEPAL, HIMALAYA, STAR and GORKHA sit in hundreds of published names and add little alone.
• One name can coexist across NICE classification classes, but each class needs its own application.
• The first-to-file principle generally applies, so file before you announce the name.

What makes a startup name registrable in Nepal?

The Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965 defines a trademark in Sec. 2(c) as a word, symbol or picture, or a combination of them, used to distinguish a business's goods or services from those of others. Many sources style it the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965. Distinguishing is the test every name must pass.

The Act's English text never uses the words "descriptive", "distinctive" or "generic"; we counted. Practitioners report that DoI examiners weigh distinctiveness as well as conflicts, and Sec. 18 lets them hear the applicant first. The Nepal Law Commission publishes the Act.

Where does your name sit on the distinctiveness spectrum?

Trademark practice sorts names into five bands. A generic name is the product's own name, such as "Green Tea" for tea. A descriptive name says what the product is or how good it is, such as "Fresh Leaf". A suggestive name hints at a quality without naming the product, such as "Brewbright".

An arbitrary name is a real word with no link to the goods, such as "Red Kite" for tea. A fanciful name is invented, such as "Velmora". The closer to the invented end, the easier a name usually is to register and defend. The spectrum is a tool from trademark practice, not wording from Nepal's Act.

What does Sec. 18 let the DoI refuse?

The proviso to Sec. 18(1) lists when a mark "shall not be registered". The DoI may refuse a mark it feels may hurt the prestige of any individual or institution, or adversely affect public conduct or morality.

It may also refuse a mark that would undermine the national interest or another person's trademark reputation, and one already registered in someone else's name. Under Sec. 18(3) the Department can later cancel a registration on the same grounds, after a chance to show cause.

The section does not use foreign labels such as "absolute grounds" or "relative grounds". For most startups, grounds four and five matter most.

Why are descriptive and generic names a weak start?

Competitors need ordinary words to describe their goods, so nobody can own "Kathmandu Momo" for momos or "Fast Delivery" for a courier. Even if one got through, you could hardly stop rivals using the same words honestly.

The usual fix is a distinctive house mark plus a plain tagline that says what you sell. The AI brand name generator suggests names to test, though each still needs a search.

Which name words are most crowded in Nepal's bulletins?

Founders reach for the country, its mountains and a few bright symbols. We counted whole-word matches in printed mark names across all 123 issues of the Industrial Property Bulletin, Vol 1 No 1 (22 January 2006) to Vol 20 No 8 (16 October 2026), grouping owners by name.

Together, 1,307 published marks carry at least one of the first six words, and STAR alone spans 40 of the 45 classes. A crowded word is not banned, but it adds little: what distinguishes your mark is everything else in it.

These are IP Sewa counts of published bulletin entries, not official DoI statistics. For sound-alikes, classes and company names, see how to check trademark name availability in Nepal.

Can a startup use a place name like Kathmandu or Everest?

Nothing in the Act bars a place name; the word "geographical" does not appear in it. A place name usually tells buyers where goods come from, so it is weak, and famous places are busy. KATHMANDU appears in 53 published mark names, and 8848, the long-quoted height of Everest in metres, in 24.

Nepal also has no geographical-indication law, so a place name gives your product no special status. If the place matters, pair it with a distinctive word. Schools face the same trap with Academy and International, as how to legally name a school or college in Nepal explains.

Can two businesses use the same name?

Often, yes, if they sell different things. Sec. 18A(2) requires a separate application for each category of goods or services, and the DoI uses the 45-class NICE classification, though Nepal is not party to the Nice Agreement. The name GORKHA has been published for 10 different owners, each in a different class, from paint and soap to beer and tobacco goods.

Overall, 4,158 of 46,433 distinct mark names (about 9%) were published for two or more owners, excluding placeholders like "Device mark". A company spelled two ways counts twice, so treat that as an upper bound.

Classify what you actually sell: a downloadable app in Class 9, hosted software in Class 42, online retail in Class 35, clothing in Class 25, a restaurant in Class 43. Sec. 18A(3) lets a mark registered in one class be registered in another later, but each is a new application.

Use the NICE class finder, confirm headings in WIPO's Nice Classification, and see how to name a software or app brand for the Class 9 and 42 split. Copying a rival's classes is a shortcut that leaves gaps.

Should the name be in Nepali script, English or both?

Either script can be a trademark, since Sec. 2(c) speaks of a "word, symbol, or picture" without naming a language. Yet only 38 of the 71,842 published entries print any Devanagari letters in the mark-name line, as we extracted it. Most Nepali words appear in Latin letters, like GORKHA or SHREE (211 mark names).

That creates transliteration twins such as Gorkha and Gurkha, or Himalaya and Himalya, so search every spelling a customer might type. IP Sewa's search treats a few hand-checked pairs like these as one word, but not every variant.

If customers will see both scripts, file them as one combined mark or as separate applications; the DoI generally allows both, and separate filings protect each version alone. Sec. 17 asks for four specimens of the mark, so file the form you will use.

How do you check a shortlist against the register?

Start with IP Sewa's trademark search over 71,500+ published marks, then run each name through the trademark conflict checker, which lists matching published marks.

The brand strength score rates a name 0 to 100: an AI estimate of its place on the spectrum carries 45 points, register clashes 30, memorability 15 and spelling 10.

All three read published Bulletin entries only, not unpublished applications or current status; how to check if a trademark is registered covers that gap. For a written opinion before design spending, use our trademark search and clearance service.

Does a company name or domain clear the brand?

No. The Office of the Company Registrar (OCR) approves company names, while the DoI registers trademarks, and one office's approval does not bind the other. A company can be incorporated under a name that is blocked as a trademark in the classes that matter.

A domain is a third record. The domain and trademark checker shows published marks and which domains look free, though it cannot look up .np names, which follow the .np registry's own rules. LLP vs trademark in Nepal explains which office registers what.

Who should own the trademark: the founders or the company?

Decide before filing. A mark filed in one founder's name belongs to that founder, which can complicate investment, an exit or a sale if everyone assumed the company owned it. Changing the owner later takes a joint application to the DoI under Sec. 21D.

If the company does not exist yet, record what happens after incorporation. Spell the applicant's name the same way on the application, any power of attorney and the registration certificate.

How do you pick and file a startup name, step by step?

1. Write a naming brief. Note product, customers, languages and expansion plans.
2. Draft three to five names. Pick different ideas, not spellings of one.
3. Screen each name. Place it on the spectrum and test the Sec. 18 grounds.
4. Search the register. Include sound-alikes and every transliteration.
5. Check the other records. Look at the OCR name, domains and handles separately.
6. Choose the owner and classes. Match the classes to what you really sell.
7. File at the Department of Industry before launch. Use one application per class and keep the acknowledgement.

If you already trade under a name, our trademark registration service can prepare and manage the filing.

Founders with no brand yet can use the Brand Launch package: naming, the register check, identity design and filing with one team.

Why should a startup file before it launches?

The first-to-file principle generally applies in Nepal: priority follows the filing, not first use. A launch announces your name to anyone who might file it first.

In the 12 latest bulletins by date (9,652 marks), the median gap from filing to publication was about 3.5 months; 64% were published within six months, but 15.6%, about one in six, took over two years.

A published trademark can then be opposed within 90 days, so watch the 90-day opposition window the DoI states. End to end, a straightforward application may take roughly 12–14 months, an estimate, not a promise.

Do not stockpile names: under Sec. 18C the DoI can cancel a registered mark not brought into use within one year of registration. A registration lasts seven years from registration (Sec. 18D) and is renewable any number of times under Sec. 23B, within 35 days after expiry, with a six-month late window on a fine.

Foreign founders: Nepal is outside the Madrid System, so file nationally. Sec. 21C lets the DoI register a foreign-registered mark without further enquiries when its certificate is enclosed, a Paris Convention priority claim may apply, and Sec. 20 lets an attorney act. The trademark registration timeline shows each stage.

Common mistakes: what trips founders up?

• Falling for one name too early. Keep alternatives until searched.
• Choosing a description. "Kathmandu Momo" cannot be yours alone.
• Searching one spelling. Gorkha and Gurkha are one name to a customer.
• Treating the OCR or a domain as protection. Neither creates a trademark.
• Filing in the wrong owner's name. Decide founder or company in writing first.
• Using ® before registration.Sec. 18B bars presenting an unregistered mark as registered, and Sec. 19 backs it with a fine and confiscation of goods. The ™ sign has no legal status in Nepal.

What does a good naming decision look like?

This is an illustration, not a real case. A Pokhara founder planning a packaged tea brand shortlists "Himalayan Fresh Tea", "Brewbright" and "Velmora". The first stacks crowded and descriptive words: HIMALAYA or HIMALAYAN alone appears in 317 published mark names.

"Brewbright" passes the spectrum test but is longer and harder to spell. A search finds no published clash for "Velmora", and the founder checks the company name and domains.

The new company will own the mark, so the founder files the word mark in Class 30, which covers tea, before printing packaging. "Himalayan tea" becomes the tagline, describing the product.

In short

Choose a startup name that identifies your business instead of describing the product, and keep crowded words such as NEPAL, STAR or HIMALAYA as supporting words. Search every spelling, check company and domain records separately, settle the owner and classes, and file before you launch.

People also search for

• Check trademark name availability in Nepal
• How to spot a confusingly similar trademark
• How to legally name a software or app brand
• How to legally name a school or college
• LLP vs trademark in Nepal

Shortlisted a name and want it checked before you print anything? Contact IP Sewa for a startup name clearance and filing review.