How to Legally Name a Software or App Brand

Choosing a software or app brand in Nepal involves three separate steps: select a distinctive name, assess conflict risk and decide whether to apply for trademark registration. A business may choose or use a name before it holds a certificate, but a company name, domain or app-store listing does not create registered trademark protection. Nepal is first-to-file.

Key takeaways

• Choose an invented or distinctive app name rather than wording that simply describes the software.
• Search exact names, sound-alikes, spelling variants and related goods or services before launch.
• Class 9 commonly covers downloadable software; Class 42 commonly covers hosted software, SaaS and development services.
• Each Nice class needs a separate application. Select classes from the product users actually receive.
• Trademark registration protects the brand, not the underlying code, interface or technical function.

Why should you register an app name?

An app name appears in stores, icons, login screens, invoices, support messages and investor material. If an earlier right forces a rename, the change can reach the product, marketing and customer relationships at once.

A registered trademark gives its owner a legal basis to stop unauthorised use of the registered mark for the covered goods or services. The DoI administers those rights under Sec. 16–18 of the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965.

Company incorporation has a different purpose. The Office of the Company Registrar records the entity, while the DoI records the trademark that customers encounter. The guide to trademarks and company names explains why one registration does not replace the other.

What makes a software brand distinctive?

A distinctive name points to one commercial source. An invented word or unexpected combination is generally stronger than wording such as “Fast Accounting App”, because competitors may legitimately need ordinary descriptive words.

Small changes do not necessarily solve a conflict. Examiners and opponents can consider sound, appearance, meaning and the relationship between the goods or services. Adding “app”, “digital”, “Nepal” or a different ending may leave the overall impression too close.

How do you check whether an app name is available?

Search the full shortlist, not only the favourite. Start with exact words, then test phonetic equivalents, spacing, abbreviations, transliterations and likely typing variations in the classes connected with the product.

IP Sewa's Nepal trademark search covers marks published in DoI bulletins. It shows published marks, not every pending application or current registration status, so treat it as an initial screen. The trademark conflict checker helps structure the broader comparison.

A blank search result is not approval. Logo similarities, related services and the examiner's view can still matter. For a launch carrying investment or migration risk, use a written trademark clearance search.

Which Nice classes apply to software?

Nepal uses the 45-class Nice Classification. The class follows how the product is supplied and what service the business performs, not the fact that it calls itself a technology company.

The Nice class finder is a useful starting point. WIPO's current entries support the distinction between Class 9 goods and Class 42 services. Final descriptions should match the current classification and the real product plan.

Illustrative wording for review: a downloadable product might be described as “downloadable computer software for [specific function]” in Class 9, while a hosted product might use “software as a service featuring software for [specific function]” in Class 42. These are examples, not filing-ready specifications; check the current WIPO list and tailor the function before submission.

Is Class 9 always enough for an app?

No. Class 9 may cover the downloadable app, but it does not automatically cover a hosted platform, marketplace or financial service. A browser dashboard may point to Class 42, while the platform's commercial function may raise another class.

Do not add Classes 35 or 36 merely because the app contains shopping or payment features. Ask who performs the underlying service and what customers are buying. A feature that connects to another provider is not necessarily the same as supplying that service yourself.

Should you register the app name, logo or both?

A word mark protects the name without tying it to one font or icon. It often remains useful after a visual redesign. A device mark protects a logo, while a combined mark covers the name-and-logo arrangement as filed.

If customers speak and search for the word, a logo-only filing may leave the central brand less directly covered. Consider separate applications when both the word and artwork carry independent value. Use ™ for a claimed mark if appropriate, but use ® only after the DoI issues the registration certificate.

How do you register an app trademark?

The Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965 is the legal framework for the national application.

1. Choose the applicant and mark. Settle ownership, spelling and whether the filing covers a word, logo or both.
2. Map the offering. Prepare accurate goods and services for each relevant Nice class.
3. Search and file. Compare earlier marks, prepare the specimens and submit to the DoI.
4. Answer examination. Address any form, registrability or conflict objection with the relevant evidence.
5. Clear publication. An accepted mark appears in the Industrial Property Bulletin. The DoI bulletin notice dated 8 July 2025 gives 90 days for objections before registration.
6. Receive the certificate. Registration follows if examination is complete and no opposition succeeds.

Sec. 17 governs the prescribed application and mark specimens. Sec. 18A requires a separate application for each class, so one product may create more than one filing track. Check current forms with the Department of Industry.

Sec. 21A provides the publication framework, and a published trademark has a 90-day opposition period from publication in the Industrial Property Bulletin, as the DoI bulletin dated 8 July 2025 states. The deadline the Department states prevails, so act before the last day.

What documents does the applicant need?

The checklist depends on the applicant. A domestic company generally prepares the application, four specimens of the mark, a notarised power of attorney, board resolution, industry certificate and current tax-clearance record. A newly formed company will not have a tax clearance yet, so confirm the Department of Industry's current checklist. A foreign applicant generally adds home-registration evidence and acts through a Nepal-based representative; a priority claim needs the earlier filing evidence.

The applicant name, address and ownership should match the supporting records. Because requirements and certification practice can change, confirm the current DoI checklist for the applicant type and filing date instead of treating one list as universal.

Settle the core word and artwork before filing. Later changes can complicate examination and leave the certificate covering a version the business no longer uses.

Can a foreign software company file in Nepal?

Yes. A foreign applicant files directly through a Nepal-based agent or representative and generally supplies a notarised power of attorney and evidence of its home registration. A qualifying Paris Convention priority claim needs the earlier filing documents.

Nepal is not a Madrid System member, so an international Madrid registration cannot simply designate Nepal. Nepal participates in the Paris Convention and TRIPS framework, but those treaties do not replace the national DoI application. WIPO explains the classification and treaty systems on its trademark portal.

How long does registration take?

No general public timetable guarantees when a software trademark will reach certificate. Plan around the actual stages—filing, examination, replies, publication, the applicable opposition period and registration—rather than an unsupported numerical promise.

Timing depends on document quality, publication schedules, examination objections and opposition. Applications in different classes can also move at different speeds, even when filed for the same brand.

A coordinated brand-launch review can align the trademark filing with the domain, app-store name and launch material before those assets become costly to change.

What does a trademark not protect?

A trademark protects the sign customers use to identify the source of software or services. It does not by itself protect source code, screen artwork, confidential information, a technical method or a general app idea.

Original code and creative content may raise copyright questions, explained in the guide to software copyright registration. A genuinely new technical invention may need a patent assessment, while a product's visual appearance may raise industrial-design issues. These rights have different tests and should not be treated as substitutes.

Which legal rules can put a name at risk?

Under Sec. 18, the DoI may refuse a mark already registered to another person, one that damages another trademark's goodwill, harms a person's or institution's reputation, or goes against public morality or the national interest. The Nepal Law Commission provides official legal materials at lawcommission.gov.np.

A registration lasts seven years from registration under Sec. 18D and can be renewed in further seven-year terms under Sec. 23B. Renewal is due within 35 days after expiry, followed by a six-month late window with a fine.

Sec. 18C permits cancellation when a registered mark is not used within one year of registration. Launch the mark you file, retain evidence of genuine use and monitor later applications published under Sec. 21A.

Common mistakes

• Searching only the exact name. Sound-alikes and related services can still cause conflict.
• Assuming a domain or store listing creates rights. Neither is a DoI trademark registration.
• Filing Class 9 for every software business. Hosted services may require Class 42.
• Adding unrelated classes automatically. Coverage should follow genuine goods and services.
• Registering only a logo when customers use the word. Consider what actually carries recognition.
• Waiting until launch. First-to-file makes an early complete application strategically important.

What does a practical app-brand exercise look like?

This is an illustration, not a real case. A Pokhara startup plans “KodoKosh” for a downloadable budgeting app with a browser dashboard. Owning the domain and incorporating the company do not tell the founders whether the mark is available.

They search the name and close variants, then assess Class 9 for the installed app and Class 42 for the hosted dashboard. They file both before public promotion. If the product later supplies a marketplace or financial service, they reassess the relevant classes instead of assuming the software registrations cover every expansion.

In short

Software trademark protection in Nepal begins with a distinctive, searchable name and an early DoI application. Assess Class 9 for downloadable software and Class 42 for hosted services, adding other classes only when the business genuinely provides them. Keep trademark strategy separate from copyright, patent and design questions.

People also search for

• How can I check trademark name availability in Nepal?
• How do I choose a registrable startup brand?
• How should a technology startup protect its brand?
• How do trademarks, domains and social handles fit together?

Have an app name and product plan but are unsure what to file? Tell IP Sewa how users receive the software, and our trademark-registration team can help with the search, classes and DoI application.