• 06 Aug, 2026
  • Guides
  • IP Sewa Admin
  • 7 min read

This glossary defines the 30 intellectual property terms Nepali founders meet most often — across trademarks, patents, industrial designs and copyright — in plain language, with Nepal's own rules and authorities (the Department of Industry, first-to-file, the 90-day opposition window) built in. Use it as a quick reference when filing, reading an examiner's letter, or protecting your brand and inventions.

Key Takeaways

  • Trademarks, patents and designs are registered with Nepal's Department of Industry; copyright is automatic and handled separately.
  • First-to-file means rights go to whoever registers first — the most important term to understand in Nepal.
  • NICE classification decides what your trademark covers; protection applies only to registered classes.
  • Novelty, inventive step and prior art are the core tests a patent must pass.
  • Opposition (90 days) and the priority date are process terms that decide who wins a mark.
  • Knowing these terms helps you read official letters and avoid costly filing mistakes.
The four branches of intellectual property covered in this glossary: trademark, patent, industrial design and copyrightA map showing intellectual property splitting into trademark for brands, patent for inventions, industrial design for appearance, and copyright for creative works.Intellectual PropertyTrademarkbrandsPatentinventionsDesignappearanceCopyrightcreative works
The four branches of IP this glossary covers — each with its own terms.

Trademark terms

Trademark — a sign (name, logo or slogan) that distinguishes your goods or services from others', registered with the Department of Industry for a renewable 7-year term. See what is a trademark.

Word mark — a trademark for the brand name as text, protecting the words in any font or colour. The broadest protection for a name.

Device mark — a trademark for a logo, symbol or graphic — the visual element, not the words.

Combined mark — a trademark protecting the name and logo locked together as one design. See word vs device vs combined marks.

NICE Classification — the international system of 45 classes (1–34 goods, 35–45 services) that defines what a trademark covers. Learn it in NICE classification explained.

Distinctiveness — the quality that makes a mark registrable: it must identify a source, not merely describe the product. Descriptive or generic names are refused.

Confusingly similar — a mark close enough to an earlier one that consumers might mistake the two; a common ground for refusal or opposition. See confusingly similar trademarks.

Well-known mark — a mark with such wide recognition it gets protection beyond ordinary rules, under the Paris Convention Article 6bis. See well-known trademarks.

™, ® and SM symbols — ™ marks an unregistered trademark and SM an unregistered service mark; ® signals a registered mark and should be used only after registration.

Patent terms

Patent — an exclusive right granted for a new, useful invention, registered with the Department of Industry for a 7-year term. See patent registration in Nepal.

Novelty — the requirement that an invention be new and not already publicly known; prior public disclosure destroys it, so file before you reveal.

Inventive step — also called non-obviousness: the invention must not be an obvious development to someone skilled in the field.

Prior art — everything already known or published before your filing date; examiners compare your invention against it to judge novelty. See patent search in Nepal.

Claims — the numbered statements in a patent that define exactly what the invention is and the scope of protection you're granted.

Patent specification — the full written description of the invention filed with the application, including the claims and how the invention works.

Utility model — a "lesser patent" for incremental innovations in some countries, with easier requirements; see patent vs utility model for how this applies in Nepal.

Industrial design — protection for the appearance of a product (shape, pattern, ornamentation), registered with the Department of Industry for a 5-year renewable term. See industrial design registration.

Copyright — an automatic right in original creative works (writing, art, music, software) under the Copyright Act 2059, lasting the author's life plus 50 years. See copyright registration.

Original work — a work created independently with a minimum of creativity; originality, not novelty, is copyright's test.

Moral rights — an author's personal rights to be credited and to object to derogatory treatment of their work, separate from economic rights.

Public domain — works whose IP protection has expired or never applied, free for anyone to use without permission.

Licensing — granting someone permission to use your IP on agreed terms while you keep ownership. See trademark licensing.

Process & filing terms

First-to-file — Nepal's rule that rights go to whoever registers first, not whoever used the mark first. The single most important concept for filing here.

Priority date — the date that fixes your place in the queue; an earlier priority date beats a later one in a first-to-file system.

Examination — the Department of Industry's review of an application for compliance and conflicts before it can proceed.

Office action — an official objection raised during examination that you must answer to keep the application alive. See responding to a trademark objection.

Opposition — a third party's formal challenge to a published mark, which must be filed within 90 days of publication in the Industrial Property Bulletin. See trademark opposition.

Registration certificate — the official document confirming your registered right once the process completes.

Renewal — extending a registration before it expires to keep protection continuous (every 7 years for trademarks). See trademark renewal.

Power of attorney — the document appointing a local agent to file on your behalf, mandatory for foreign applicants in Nepal.

More terms worth knowing

Assignment — the transfer of ownership of a trademark, patent or design from one party to another, recorded with the Department of Industry. See trademark assignment.

Cancellation — a proceeding to remove a registered mark, for example on grounds of bad faith or non-use. See trademark cancellation.

Infringement — unauthorised use of a registered right, such as using a confusingly similar mark for similar goods. See trademark infringement.

Goodwill — the commercial reputation attached to a brand; it is what a trademark ultimately protects and what makes the mark valuable.

Trade secret — confidential business information (a formula, method or client list) protected by keeping it secret rather than by registration. See protecting trade secrets.

Madrid System — WIPO's route for filing one international trademark across many countries; Nepal is not a member, so you must file directly here. See Nepal and the Madrid System.

Passing off — a common-law claim that lets an unregistered brand owner act against someone misrepresenting their goods as yours; far weaker than a registered right, which is why registration matters. Compare registered vs unregistered marks.

Which terms matter most for a first filing?

If you only learn a handful before filing, learn these five, because they decide the outcome of most applications:

  1. First-to-file — file early or risk losing the name.
  2. NICE class — protection covers only the classes you register.
  3. Distinctiveness — a descriptive name won't register.
  4. Opposition (90 days) — the window others can challenge you, and you them.
  5. Renewal — miss it and you can lose the mark.

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Put the terms to work

Now that the words make sense, take the next step: check a brand name free with the Conflict Checker, find your class with the NICE Class Finder, or search the register. Ready to file? Register your trademark with our team or talk to an IP expert — we translate the jargon into a filing that holds up.

#trademark#patent#intellectual property#glossary
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