To search patents by name, open a free database such as WIPO's PATENTSCOPE and enter the person or company in the inventor or applicant field, trying every spelling. Then widen to keywords and classification codes, because a name search only shows what that owner filed. Before filing in Nepal, check the Department of Industry's records too.
Key takeaways
- A name search finds patents filed by a known inventor or company. It cannot tell you whether your idea is new.
- Databases match the name as it was typed on the filing, so try spellings, initials and company-name variants.
- A full prior-art search adds keywords, classification codes and non-patent sources such as papers and product manuals.
- Nepal's patent office is the Department of Industry (DoI). Nepal is not in the PCT, so protection here needs a direct national filing.
- Nepal is first-to-file. Search early, but do not let searching delay filing an invention that is ready.
What does "search patent on name" actually find?
It finds patent documents where a given person is named as inventor or a given business is named as applicant or owner. That is useful when you want to see what a competitor, a supplier or a university lab has filed.
It is not the same as checking whether your invention is new. The earlier disclosure that blocks you may come from someone you have never heard of, so a name search is a starting point, not the whole job.
What if the name is a product or brand name?
Patents describe inventions in technical words and rarely mention the brand a product is sold under. Typing a product's brand into a patent database usually finds little.
Find out who makes the product and search that company in the applicant field instead. Some products also print a patent number on the pack or in the manual, which you can look up directly.
If what you really want to know is whether the brand name itself is protected, that is a trademark question, not a patent one. Our free trademark search covers the 71,500+ trademarks published in DoI bulletins. It shows published marks, not registration status.
Which patent databases can you search for free?
PATENTSCOPE, run by WIPO, is free. It holds published international (PCT) applications and documents from many national and regional patent offices. See WIPO's PATENTSCOPE page for what it covers.
Many searchers also use free national and commercial search engines. They overlap but no single one holds everything, so use at least two.
For Nepal, the Department of Industry registers patents. Under Sec. 7A of the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965, anyone may inspect and copy a published patent on payment of a fee. Ask the DoI which records it can show you and how.
How do you search patents by an inventor or company name?
- List the name variants. Write down every spelling, the initials, and the company name with and without its legal suffix.
- Use the name field. In PATENTSCOPE's Field Combination search, put a person in the inventor name field or a business in the applicant name field.
- Narrow the results. A common name returns thousands of hits. Add the company alongside the inventor, or a country, to cut the noise.
- Read the claims. Titles are vague. The claims set out what the applicant asked to protect.
- Widen the search. Take the technical words and classification codes from the best hits and search on those, with no name at all.
Why does a name search miss results?
A database matches the text on the filing. If a Kathmandu engineer appears as "Shrestha" on one application and "Shreshtha" on another, a search for one spelling misses the other.
Companies cause the same problem. A business may file as "Himal Tech Pvt. Ltd.", "Himal Technologies" or under a parent company. Patents are also assigned, so the current owner may not be the applicant named on the document.
How do you search for prior art beyond a name?
Prior art is anything made public before your filing date that describes the same idea: a patent, a journal article, a manual, a video or a product on sale. It does not have to come from Nepal.
Start with a short technical summary of your invention: the problem, the solution and the essential parts. Avoid marketing words such as "smart". List synonyms; a solar dryer may also be described as a thermal drying chamber.
Then use the International Patent Classification (IPC), a code system that groups inventions by technical field. Note the codes on the closest documents and search those codes with your keywords. Codes find documents that use different words for the same thing.
Keep a search log: databases, search terms, codes, dates and documents reviewed. The first pass teaches you the vocabulary patent drafters use; the second and third passes usually find far better results.
How should you read the results?
| Part of the document | What to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Title and abstract | Technical field and purpose | Quickly rules out irrelevant hits |
| Claims | The essential features claimed | Shows the legal scope sought |
| Drawings and description | How it actually works | Often holds detail the abstract leaves out |
| Publication date | Whether it came before your filing | Decides whether it counts as prior art |
| Applicant and inventor | Who else works in this field | Leads you to related filings |
A close document does not automatically end the project. It may show that the broad idea is known while your specific improvement is different. Deciding that takes technical and legal judgement.
Is a patent search the same as a freedom-to-operate check?
No. A novelty search asks whether your invention is new enough to patent. A freedom-to-operate review asks whether making or selling your product could infringe someone else's live patent.
You can fail one and pass the other. An old, expired patent can defeat your novelty and still leave you free to sell.
Why does search timing matter in Nepal?
Nepal is first-to-file: the earlier valid application has the stronger claim, not the person who had the idea first. Search early enough to shape your design, but do not publish the invention while you decide how to protect it.
A trade-fair demonstration, a detailed Facebook post or a pitch deck shared without a confidentiality promise can all make it harder to show your invention is new. File first, then talk.
Foreign applicants should note that a PCT application does not cover Nepal. They file directly at the DoI through a local agent with a power of attorney, and may claim Paris Convention priority from an earlier foreign filing where the conditions are met.
What does the DoI look for when you file?
Under Sec. 5 of the Act, the DoI examines whether the invention is new and useful to the public. If it is accepted, the patent is published, and any interested person may object within 35 days of publication.
If there is no valid objection, the DoI registers the patent and issues a registration certificate. A patent lasts 7 years and is renewable twice, for up to 21 years in total. Our guide to patent renewal in Nepal covers the deadlines. A good search makes each of these stages smoother, because your claims start out clear of what is already known.
Common mistakes
- Trusting one spelling of an inventor's or company's name.
- Treating "no results" as proof that the idea is new.
- Reading only titles and abstracts instead of the claims and drawings.
- Searching patents only and ignoring papers, manuals and products already on sale.
- Disclosing the invention publicly while still deciding whether to file.
- Assuming a foreign or PCT filing protects the invention in Nepal.
What does a good search look like in practice?
This is an illustration, not a real case. A Kathmandu startup has built a low-cost valve for hillside irrigation. A founder remembers a foreign firm that sells similar valves, so she searches its name in the applicant field and finds six of its patents.
None matches her design, but she does not stop there. She takes the IPC codes from those six documents and searches them with words such as "pressure control" and "bypass". That turns up an older patent by an unrelated inventor with a similar bypass.
Her team drops the broad claim to any irrigation valve and focuses the application on the sensor arrangement that the older patent lacks. Finding that out before drafting saved a weak filing.
When should you get professional help?
Complex fields such as medical devices, batteries and chemical processes often need many classification searches and a careful claim-by-claim comparison. A professional search is also worth it before you spend on drafting. The cost depends on the field and how deep the search goes; our guide to patent costs in Nepal explains what drives it.
IP Sewa's patent registration service starts with a patentability assessment and a prior-art search, then drafts the specification and claims and files at the DoI. We do not run a patent database; our free search covers published trademarks only. The Act's text is on the Nepal Law Commission website.
In short
To search patents on a name, use an inventor or applicant field, try every spelling, and read the claims of what you find. Then drop the name and search keywords and IPC codes, because the document that matters may belong to a stranger. In Nepal, file promptly at the DoI once the search is done.
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Found something close and not sure what it means for your invention? Send us your search results and we will tell you whether filing still makes sense.
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