"Intellectual property" gets used as a catch-all term, but trademark, copyright, and patent protect fundamentally different things — using the wrong one leaves real gaps in protection.
Trademark
Protects brand identifiers — your business name, logo, slogan, and similar distinctive marks used to identify your goods or services in the marketplace. Registered through the Department of Industry, valid for 7 years, renewable.
Copyright
Protects original creative works — written content, software code, designs, photography, music — automatically upon creation in most cases, though formal registration strengthens your position in a dispute.
Patent
Protects inventions — a genuinely new product, process, or technical solution — requiring a much more rigorous application and examination process than trademark or copyright, and typically most relevant to manufacturing or technology businesses with a novel product.
Most Businesses Need Trademark First
For the typical Nepali SME, trademark registration protecting your business name and logo is the highest-priority IP filing — copyright protection for your website content or patent protection for a genuine invention becomes relevant as the business and its assets grow more specific.
Overlapping Protection
A single product can be protected by more than one type simultaneously — a distinctively packaged product might carry trademark protection on the brand name and copyright on the package design itself.
Not sure which protection your business actually needs? Company Sathi can assess your IP position and recommend the right filing.
