IP Glossary for Indian Startup Founders — 50 Essential Intellectual Property Terms in Plain Language

The Language of IP — 50 Terms Every Founder Must Know

Understanding IP decisions requires understanding the vocabulary of IP law. This glossary defines 50 essential terms in plain language, organised alphabetically for easy reference.

A–C

Absolute Grounds for Refusal: Reasons the Trade Marks Registry will reject a trademark application regardless of third-party objections — including descriptiveness, generic terms, and marks likely to deceive consumers (Section 9, Trade Marks Act 1999).

Acquiescence: Defence under Section 33 of the Trade Marks Act — if a registered trademark owner tolerates a known infringer's use for 5 continuous years, they may lose the right to challenge that use.

Anton Piller Order: A court order allowing the IP owner to enter the defendant's premises and seize infringing materials without prior notice, to prevent evidence destruction.

Arbitrary Mark: A real word used as a trademark in an unrelated context — like Apple for computers. Arbitrary marks are inherently distinctive and receive strong protection.

Assignment: The permanent transfer of IP ownership. Must be in writing to be effective.

Background IP: Pre-existing IP each party brings to a joint development agreement. Each party typically retains ownership of their background IP.

Bolar Exception (Section 107A, Patents Act): Permits using a patented invention for regulatory submission without infringement. Important for pharmaceutical startups.

Cease-and-Desist Letter: A formal legal notice demanding the recipient stop an infringing activity, threatening legal action for non-compliance.

Chain of Title: The documented history of IP ownership from the original creator to the current owner through assignments and legal transfers.

Claim (Patent): A numbered paragraph defining exactly what a patent legally protects. The scope of protection is determined by the claims — not the description.

Compulsory Licence: A licence granted by the Controller of Patents without the owner's consent, under Sections 84–92 of the Patents Act.

Copyright: Automatic legal right protecting original creative works from the moment of creation. Does not require registration in India.

Copyleft: Condition in open-source licences (particularly GPL and AGPL) requiring that software incorporating the licensed code must be distributed under the same open-source licence.

D–G

Descriptive Mark: A trademark that directly describes product qualities. Not inherently registrable — requires evidence of secondary meaning (acquired distinctiveness) through extensive use.

Design Registration: Formal protection of the visual features of a manufactured product under the Designs Act 2000. Protection lasts up to 15 years.

Distinctiveness: The degree to which a trademark identifies the source of goods or services rather than describing them. The most important factor in trademark registrability and strength.

Domain Name: An internet address that can be the subject of IP disputes when conflicting with a registered trademark — resolved through UDRP (international) or INDRP (.in domains).

Dynamic Injunction: A court order automatically extending to block new mirror sites of an already-blocked infringing website without separate court applications for each new site.

Exhaustion of Rights: Once an IP owner sells a product, their IP rights in that specific item are exhausted and they cannot control its subsequent resale.

Fanciful Mark: An invented word with no prior meaning — the strongest type of trademark. Examples: Xerox, Kodak, Zomato, Blinkit.

First Examination Report (FER): The Indian Patent Office's document listing all objections to a patent application that the applicant must address.

Foreground IP: IP created in the course of a joint development agreement or collaborative project.

Freedom to Operate (FTO): The ability to commercialise a product without infringing valid third-party patents. Determined through an FTO analysis by a patent attorney.

Generic Mark: The common name for a product or service category. Cannot be registered as a trademark and receives no IP protection.

Geographical Indication (GI): A sign identifying a product originating from a specific geographical location where quality is linked to that origin. Protected under the GI Act 1999.

Goodwill: The commercial reputation and customer recognition built through commercial use of a brand. Foundation of a passing off claim.

I–P

INDRP: India Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy — the dispute resolution mechanism for .in domains, administered by NIXI.

Inventive Step: The requirement that a patentable invention must not be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the relevant field. Also called non-obviousness.

IP Audit: A systematic review of all IP assets, ownership documentation, registration status, and compliance obligations.

Joint Development Agreement (JDA): A contract for collaborative technology development, specifying who owns the resulting IP.

Licence: Permission to use IP in specified ways, in exchange for consideration. Does not transfer ownership.

Likelihood of Confusion: The test for trademark infringement — whether an average consumer with imperfect recollection would be confused about the source of goods when encountering both marks.

Madrid Protocol: WIPO's international trademark registration system allowing a single application to cover up to 122 countries.

Moral Rights: Rights under Section 57 of the Copyright Act — the right of attribution and the right to prevent derogatory treatment of a work. Subsist even after assignment of economic copyright.

Nice Classification: The international 45-class system for categorising trademark applications by goods and services.

Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA): A contract imposing legal confidentiality obligations on the party receiving sensitive information.

Novelty: The requirement that a patentable invention must not have been disclosed anywhere in the world before the priority date.

Opposition (Trademark): A challenge to a trademark application filed within 4 months of advertisement in the Trade Marks Journal.

Paris Convention: International treaty — applicants have 12 months (patents) or 6 months (trademarks) from their first national filing to claim the same priority date in other member countries.

Passing Off: A common law tort protecting unregistered brand identifiers — requires proving goodwill, misrepresentation, and damage.

Patent: A statutory exclusive right to an invention for 20 years from filing, in exchange for public disclosure.

Patent Assertion Entity (PAE): A company that acquires patents specifically to assert them against operating companies for licence fees — colloquially a patent troll.

PCT: Patent Cooperation Treaty — a single international application preserving patent rights in 157 countries for up to 30 months before national phase entry.

Prior Art: Any publicly available information predating a patent application's priority date that may demonstrate the invention was already known.

Priority Date: The date from which novelty and inventive step are assessed for a patent application.

R–Z

Royalty: A payment made by a licensee to a licensor for the right to use IP, typically a percentage of revenue from products incorporating the licensed IP.

Secondary Meaning: Distinctiveness that a descriptive mark acquires through extensive use, demonstrating consumers associate it with a specific source.

Section 3(d) (Patents Act): The uniquely Indian provision excluding new forms of known pharmaceutical substances from patentability unless enhanced efficacy is demonstrated.

SIPP Scheme: Startup Intellectual Property Protection scheme providing free patent, trademark, and design facilitation to DPIIT-recognised startups.

Trade Dress: The overall visual appearance of a product or business that identifies its source — protectable as a trademark if distinctive and non-functional.

Trade Secret: Confidential business information with commercial value, protected through contracts and security measures rather than registration.

Trademark: A sign — word, logo, colour, shape, sound — identifying goods or services of one business and distinguishing them from others.

UDRP: Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy — WIPO's mechanism for resolving international domain name disputes involving trademarks.

Well-Known Trademark: A mark declared well-known by the Trade Marks Registry under Section 11(6), receiving protection across all goods and service classes.

WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization — the UN agency administering international IP treaties including the Madrid Protocol, PCT, and UDRP.

Work-for-Hire: A relationship where the employer owns copyright in works created by employees in the course of employment, under Section 17 of the Copyright Act 1957.

For the complete introduction to IP concepts with business context, read the Introduction to IP for Startup Founders. For all guides, visit the Startup IP Hub.