Your course name is your trademark. Your curriculum is your copyright. The brand is what students remember three years after they leave.
Indian edtech runs on two IP rights running in parallel — a trademark for the brand and the course names, and copyright in the curriculum, video lectures, problem sets and proprietary teaching content. Both are filed separately, and most edtechs file only the trademark.
The market reality: the highest-LTV student segments (test prep, professional certifications, K-12) are also the most copied. Curriculum content is screen-recorded and re-uploaded; course names get filed by competitors; signature methodology gets renamed and resold. Each is a different filing.
Three filings cover most of the IP risk on day one. Each is a standalone service and each links to a deeper walkthrough.
Class 41 covers education and training services — courses, coaching, certifications, schools, online learning. Class 9 covers downloadable courseware, recorded lectures and the app itself. Class 42 covers the underlying SaaS / LMS platform. Most edtechs file 41 + 9 + 42.
Recorded lectures, slide decks, problem sets, lesson plans, animations and quiz banks are all copyright-protected on creation under the Copyright Act, 1957. Registration is evidentiary and useful when filing DMCA-style takedowns on YouTube, Telegram or app stores where pirated copies surface.
For high-value test-prep content, register the master recordings and the core textbook content separately. The registration receipts make takedown letters work in days instead of weeks.
Indian test-prep companies routinely use copyright registrations to take down Telegram channels and Drive folders that share their content for free. Without the registration, takedowns rely on automated detection alone — slower and less effective.
A teacher hired by an edtech to record courses is, by default, the author of the recordings under Section 17 of the Copyright Act, 1957 unless the contract assigns the IP. Without an assignment, the edtech licenses the content rather than owns it — and the teacher can walk with the content when the relationship ends.
The fix: every teacher contract and freelancer agreement assigns all IP (including moral rights to the extent waivable) to the company. Teacher and contractor IP assignments are routine in our brief.
Schools and coaching institutes often share names — ‘St Xaviers’, ‘Allen’, ‘FIITJEE’. The first to file has the right; everyone else negotiates. For new chains or new institutes, trademark search before launch is the single most important step.
Launching a new course, batch or institute? File the course name and the brand before the marketing budget goes live.
WhatsApp our team →Class 41 covers education, training and coaching services. Class 9 covers downloadable courseware and apps. Class 42 covers the SaaS platform. Most edtechs file in 41 + 9 + 42.
Yes, if the course name functions as a brand and is distinctive. Generic descriptive course names (e.g., ‘JEE Preparation Course’) are weak. Coined or suggestive names (e.g., ‘CrackVerbal’, ‘Vedantu Master Class’) are stronger.
Under Section 17 of the Copyright Act, 1957, the teacher (as author) owns the recording by default unless the contract explicitly assigns the IP to the edtech. A written assignment is essential.
File a copyright registration for the content, then send a takedown notice citing the registration. Telegram’s IP team responds to documented takedown requests; without registration, the response is slower and inconsistent.