Everything about IP in Nepal, explained.
Practical guides for brand owners and advisers — trademark filing and registration, renewal, watching, patents, designs and copyright — written around how Nepal's system actually works.
Articles and guides
Judicial Review of DOI Decisions by the Patan High Court
How Department of Industry IP decisions are challenged in Nepal — the appeal path to the High Court, timelines and procedure, what courts review, and strategy for the losing side.
Read articleNavigating the Draft Industrial Property Bill: Proposed Changes
What Nepal's draft Industrial Property Bill proposes — consolidated modern statute, TRIPS-aligned terms, digital filing, well-known marks, border measures — and what it means until enacted.
Read articleHow to Calculate Trademark Renewal Grace Periods in Nepal
The renewal timeline worked through with real dates: the 7-year term, the 35-day window, the 6-month grace, the fine — and the calculation method that leaves no ambiguity.
Read articleThe Role of the Industrial Property Bulletin in Trademark Monitoring
What the Industrial Property Bulletin is, what it publishes, why it is the single most important document in Nepalese trademark monitoring, and how to work it systematically.
Read articleConverting Bikram Sambat (BS) to AD for IP Deadlines
Nepal's official documents run on the Bikram Sambat calendar while your deadlines run on yours — how BS–AD conversion works, where it goes wrong, and the habits that keep IP deadlines safe.
Read articleUnderstanding Official Fees for IP Filings in Nepal
The full schedule of official IP fees in Nepal — trademarks, patents, designs, renewals, recordals and certificates — with the per-class logic and a note on what changes.
Read articleSecuring Trademark Rights for Tech Startups in Nepal
The startup playbook for brand rights in Nepal: name selection and clearance, what to file and when on a startup budget, class strategy for digital products, and the discipline that scales.
Read articleTrademark Strategies for Nepalese FMCG and Retail Brands
The FMCG playbook for Nepal: portfolio structure across product lines, bilingual marks, packaging and counterfeiting, distribution-driven risks, and the watch that holds it together.
Read articleIntellectual Property Clauses in Nepalese Employment Contracts
Who owns what employees and contractors create in Nepal — the IP-assignment clause, moral rights, confidentiality, post-employment limits, and the drafting that prevents disputes.
Read articleProtecting Software and Tech Inventions in Nepal: Copyright vs. Patent
How Nepalese law protects software: copyright for code under the Copyright Act, the narrow patent path for technical inventions, and the layered strategy for tech products.
Read articleTrademark Registration for Franchises Operating in Nepal
The IP architecture of franchising in Nepal — registering the brand system, structuring master and unit licences, recordal, royalties and the FDI layer that sits underneath.
Read articleIP Due Diligence for Mergers and Acquisitions in Nepal
The IP diligence checklist for Nepalese M&A: verifying the register, chain of title, licences, encumbrances, the use file — and the deal-value questions buyers most often miss.
Read articleNepal's Status in WIPO and the WTO: TRIPS Compliance and LDC Exemptions
Where Nepal stands in the international IP architecture — WIPO membership and treaties, WTO/TRIPS obligations, the LDC exemptions that bend them, and the graduation clock.
Read articleRecordal of IP License Agreements for Repatriation of Royalties
How recording an IP licence at the Department of Industry connects to paying royalties abroad — the recordal procedure, the NRB/banking layer, and structuring the agreement to survive both.
Read articleTrademark Strategies for Foreign Brands Entering the Nepalese Market
The market-entry playbook for foreign brands: clear and file before launch, structure the portfolio, manage distributors and partners, and build the enforcement stack.
Read articlePower of Attorney Legalization in Nepal: Why Apostilles Are Not Accepted
Nepal is outside the Apostille Convention — what that means for POAs and corporate documents, how consular legalisation works step by step, and the lead times to plan for.
Read articleClaiming Paris Convention Priority in Nepal
How Paris Convention priority works in Nepalese filings — the 6/12-month windows, the documents and wording an application needs, and the mistakes that forfeit the earlier date.
Read articleThe Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and Nepal: Navigating Direct National Filings
Nepal is not a PCT member — what that means for international patent applicants, how national-phase thinking must change, and the direct-filing strategy that works.
Read articleWhy Madrid Protocol Registrations Do Not Cover Nepal
Nepal is not a Madrid System member — what that means for international trademark registrations, the national-route alternative, and how brands adapt their filing strategy.
Read articleCompulsory Licensing of Patents in Nepal
How Nepal's compulsory licensing regime works — the working requirement, the Department's power to grant licences over unworked patents, and what it means for patent holders and applicants.
Read articleNovelty Requirements for Industrial Designs Under Nepalese Law
What makes a design 'new' under Nepal's PDTA — the novelty test, the disclosures that destroy it, grace-period reality, and how to prepare representations that register.
Read articleDesign vs. Trademark: Overlapping Protection for Product Packaging
How Nepalese law protects packaging and trade dress — industrial design rights, trademark rights, where they overlap, and the layered strategy that outlives both individual registrations.
Read articlePharmaceutical Patent Filing in Nepal: LDC Transition and Current Practice
Why pharmaceutical products are not effectively patent-protected in Nepal today — the TRIPS LDC transition to 2033, what it means for filings, and what changes at LDC graduation.
Read articleThe Patent Term in Nepal: Filing, Grant, and Maintenance Fees
How long a Nepalese patent lasts and what it costs to keep: the 7+7+7 structure behind the 21-year ceiling, grant-stage fees, annual maintenance, and the windows that keep it alive.
Read articlePatentable Subject Matter in Nepal: What Can and Cannot Be Patented
What qualifies as a patentable invention under Nepal's PDTA 1965 — the novelty, industrial-application and publicity tests, the exclusions, and the boundary cases inventors meet.
Read articleTrademark Infringement in Nepal: Department of Industry vs. High Court Jurisdiction
Someone is using your mark in Nepal — where do you enforce? The Department of Industry's administrative route versus the High Court, remedies under the PDTA and the Custom Act, and choosing the right forum.
Read articleDefending a Trademark Opposition at the Department of Industry
Your application was opposed in Nepal — what happens now. Reading the grounds, the answer, evidence strategy, negotiation, and how registrable applications actually survive.
Read articleHow to File a Trademark Opposition in Nepal: Grounds and Evidence
Filing a trademark opposition in Nepal: the grounds under the PDTA, the evidence that carries each ground, procedure at the Department of Industry, and drafting that wins.
Read articleThe 90-Day Opposition Window: Tracking Nepal's Industrial Property Bulletin
How Nepal's 90-day opposition window works, when it starts, what the Industrial Property Bulletin actually contains, and the monitoring discipline that keeps the window usable.
Read articleSubmitting Proof of Use: Responding to DOI Administrative Notices
What to do when the Department of Industry questions a registration's use — the notice, the response window, the evidence bundle, and the drafting that turns an inquiry into a confirmation.
Read articleUpdating Applicant Details: Name and Address Changes at the DOI
How to record name, address and correction changes on Nepalese trademark registrations — the endorsement procedure, fees, documents, and the risks of leaving the register stale.
Read articleRecordal of Trademark Assignments in Nepal
Transferring trademark ownership in Nepal: the deed, the Section 21D recordal at the Department of Industry, fees, documents, and why an unrecorded assignment is a trap.
Read articleTrademark Non-Use Cancellation in Nepal: The 1-Year Rule
Section 18C's one-year use requirement — what triggers the inquiry, how registrations are lost for sitting idle, and the use evidence that protects a Nepalese registration.
Read articleWell-Known Trademarks in Nepal: Recognition and Evidence Requirements
How well-known trademark protection works in Nepal — cross-class protection, who can claim it, and the evidence bundle that actually persuades the Department of Industry.
Read articleGeographical Indications vs. Trademarks in Nepal
Nepal protects origin-based signs twice over — GIs under the GI Act and trademarks under the PDTA. What each right does, who can own them, and how they interact.
Read articleTrademark Registration in Nepal: Legal Framework and Filing Process
How trademark registration (darta) works in Nepal — the PDTA framework, Section 18 refusal grounds, Schedule 1(c) filing, fees, timelines and renewal discipline.
Read articleProtecting Slogans and Taglines Under Nepalese Law
When a slogan can be registered as a trademark in Nepal, why most fail as descriptive, and the strategies that give taglines real protection.
Read articleAssessing Trademark Phonetic Similarity Under Nepalese Practice
How sound-alike trademark conflicts are assessed in Nepal — the phonetic families that generate Section 18(1) refusals, and a working method for testing similarity before you file.
Read articleEnglish vs. Devanagari Trademarks: Script and Transliteration Rules
How Nepalese trademark practice treats marks in English, Devanagari and both — what counts as the same mark, where transliteration creates risk, and how to file a bilingual brand.
Read articleIP Watch in Nepal: Monitoring Trademarks and Enforcing Rights
What a trademark watch covers in Nepal, how Bulletin monitoring works in practice, and the honest division between watching, opposing and enforcing.
Read articleTrademark Clearance & Filing Strategy
The full pre-filing playbook for Nepal: screening, class strategy, specification wording, timing against launch, budget, and the watch that protects the filing afterwards.
Read articleMulti-Class Trademark Applications: Why Nepal Requires Single-Class Filings
Nepal files one trademark application per class under Section 18A. Why the system works that way, what it costs, and how multi-class businesses should sequence their filings.
Read articleThe Nice Classification System in Nepal: Class Selection Guidelines
How the 45 Nice classes work in Nepal, how the DOI applies them under Section 18A, and a practical method for choosing the class — or classes — your business actually needs.
Read articleTrademark Search in Nepal: Navigating the DOI Database
Where Nepal's trademark records actually live, how to search the Department of Industry's published data, and the workflow professionals use to clear a name.
Read articleForeign Direct Investment (FDI) and IP Filing in Nepal
How FDI approval and IP protection connect in Nepal — the FITTA process, why trademarks and patents must be filed nationally, and the sequence investors should follow.
Read articleIndustrial Design Registration in Nepal: Qualifying for Protection
What Nepal's PDTA protects as an industrial design, the narrow Section 14 refusal grounds, the representations a Schedule 1(b) filing needs, and the 5+5+5 term.
Read articleDesign Renewal in Nepal: Term Limits and Renewal Windows
The 5+5+5 lifecycle of a Nepalese industrial design: two renewals, the 35-day and 6-month windows, fees per term, and planning for the absolute 15-year ceiling.
Read articlePatent Registration in Nepal: Requirements Under the PDTA 1965
What qualifies for patent protection in Nepal, exactly what the Department of Industry expects in a Schedule 1(a) application, and how the technical-committee examination works.
Read articlePatent Renewal in Nepal: Annual Maintenance Requirements
How Nepalese patents are kept alive: per-year renewal fees inside 7-year terms, the 35-day and 6-month windows, the 21-year cap, and why a lapsed patent cannot be revived.
Read articleTrademark Renewal in Nepal: Timelines, Fees, and Procedures
The complete renewal cycle for a Nepalese trademark: the 7-year term, the 35-day window, the 6-month grace period, fees per class, documents, and what lapsing actually costs.
Read articleIn the pipeline
- How to read a Nepal Industrial Property Bulletin entry
- Opposition windows in Nepal: what brand owners should know
- What to do when an alert surfaces a similar mark
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