Industrial 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.
A design registration protects how a product looks — its shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation as applied to an article — and in Nepal it is one of the fastest, cheapest IP rights to obtain. It is also the most misunderstood: applications fail not because the design is weak but because the filing shows the wrong thing or too little of it.
This guide explains what qualifies under Sections 12–15 of the PDTA, what the Department checks, and how to prepare representations that survive examination.
In short
An industrial design in Nepal protects the visual features of a product — shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation — registered on Schedule 1(b) at the Department of Industry with four sets of representations. Refusal grounds are narrow (Section 14): prior registration, public morality, national interest or prestige. The right runs 5 years from registration, renewable twice for 5 years — 15 years maximum — with application and registration fees of NPR 1,000 and NPR 7,000.
What qualifies — and what belongs somewhere else
Sections 12–15 protect design features applied to an article by an industrial process: the shape of a water tap, the pattern woven into a textile, the configuration of a kitchen cabinet. The design must be applied to a product — a scheme that exists only on paper, or a pure artistic work, is not design territory.
The dividing lines are mechanical once stated. How a product works is patent subject matter. The name or logo on the product is trademark territory. The look of the product itself — everything an informed buyer recognises visually before picking it up — is the design.
- Qualifies: shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation applied to an article
- Does not qualify: the underlying mechanism (patent), surface branding (trademark), fine art as such (copyright)
- Design and trademark often protect the same product in parallel — one covers its look, the other its name
The refusal grounds are deliberately narrow
Section 14 refuses a design registration on limited grounds: the design has already been registered by another; it is against public morality or national interest; or it hurts the prestige of any person, institution or the nation. There is no examination for inventive step, no prior-art search comparable to patents, and no distinctiveness analysis comparable to trademarks.
That narrowness shifts the diligence burden to the applicant. The real commercial risk is not refusal — it is registering a design that copies someone's earlier unregistered look, then defending it. A quick search of registered designs and the market before filing is cheap insurance.
The filing: representations decide the scope
The application goes in on Schedule 1(b) with four sets of representations in practice — the drawings or images that show the design — together with maps, drawings and particulars sufficient to show exactly what is claimed. The representations define the monopoly: what they clearly show is protected; what they leave out is not.
Good representation sets are consistent (same article, same angles), show the design without environmental clutter, and state clearly whether features like colour or surface pattern are claimed. Where the design applies to a range of products, each variant needs to be visible — the Department protects what is depicted, not what is implied.
- Four sets of representations; identical images across sets
- Neutral backgrounds; the design — not the product's surroundings — on display
- Particulars stating what is claimed (and disclaiming what is not)
- Notarised Power of Attorney where an agent or foreign applicant files
Examination, registration and publication
Examination is formality-plus: the Department checks the Schedule 14 grounds and earlier registrations, and queries over unclear representations are answered by amendment. On acceptance the registration fee is paid, the design registers and a certificate issues in Schedule 2(b) format, and the design is published with the trademarks — objections within 35 days of publication.
Fees are modest: NPR 1,000 at application and NPR 7,000 at registration. Timeline runs in weeks to months — substantially faster than a patent — which is why product-led businesses in Nepal often register the design first and evaluate the patent question separately.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Application form | Schedule 1(b) with four sets of representations |
| Application fee | NPR 1,000 |
| Registration fee | NPR 7,000 |
| Term | 5 years from registration |
| Renewals | Twice, 5 years each — maximum 15 years (Section 23B) |
| Renewal fee | NPR 1,000/year (first term); NPR 2,000/year (second) |
Legal references
- Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, 2022 (1965) — English translation (PDF) — WIPO Lex
- Department of Industry — Industrial Property Section — Government of Nepal
After registration: use, renewal and the 15-year horizon
A registered design is renewable on Schedule 2(e) within 35 days of each 5-year expiry, with a six-month grace period carrying the NPR 1,000 fine — but only twice: the 15-year ceiling in Section 23B is absolute, after which the design is public domain.
Plan renewals against the product's commercial life. A design on a product still selling in year 14 justifies the second renewal; a dated product look may be better allowed to lapse. Either way, the renewal anniversaries should be in a deadline calendar from day one — designs are the right most often lost to silence rather than to challenge.
Legal references
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This article is general information, not legal advice.