Understanding 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.
Official fees are the smallest predictable cost in Nepalese IP practice — and the most useful map of how the system thinks: per class for trademarks, per year for patents, per term for designs, and a flat NPR 1,000–2,000 for almost everything else.
This guide itemises the schedule in current practice, explains the per-class logic, and flags the one caveat that belongs on every fee table.
In short
Official IP fees in Nepal (current practice, fixed by the PDTA's Schedule 3 and revised over time): trademarks — NPR 1,000 application and NPR 5,000 registration per class, NPR 3,500 renewal per class (NPR 4,500 in grace), NPR 2,000 assignment or licence recordal, NPR 1,000 record change; patents — NPR 1,000 application, NPR 7,000 registration, annual maintenance NPR 5,000/year (years 7–14) and NPR 7,500/year (years 14–21), NPR 5,000 recordal; designs — NPR 1,000 application, NPR 7,000 registration, NPR 1,000/year and NPR 2,000/year maintenance, NPR 3,000 recordal; certificates NPR 1,000. Fees are per mark, per class, and confirmed at the Department before payment.
Trademarks: per class, at every step
Trademark fees follow Nepal's one-class-one-application structure: every filing event is priced per class, which is how a five-class brand becomes five of everything.
| Filing event | Fee (NPR) |
|---|---|
| Application, per class | 1,000 |
| Registration, per class | 5,000 |
| Renewal, per class (7-year term) | 3,500 |
| Renewal in grace period (incl. NPR 1,000 fine) | 4,500 |
| Assignment recordal, per mark | 2,000 |
| Licence recordal, per mark | 2,000 |
| Name/address change (record change), per mark | 1,000 |
| Certified copy / certificate | 1,000 |
Patents and designs
Patent fees are annual inside each renewal term — the maintenance arithmetic that makes Nepalese patents a year-by-year decision. Design fees run per term, cheaply.
| Filing event | Fee (NPR) |
|---|---|
| Patent application (Schedule 1(a)) | 1,000 |
| Patent registration | 7,000 |
| Patent maintenance, years 7–14 (per year) | 5,000 |
| Patent maintenance, years 14–21 (per year) | 7,500 |
| Patent renewal in grace (incl. NPR 1,000 fine) | 6,000/year (first term) |
| Design application (Schedule 1(b)) | 1,000 |
| Design registration | 7,000 |
| Design maintenance, years 5–10 (per year) | 1,000 |
| Design maintenance, years 10–15 (per year) | 2,000 |
| Patent / design recordal of assignment | 5,000 / 3,000 |
The per-class logic, and what it rewards
The fee structure is policy in miniature. Per-class trademark fees reward focused portfolios: every class on the register costs money at filing, registration and each renewal, so breadth is bought deliberately — the discipline most multi-class jurisdictions lack. Annual patent maintenance rewards exercised inventions: keeping a dormant patent alive costs every year, so the register self-prunes. Cheap recordals (NPR 1,000–2,000) make register hygiene nearly free, which removes every excuse for the stale register that plagues diligence.
The planning habit that follows: budget portfolios in per-class renewal cycles, not per-mark anecdotes — a five-class mark is 5 × NPR 3,500 every seven years, and ten such marks is a line item worth calendaring.
- Per-class pricing rewards focused, used portfolios
- Annual patent fees make maintain-or-lapse an annual decision
- Recordals are cheap — a stale register is a choice
The caveat that belongs on every fee table
Official fees are fixed by the Schedule 3 of the PDTA and its Rules, revised by amendment from time to time — and the figures above reflect current practice at publication. The Department confirms applicable rates at payment, and professional estimates should always note the date they were checked. The rule for planning: use these figures for budgeting and comparison, confirm exact rates before payment, and re-verify any fee quoted from memory — including ours.
Legal references
- Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, 2022 (1965) — English translation (PDF) — WIPO Lex
- Department of Industry — Industrial Property Section — Government of Nepal
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This article is general information, not legal advice.