25 Facts About Patent Registration You Should Know

Nepal's patent law is nine sections long. Everything below comes out of the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965 or is labelled as Department of Industry practice. Several widely repeated "facts" about Nepali patents are not in the statute at all, and we say which.

Key takeaways

• Section 8 gives a patent seven years, and Section 23B(3) allows renewal twice: a 21-year ceiling.
• Sec. 7A(1) publishes registered patents in the Nepal Gazette — not the Industrial Property Bulletin.
• Section 5 asks two questions only: is it a new invention, and is it useful to the general public.
• The words claim, specification, novelty, inventive and prior art appear zero times in the Act.
• The 35-day objection clock in Section 7A(3) runs from seeing or copying the file, not from publication.
• Nepal is outside the Patent Cooperation Treaty, so there is no international filing that reaches Nepal.

How many years is a Nepali patent valid for?

Seven, then two renewals of seven. This is the question most readers arrive with, so it goes first.

Fact 1. Sec. 8(1) makes the patentee's title valid for seven years from the date of registration under Section 7, unless renewed under Section 23B.

Fact 2. Sec. 23B(3) allows a patent to be renewed not more than twice, seven years at a time. The maximum working life is 21 years.

Fact 3. Renewal must be applied for within 35 days of expiry under Section 23B. A six-month late window follows on payment of a fine, after which the registration is automatically cancelled.

One clause sets all three limits, and footnote markers split it across a page break in the Law Commission text. That is why some guides report the patent cap and miss the design one.

What does the Act count as a patent?

Sec. 2(a) gives a definition narrower than the word "invention" suggests, and reading it changes what you file.

Fact 4. A patent means any useful invention relating to a new method of process or manufacture, to the operation or transmission of any material or combination of materials, or one made on the basis of a new theory or formula.

Fact 5. The definition is written around methods, processes and formulas. A finished product is protected through what it does, not through the fact that it exists.

Fact 6. Nothing in Section 2(a) restricts the field of technology, so the limits come from Section 6 rather than from the definition.

Which patent words does the Act never use?

We counted these across the consolidated text. The result matters because an imported checklist will send you looking for requirements Nepal has not written down.

Fact 7.Claim, specification, novelty, inventive, prior art and exclusive each appear zero times.

Fact 8. There is therefore no inventive-step test in the Act. Sec. 5 asks whether the invention is new and whether it is useful, and stops.

Good drafting is still worth paying for, and our guide to what can be patented works through the subject-matter question in more detail. Just do not assume a Nepali examiner is applying an obviousness standard the statute never created.

When can the Department refuse a patent?

Section 6(1) sets out four grounds, and they are the real limits on what can be registered here.

Fact 9. The patent is already registered in the name of another person.

Fact 10. The applicant is neither the inventor nor someone who acquired rights from the original inventor.

Fact 11. The patent is likely to adversely affect public health, conduct, morality or the national interest.

Fact 12. Registration would contravene a law in force in Nepal.

Fact 13. Section 6(2) lets the Department cancel a registered patent on the same grounds, after giving the patentee a reasonable chance to show cause. Registration is not the end of the argument.

What actually goes into a patent application?

Sec. 4 lists the particulars, and Schedule 1(A) gives the form. Neither uses the word specification.

Fact 14. Section 4(1) requires the inventor's name, address and occupation; the process of manufacturing, operating or using the patent; and the theory or formula it rests on, if any.

Fact 15. Section 4(1)(b) adds a step people forget: where the applicant is not the inventor, the application must state how and in what manner title was acquired.

Fact 16. Sec. 4(2) requires maps and drawings with particulars, and Schedule 1(A) asks for "the principle/formula/and maps and drawings containing all particulars".

Every available piece of evidence in the applicant's possession goes in with the application. A notarised power of attorney is standard where an agent files, although the Act itself only grants the right to appoint one, in Section 20.

How does the patent process run end to end?

Read in section order, the sequence is shorter than most descriptions of it.

1. File under Section 4. The Schedule 1(A) form, the particulars, maps, drawings, evidence and the fee.
2. Investigation under Sec. 5. The Department studies whether the invention is new and useful, taking expert advice if needed.
3. Refusal notice, or registration. Under Section 5(2) the applicant is told if a Section 6 ground applies.
4. Certificate under Sec. 7. The Schedule 2(a) registration certificate issues once the Section 7(2) fee is paid.
5. Publication under Section 7A(1). The Department publishes the registered patent in the Nepal Gazette.
6. Objection under Sec. 7A(3). Anyone may complain within 35 days of seeing or copying the file.

Fact 17. On this wording the patent is registered before it is published, so there is no pre-grant publication and no clock running from the filing date.

Where is a Nepali patent published?

In the Nepal Gazette. This is the single most common error in Nepali patent writing, including on pages we have published ourselves.

Fact 18. Section 7A(1) publishes registered patents in the Nepal Gazette for public information. The word "bulletin" does not appear in the Act.

Fact 19. The Industrial Property Bulletin is a trade mark record. Our archive of 122 issues and 71,536 entries is searchable here, and every entry in it is a trade mark.

Fact 20. Section 7A(1) carves out patents that "must be kept secret in the national interest". Those are not published at all.

When does the 35-day objection clock start?

Not at publication, which is where designs and trade marks differ from patents, and it is a difference worth pointing out to a client.

Fact 21. Sec. 7A(2) lets anyone see or copy the particulars, maps and drawings of a published patent on payment of a fee.

Fact 22. Section 7A(3) then gives 35 days from the date of seeing or copying. Under Section 21A(2), designs and trade marks instead get 35 days from publication.

A patent opposition window can therefore open long after the Gazette notice. If a competitor's patent concerns you, our opposition and enforcement team handles the response; this is staffed work, not an automated alert.

What must a patentee do after the certificate?

Two obligations, and the first one is almost never mentioned.

Fact 23. Sec. 10 requires the patentee to submit to the national archive a copy of the design or model of the article manufactured according to the registered patent.

Fact 24. Each renewal term must be applied for actively. Nothing in Section 23B is automatic, and our renewal calculator is the cheapest way to keep the dates visible.

What happens if someone uses your patent?

Section 3(2) prohibits copying or using a registered patent without a transfer of ownership or written permission under Sec. 21D. Section 11 then supplies the penalty.

Fact 25. The Department can impose a fine as per the gravity of the offence, and the goods connected with it are confiscated, with a lower maximum for an attempt or abetment. Section 27 allows an appeal to the Appellate Court within 35 days.

Which sections actually govern patents?

Chapter 2 runs from Sec. 3 to Section 11, with Section 7A inserted by the 1987 amendment and Sec. 9 shown as deleted in the current consolidation — although Section 6's proviso still cross-refers to it.

Sections 21A to 23B are shared across all three rights. Section 21 itself is repealed and prints as a row of dots, so a page citing "Sec. 21 to 24" for patents is citing trade mark and general machinery. Check the wording at the Nepal Law Commission before relying on a section number you read elsewhere.

Can a foreign patent cover Nepal?

No. Section 21B is explicit: title to a patent registered in a foreign country is not valid here unless it is registered in Nepal.

Section 21C softens the route. The Department may register a foreign-registered patent without conducting any enquiries where the foreign certificate is enclosed, and extends Paris Convention facilities to the holder. Nepal is not a Patent Cooperation Treaty member, so there is no receiving office here and no international application that designates Nepal. WIPO publishes the current party lists.

What would this look like in practice?

Imagine a Kathmandu workshop with a low-energy grain dryer. This is an illustration, not a real case.

Under Sec. 2(a) the registrable thing is the drying method and the formula or principle behind it, described well enough that Section 5 can judge it new and useful. Under Section 4(1)(b), if the founder's employee built it, the application must say how the company acquired title. The dryer's brand name is a separate trademark registration, and its casing shape may be a design.

Our patent filing team works through that split before anything is lodged, because the first-to-file position under Sec. 6(1)(a) rewards whoever reaches the register first.

Common mistakes: what weakens a Nepali patent filing?

• Expecting Bulletin publication. Patents go in the Nepal Gazette under Section 7A(1).
• Counting the objection window from the Gazette notice instead of from inspection.
• Quoting a "12 to 14 month" timeline. That figure is sourced for trade marks on this site, and we have none for patents.
• Filing in the company name without the Section 4(1)(b) statement of how title passed.
• Assuming a PCT application or a foreign grant reaches Nepal. Sec. 21B says it does not.
• Demonstrating the invention publicly before filing, which puts the Section 5 newness question at risk. A prior search is cheaper than a refusal.
• Searching our trade mark database for patents. Use owner search for marks only.
• Forgetting the Section 10 archive deposit after the certificate arrives, then missing the first renewal seven years later.

In short, what should an inventor take away?

Nepal's patent chapter is small, and its shape is not the one most readers expect. Two tests, four refusal grounds, Gazette publication after registration, an objection clock that starts on inspection, and a hard 21-year ceiling. Write the application to that statute rather than to a foreign template, and the rest is ordinary careful drafting.

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If you are weighing up whether an invention is worth filing, the statute is short enough to read first and the Department of Industry publishes the current forms. When you want a view on your own disclosure, drafting and filing order, contact our team.