Documents Required for Trademark Registration in Nepal (2026)

To register a trademark in Nepal, the Department of Industry (DoI) asks a Nepali applicant for five things: the completed application form, the business registration with PAN or VAT proof, four specimens of the mark, the fee receipt, and a power of attorney if an agent files. Foreign owners add three more.

Key takeaways

• Four specimens of the mark, at most 8 × 8 cm, must show the business name, its address and the goods or services.
• Foreign owners add a certified home registration still in force, any priority letter, and a power of attorney with a Nepal address.
• Lawyers often add a notarised power of attorney, a board resolution and a tax clearance letter, which a new company will not have yet.
• Renewal, transfer, a change of details and a complaint each have their own DoI list.
• One application covers one NICE class, so each class needs its own set of papers.

What documents are required for trademark registration in Nepal?

The legal starting point is Sec. 17 of the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965: an application in the Schedule 1(c) format, four specimens of the mark and the application fee.

The DoI turns that into a checklist headed स्वदेशी ट्रेडमार्क दर्ता (domestic trademark registration), plus a foreign list. Brand registration in Nepal uses the same lists.

Below, the official lists sit beside practitioners' extras and the papers needed after filing. For the filing stage alone, see our guide to the documents you need to file a trademark.

Where does the DoI publish its current checklist?

The lists sit on the DoI's Industrial Property Section page (औद्योगिक सम्पत्ति शाखा), which also offers the application form and a renewal and transfer checklist as downloads.

That page was last updated on 17 Shrawan 2078 BS (1 August 2021). Before you file, ask the DoI or your agent whether anything has changed.

What exactly does the DoI's domestic checklist ask for?

Together the five show who owns the mark, what it looks like, who acts for the owner and that the fee is paid.

• A fully completed application form, the DoI's own व्यापार चिन्ह (ट्रेडमार्क) दर्ताको निम्ति आवेदन फाराम.
• A copy of the permission or registration certificate for the related industry or business, with proof of VAT or PAN registration.
• Four specimens of the mark, each no larger than 8 × 8 cm.
• The receipt showing the application fee was paid.
• A power of attorney (अधिकारनामा), if a representative is appointed.

The business document matters because Sec. 17 speaks of the trademark of a person's business. A tea mark filed by a firm registered only for software can draw questions.

What do foreign applicants add to the list?

The DoI's foreign list adds three documents to everything above. Nepal is outside the Madrid System, so a foreign owner files directly at the DoI.

• A certified copy of the home registration certificate for a mark that is still in force abroad.
• A priority date letter, if you claim priority from an earlier foreign filing.
• A power of attorney and an address for correspondence in Nepal.

Under Sec. 21C, the DoI may register a foreign-registered mark without enquiries when that certificate is enclosed, and gives the holder the facility of the Paris Convention.

Under Sec. 21B, a foreign registration has no force in Nepal until the mark is registered here.

This list matters: 39% of the 71,842 marks in the 123 Bulletin issues IP Sewa holds name an owner address outside Nepal. Our guide to the documents foreign applicants need goes deeper.

What do practitioners add beyond the DoI list?

Advocates usually prepare a few more papers, because the examiner can ask for them; the advocate's note we work from lists them.

The power of attorney is usually notarised, signed and sealed by the applicant, and attested by two witnesses.

A board resolution shows that the company approved the filing and the person signing it.

Where priority is claimed, a notarised or certified English copy of the earlier filing receipt or application backs up the priority letter.

For a domestic company, practitioners also ask for the certificate of industry and, once it has one, the latest tax clearance letter. Foreign owners supply a certified English copy of the home certificate, translating any other foreign-language papers.

Does a new company need a tax clearance letter?

A newly formed company does not have one yet, because tax clearance follows the close of a fiscal year. Our advocate's view is that the DoI should not insist on a document a new company cannot hold; check the DoI's current checklist case by case.

The DoI's own registration list asks for the business registration and PAN or VAT proof, not tax clearance. If you are still setting the business up, our Brand Launch Package coordinates the company, tax registration and trademark steps in one sequence.

How should the four specimens be prepared?

Print the mark exactly as you will use it, four times, each no larger than 8 × 8 cm. The DoI says each specimen must clearly state the business name, its address and the goods or services the mark will be used on. A bare logo on a blank sheet falls short of that wording.

Artwork usually matters: of the 71,842 marks IP Sewa has read from the Bulletin to 16 October 2026, 63.5% were printed as word and label, 32.5% as word only and 4% as label only.

The form also asks you to sign the back of every attached document, and to attach dated proof if the mark is already in use. Our guide on how to fill the trademark application form covers each field.

Who signs, and when is a power of attorney needed?

The owner signs: the individual, or an authorised person for a company or firm. Write the owner's full legal name exactly as it appears on its registration record, not a shop sign or a director's name. A company registered at the Office of the Company Registrar (OCR) still has no trademark until the DoI registers one.

Sec. 20 lets any person appoint an attorney or legal practitioner, and treats their actions as the person's own. That is why the DoI asks for a power of attorney whenever a representative files.

Decide who owns the brand before anyone signs; moving it from a founder to the company later needs its own document set, described below.

How do you assemble a complete trademark file?

1. Search the mark. Check identical and similar names in the published trademark database before you print specimens; under Sec. 18(1) the DoI refuses a mark already registered to someone else.
2. Pick the class. Sec. 18A needs a separate application for each NICE classification class; the NICE class finder suggests likely ones.
3. Name the owner. Use the full legal name shown on the business record.
4. Collect the DoI list. Use the domestic list, plus the foreign list if the owner is abroad.
5. Add the practitioner extras. Notarise the power of attorney, pass the board resolution, and add tax clearance only if the business already has one.
6. Sign and file. Sign the back of each attachment, pay the fee, and keep the dated receipt.

The receipt date is your evidence of priority, because the first-to-file principle generally applies. Our trademark registration service checks the file before it goes in.

Which documents does a trademark renewal need?

A registration lasts seven years from the date of registration under Sec. 18D, and the mark is renewable any number of times.

Sec. 23B asks you to renew within 35 days after the term expires, with a six-month late window on a fine; after that the registration is cancelled automatically.

The DoI's page lists the original registration certificate, the renewal fee receipt, proof the industry or business has been renewed, and proof the trademark is in use. Its downloadable renewal and transfer checklist adds an application, tax-payment details and a power of attorney.

Proof of use matters because Sec. 18C tells the DoI, after inquiry, to cancel a mark not brought into use within one year of registration. The renewal calculator works out your dates, and our trademark renewal service files on time.

Which documents does a transfer or licence need?

Sec. 21D lets an owner transfer a mark or approve its use in writing, and both parties file a joint application. The DoI's checklist for a transfer, assignment or permission to use (नामसारी, हक हस्तान्तरण तथा प्रयोग अनुमति) has seven items.

• The joint application of the giving and receiving parties.
• The agreement, or other proof of the transfer.
• A power of attorney or representative authority (वारेशनामा), as the law requires.
• The fee receipt.
• The list of directors and the board's decision.
• Proof that the company or business is renewed and still operating.
• An identity confirmation made in person before the Department (सनाखत).

Plan for both parties, or their representatives, to attend that confirmation.

Which documents does a change of details need?

A change to a recorded name, address or other detail needs four items: an application to amend the application or record, evidence of the grounds and reasons, a power of attorney, and the fee receipt. The DoI's application form also has you promise to record any change within one week.

Which documents does an opposition or complaint need?

For a complaint about industrial property, the DoI asks for a complaint application, the evidence and the fee receipt. A published trademark can be opposed within the 90-day opposition window from its publication in the Industrial Property Bulletin; rely on the deadline the DoI states and act before the last day.

Evidence usually means your own registration or earlier filing, dated proof of use and the Bulletin entry you object to. The DoI decides these complaints as a quasi-judicial body. Our opposition and enforcement team prepares that file.

How long does registration take once the file is complete?

Across the 12 most recent Bulletin issues, IP Sewa's data shows a median of about 3.5 months from filing to publication, based on 9,652 published marks. Of those, 64% were published within six months, but about one in six (15.6%) took more than two years.

From filing to certificate, an unopposed application typically takes about 12–14 months, and 6–8 months only in the smoothest cases.

Both are estimates, not promises; see our guide on how long registration takes. Once a mark is published, the application-number lookup finds it.

What are the common mistakes with trademark documents?

• Specimens without business details: the DoI asks for the name, address and goods or services on each one.
• A priority claim with no earlier filing attached: include the priority letter and the certified copy.
• Waiting for tax clearance a new company cannot have: file with the business registration and PAN or VAT proof, and confirm the DoI's current checklist.
• Using ® too early: Sec. 18B forbids presenting a mark as registered before it is registered.

Here is an illustration, not a real case. A Pokhara café company, incorporated in Shrawan, files its logo in Class 43 a month later with its business registration, PAN proof and four labelled specimens, but no tax clearance, which it cannot have yet. Packaged coffee would need a separate Class 30 application.

In short

File the DoI's five items first, then the three foreign ones if the owner is abroad. Practitioners add notarisation, a board resolution and, for established businesses only, tax clearance.

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Want your document set checked before you file? Contact our team for a review, or start with our trademark registration service. This page is general information, not legal advice.