How Much Does Trademark Registration Cost in Nepal? (2026)

There is no single figure. Trademark cost in Nepal is set by how many NICE classes you file, because each class is its own application, plus the search, the documents and any objection. Official charges sit in a schedule the Government can change by notice, so ask for a current quote rather than trusting an article.

Key takeaways

• Cost has two separate ledgers: official charges paid to the Department of Industry, and professional work.
• Class count is the biggest driver. Sec. 18A means one application per NICE class, so two classes is two of everything.
• Official charges are set in the Act's schedule and, under Sec. 26A, the Government may change them by notice in the Nepal Gazette.
• Registration is not a one-off: a mark runs 7 years and needs renewing, with a fine in the late window.
• The expensive outcome is a refusal or a rebrand, which is why a search before filing is usually the cheapest step in the whole process.

Why can't an article just give you the fee?

Because it would be wrong sooner or later, and you would not be able to tell when. The Act sets the government charges in a schedule, and Sec. 26A allows the Government to alter them by notice in the Nepal Gazette.

You can read that for yourself. The Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965 is published by the Nepal Law Commission, schedule and all.

A figure typed into a blog post in one year is simply a claim about the past. It does not update itself, and the reader has no way to check the date it was true.

So we keep numbers where they can be maintained. Our trademark fee calculator carries the current official charges, and our team quotes the professional side for your actual case.

What are the two parts of the cost?

Official charges are paid to the Department of Industry for official actions. They are fixed by schedule, identical for everyone doing the same thing, and not negotiable.

Professional fees pay for judgement and work: searching, choosing the class, wording the goods list, preparing the file, answering the examiner and handling an opposition.

The two behave differently. Official charges scale with the number of applications; professional fees scale with how complicated your situation is.

Which official charges exist at all?

More than people expect, and knowing the list is more useful than knowing one number, because it tells you where money will be asked for later.

Two things stand out. The registration charge falls after publication, not on filing day, and most of the rows are charged per class or per application.

What makes the total go up?

Five things, in roughly this order of impact. None of them is a surprise once you know to ask.

Number four deserves a closer look. Anyone may oppose a published mark within 90 days of it appearing in the Industrial Property Bulletin, and an opposition is argued rather than processed, which is why it is the line that moves a budget most.

How do you build a realistic budget?

Work it out in the order the money is actually asked for, rather than as one lump. Six steps cover almost every case.

1. List what you sell. Write down every product line and service the brand is used on today.
2. Map those to classes. Each class is a separate application under Sec. 18A, so this step sets the multiplier.
3. Decide word, logo, or both. Two marks means two files at every stage.
4. Choose the search depth. A free screen, or a written clearance opinion you can act on.
5. Add the document work. Notarisation, and translation if any paper is not in Nepali or English.
6. Leave room for a reply. An examination objection or an opposition is the line item that moves most.

Then add the renewal charge seven years out, so the mark's real cost is visible from the start. Under Sec. 16, what all of it buys is title to the mark, and only registration gives you that.

How much does the class count matter?

More than anything else. Sec. 18A ties one application to one class, so filing in three classes is three applications, three official charges at each stage and three files to follow.

Nepal uses the 45-class NICE system, which WIPO maintains and explains on its NICE Classification page.

That is why the first real cost question is not "how much" but "which classes do I actually trade in". Use the NICE class finder to map it before asking anyone for a figure.

A brand that sells goods and also runs the shop selling them is usually two classes at minimum. That is not an upsell; it is how the register works.

Does a logo cost more than a word?

Filing both is two applications, so yes in that sense. A combined mark showing the name and logo together is one application, but it protects that exact combination rather than the word on its own.

A logo also takes more checking. Word searching cannot fully answer whether a device is too close to an existing one, so visual comparison is part of the work.

If the budget allows only one, most businesses are better protected by the word, because that is what customers type, say and copy.

Is a search worth paying for?

Usually, yes, and it is the clearest saving in the whole process. The costs that hurt are a refusal, an opposition and a rebrand, and a search is what reduces the chance of all three.

Start free. Our trademark search covers the 71,500 or more marks published in DoI bulletins, which is enough to catch an obvious clash.

A paid clearance opinion goes further: similar spellings, sounds, transliterations and the classes next door, written down so you can make a decision on it.

Do foreign applicants pay more?

Generally yes, on both ledgers. Official charges for foreign applicants are higher, and the document work is heavier.

A foreign filing normally needs a notarised power of attorney, a certified copy of the home registration in English and, for a priority claim, the earlier filing receipt in English.

Nepal is outside the Madrid System, so there is no cheaper international route. Sec. 21B is blunt about it: a foreign registration gives no title here until the mark is registered in Nepal.

What does it cost over the life of the mark?

A registration runs seven years from the date of registration and renews in further seven-year terms, as often as you like. Each renewal is its own official charge.

Sec. 23B gives 35 days after expiry to renew, then a late window of six months on payment of a fine. Miss both and the registration is cancelled automatically, and re-filing costs far more than renewing.

Put the dates somewhere you will see them. Our renewal calculator works them out from the certificate, and our renewal service keeps the calendar for you.

Where does money get wasted?

Three places, over and over. Filing classes you do not actually trade in, where the charge is real and the protection is not, and where Sec. 18C's use requirement can make an unused registration vulnerable anyway.

Filing without any search, and paying again after a refusal. Sec. 18 lets the DoI refuse a mark already registered to someone else, or one that damages another mark's goodwill, and a search is what finds both.

Then there is rebranding after launch, which costs packaging, signage and the customer recognition you had already paid for once.

The reverse trap is real too. Dropping the class your revenue comes from, to make the first invoice smaller, leaves the gap a competitor files into. Our list of trademark mistakes that cost Nepali businesses has more of them.

Do you need an agent?

Not by law for a Nepali applicant, who may file directly. A foreign applicant does file through a Nepal-based agent under a power of attorney.

Filing yourself saves the professional fee and spends your own time. It works best when the mark is distinctive, the class is obvious and nobody is likely to object.

Where it usually does not pay is a contested file. An examination reply or an opposition is an argument on legal grounds, and that is when a filing team earns its fee.

How does it compare with patents and designs?

They are different rights with their own charge schedules under the same Act, so the shape of the budget changes too.

A patent carries drafting work that a trademark does not: the specification and claims are the deliverable, and they take real time. An industrial design turns on formal drawings, which have to be prepared properly before anything is filed.

The terms differ as well, which changes the lifetime cost. Our guides on patent cost in Nepal and what to budget for an industrial design take each one separately.

Common mistakes

• Comparing a one-class quote with a three-class plan. Ask how many applications each figure covers.
• Assuming one payment. The registration charge falls after publication, not on filing day.
• Trusting a number in an old article. Official charges can change by notice.
• Skipping the search to save a little. A refusal or a rebrand costs far more.
• Forgetting renewal. Seven years arrives, and the late window comes with a fine.
• Ignoring the document work. Notarisation and translation are a real line for foreign applicants.

What does this look like in practice?

This is an illustration, not a real case. A Bhaktapur workshop sells its own ceramics and also runs a shop selling other makers' work. Two classes describe it honestly.

To keep the first invoice down the owner files only the shop class. The ceramics, which are the business, sit unprotected while the shopfront is covered.

A year later a competitor files the same name for ceramics. The saving on one application is now the cost of arguing, or of a new name on every piece the workshop makes.

In short

Count the classes you genuinely trade in, budget for a search, and expect the official charges to fall at more than one point. Then plan for renewal every seven years.

For the current official figures, use our calculator rather than an article, and ask us for the professional side against your real facts. The Department of Industry is the office that sets and collects the official charges.

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Tell us the brand, what you sell and whether you are filing from Nepal or abroad, and we will give you a current figure for your case rather than a range. Ask for a quote and we will set out both ledgers separately.