• 08 Aug, 2026
  • Updated 16 Oct, 2026
  • International & IP Law
  • IP Sewa
  • 14 min read

Nepal's industrial property law is one statute: the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, 2022 (1965). Its own front page records two amendments, in 1987 and 2006, and its last section repeals a law from 1936. Everything else is practice built on top.

Key takeaways

  • The Act was authenticated on 30 August 1965 and replaced an earlier law of 1936.
  • It has been amended exactly twice: the First Amendment, 18 October 1987, and an omnibus Act of 24 November 2006.
  • A third statute touched it sideways — the Justice Administration Act 2048 (1991) changed the appeal forum.
  • Almost all modern trade mark machinery dates from 1987, not 1965: term, classification, publication, objections and renewal.
  • The 2006 Act's own title names export, import and intellectual property together, two years after Nepal joined the WTO.
  • The word "Nice" appears zero times in the Act; Sec. 18A(1) is a domestic power to classify by Nepal Gazette notification.
  • The Act still says "Kingdom of Nepal" and still sends appeals to a court tier the 2015 Constitution replaced.

What is the Act called, and why do the years differ?

Its Nepali title is पेटेण्ट डिजायन र ट्रेडमार्क ऐन, २०२२, and the official English text prints "The Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, 2022 (1965)".

Both years are right. The first is Bikram Sambat and the second is the Gregorian equivalent, so 2022 BS is 1965 AD.

The Act itself writes "trade mark" as two words. The Department's own trade mark application form uses व्यापार चिन्ह alongside ट्रेडमार्क, and either term is official.

Did Nepali IP law really begin in 1965?

No, and the Act says so itself. Sec. 28 reads, in the official English text, "The Patent, Design and Trademark law of 1936 has been repealed."

So 1965 was a replacement, not a beginning. Nepal had a registration law for roughly three decades before the statute everyone now cites.

Sec. 26 handled the handover: patents, designs and trade marks registered under the 1936 law "shall be deemed to have been registered under this Act" from the day the new one commenced.

What did the 1965 Act actually set up?

A single framework for three rights, administered by one office. Sec. 2(d) makes the Department of Industry the default registrar unless the Government prescribes another by Nepal Gazette notification.

The patent chapter is the most developed part of the original text. Sec. 5(1) tells the Department to investigate, taking expert advice where necessary, and decide whether the invention is new and whether it is useful to the general public.

The trade mark chapter was thin by comparison. It gave title on registration, an application route and a refusal ground, and very little else.

Five dates in Nepali industrial property lawA horizontal timeline with five points. Nineteen thirty-six, an earlier patent, design and trademark law. Nineteen sixty-five, the present Act is authenticated on the thirtieth of August and repeals the 1936 law. Nineteen eighty-seven, the First Amendment on the eighteenth of October inserts most of the modern trademark machinery. Nineteen ninety-one, the Justice Administration Act changes the appeal forum. Two thousand and six, an omnibus Act on export, import and intellectual property amends examination, licensing and penalties.One statute, five dates that changed itRead off the Act's own front page and its closing section1936The earlier lawRepealed later onSec. 28 of this Act.1965The present ActAuthenticated on30 August 1965.1987First AmendmentModern trade markrules arrive here.1991Court changeAppeal forum editedby a 1991 statute.2006Trade-era editsExamination andpenalties change.Nothing since 2006.A consolidating industrial property bill has been reported for years, but the Act on thestatute book today is still the 1965 text as amended in 1987 and 2006.
Two amendments in sixty years, and the second of them is now nearly two decades old.

What did the 1987 First Amendment change?

Almost everything a brand owner touches. The amendment is dated 1 Kartik 2044, which is 18 October 1987, and the consolidated text marks each provision it inserted.

It inserted Sec. 18A on classifying goods and services, Sec. 18B prohibiting use of an unregistered mark as a registered one, Sec. 18C's one-year use deadline and Sec. 18D's seven-year term.

It also inserted Sec. 21A on publication and objections, Sec. 21B on foreign registrations, Sec. 21C on registering them here, and Sec. 21D on transfer and written approval to use.

Renewal itself arrived then too. Sec. 23B was inserted by the same amendment, and so was Sec. 7A, which publishes registered patents in the Nepal Gazette.

So what did the Act look like before 1987?

Strikingly bare. A registered trade mark had no stated term, no classification, no publication, no objection window and no renewal procedure written into the statute.

That is the single most useful thing to know about this history. When someone says "the 1965 Act", the trade mark rules they mean are almost all from 1987.

The amendment also deleted things. Sec. 21 now prints as a row of dots, and so does part of Sec. 5.

What did the 2006 amendment do?

Its title tells you the context: "Act Made to Amend Some Nepal Acts Relating to Export and Import and Intellectual Property, 2063 (2006)", dated 24 November 2006.

It was an omnibus trade-era statute, passed two years after Nepal joined the World Trade Organization, and it edited this Act rather than replacing it.

Inside the trade mark chapter it inserted the examination language into Sec. 18(1): the Department "shall conduct necessary investigation and provide sufficient opportunity to defend" the applicant before deciding.

It amended Sec. 16(2) so that copying a registered mark is unlawful without a transfer or written permission under Sec. 21D, and it rewrote Sec. 21D itself.

Where did the Paris Convention enter the Act?

In 2006, five years after Nepal acceded to it. The consolidated text marks the closing words of Sec. 21C as inserted by that amendment.

Those words say the Department "shall provide the facility of pursuant to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property 1883" to a registration holder. It is the Act's only mention of any treaty.

The 2006 Act also changed the maximum fine in Sec. 19 and added the words "as per the gravity of offense" to the confiscation power, and it deleted Sec. 23 and Sec. 23A entirely.

What 1987 inserted, and what 2006 changedTwo columns. The 1987 column lists Section 7A on Gazette publication of patents, Sections 18A to 18D on classification, misuse, the use deadline and the seven-year term, Sections 21A to 21D on publication, foreign marks and written approval, and Section 23B on renewal. The 2006 column lists examination and the right to be heard inserted into Section 18, the Section 16 cross-reference to Section 21D, the Paris Convention wording added to Section 21C, a changed maximum fine in Section 19, and the deletion of Sections 23 and 23A.Inserted in 1987The machinery brand owners use dailyChanged in 2006Fewer sections, aimed at trade obligationsSec. 7A — patents publishedIn the Nepal Gazette, after registration.Sec. 18A — classificationOne application per category of goods.Sec. 18B to 18DMisuse, the use deadline, the seven-year term.Sec. 21A to 21DPublication, objections, approval to use.Sec. 23B — renewalThe whole renewal procedure arrives.Sec. 18 — examinationAnd a chance to defend the application.Sec. 16(2) — cross-referenceNo use without transfer or written permission.Sec. 21C — Paris ConventionThe Act's only reference to any treaty.Sec. 19 — penaltyMaximum fine changed, gravity of offence added.Sec. 23 and 23A — deletedBoth now print as rows of dots.Markers taken from the consolidated English text published by the Nepal Law Commission
The left column is why 1987 matters more than its reputation suggests. The right column is small, but Sec. 18 is where examination became a duty.

Which treaties did Nepal actually join, and when?

Four, and the list is shorter than most articles imply. Nepal joined the WIPO Convention in 1997, the Paris Convention in 2001, the World Trade Organization in 2004, and the Berne Convention in 2006.

It is not in the Madrid System for trade marks, the Patent Cooperation Treaty for patents, or the Hague System for designs. It is not even a party to the Nice Agreement.

That last point is often muddled. Using the Nice class list and acceding to the Nice Agreement are different things, and Sec. 18A(1) lets the Government classify goods and services by notification in the Nepal Gazette.

If you sell abroad, our note on registering a trade mark abroad from Nepal and on international patent filing explains what that absence costs you.

How do the three rights compare today?

RightTermRenewals allowedObjection window
PatentSeven years, Sec. 8.Twice, seven years at a time35 days from seeing or copying the file.
DesignFive yearsTwice, five years at a time35 days from publication, Sec. 21A(2).
Trade markSeven years, Sec. 18D.Any number of times90 days from bulletin publication.

The patent row is the one people get wrong. Sec. 7A(3) runs its 35 days from the date of seeing or copying the patent, not from the date of the notice, which is a genuinely different clock.

The trade mark row needs one note. A published trade mark can be opposed within a 90-day opposition window after its publication in the bulletin; the 35 days in Sec. 21A(2) concern complaints about marks already registered, not opposition.

Where are patents actually published?

In the Nepal Gazette. Sec. 7A(1) says registered patents, other than those that must be kept secret in the national interest, are published there for public information.

The word "bulletin" does not appear in the Act at all. The Industrial Property Bulletin that our register search indexes carries trade marks, and every one of its tens of thousands of entries is a published mark.

What has not changed since 1965?

The definition at the core. A trade mark is still a word, symbol or picture used by "any firm, company or individual" to distinguish its goods or services from another's.

The two patent tests are unchanged as well. Sec. 5(1) asks whether the invention is new and whether it is useful to the general public, and the Act never uses the words "inventive step", "obvious" or "prior art".

So is the physical apparatus of filing. Sec. 17(1) still wants four specimens of a mark, and Sec. 10 still requires a patentee to lodge a copy of the design or model with the National Archive.

Modern and dated, side by sideA two by two grid. Top left, modern in the trademark chapter: examination with a right to be heard, publication and objections, classification and unlimited renewal. Top right, modern in the wider statute: a Paris Convention reference and an appeal right with a fixed time limit. Bottom left, dated in the trademark chapter: no collective or certification mark, no geographical indication, and no statutory status for the TM symbol. Bottom right, dated in the wider statute: Kingdom of Nepal wording, an appeal to a court tier replaced in 2015, and no treaty but Paris.What reads modern, and what reads its ageTrade mark chapterThe rest of the ActModern enoughExamination, with a chance to be heard.Publication, then a window to object.One application per category of goods.Renewal without any overall limit.Modern enoughA Paris Convention reference, added 2006.An appeal right with a fixed time limit.A duty to keep a register of each right.A power to change fees by notification.Showing its ageNo collective or certification mark.No geographical indication of any kind.No status at all for the TM symbol.Four paper specimens of the mark.Showing its ageWritten for the Kingdom of Nepal.Appeals sent to a court tier since replaced.A model deposited at the National Archive.No treaty named except Paris.
The left half is a working modern trade mark law. The right half is where the drafting date shows most clearly.
Today's process, and the year each stage was writtenFive steps. File the application under Section 17, which dates from 1965. Examination with a right to be heard under Section 18, added in 2006. Publication in the bulletin under Section 21A, added in 1987. The objection window under Section 21A subsection 2, added in 1987. Registration and a seven-year term under Section 18D, added in 1987, with renewal under Section 23B, also 1987. A footer notes that only the first stage is original to the 1965 text.Every stage, and the year it was writtenOnly the first box is original to the 1965 text1FileSec. 17.19652ExamineSec. 18.20063PublishSec. 21A.19874ObjectSec. 21A(2).19875Grant18D.1987Four of the five boxes postdate the Act by at least twenty years.Before 1987 a registered mark had no statutory term, no publication and no wayfor anyone else to object to it.Renewal came with them.Sec. 23B, also inserted in 1987, is what lets a trade mark be renewed for furtherseven-year terms without any overall limit.
Put the dates on the process and the point makes itself: the modern trade mark system is a 1987 creation wearing a 1965 label.

Who decides a dispute, and where does an appeal go?

The Department decides at first instance. It holds inquiries into objections under Sec. 21A(2), and it must give a mark's owner a reasonable chance to show cause before cancelling a registration.

Sec. 27 then allows any person dissatisfied with a Department order to appeal within 35 days. That section was itself amended by the Justice Administration Act 2048, which is 1991.

The printed text still names the "Appellate Court", a tier the 2015 Constitution replaced with High Courts. Confirm the current forum with an advocate before you rely on the wording.

What does the history mean for a filing today?

Three practical things. Nepal is first-to-file, protection is territorial, and a mark is tied to the categories of goods or services you actually listed.

Territoriality is the one people underestimate. Sec. 21B means a registration anywhere else stops at the border, which our guide to protecting a brand when you export works through.

Clear the name before you build on it. Our conflict checker screens a proposed mark against published entries, and our clearance service reads the near misses a keyword match cannot.

Our own bulletin data suggests the gap between filing and bulletin publication is often somewhere around fifteen to eighteen months, with wide variation. Treat any single end-to-end figure as an estimate, not a promise.

How should you use this before filing?

  1. Search first. Check identical and similar names in your categories on our trademark database.
  2. Pick every category. Sec. 18A(2) requires a separate application for each one, so use the NICE classification finder early.
  3. Assemble the papers. The prescribed form, four specimens, and a power of attorney if an agent signs for you.
  4. Answer examination. Sec. 18(1) guarantees you a chance to defend the application, so use it properly.
  5. Watch the bulletin. Publication starts the clock for anyone who wants to object to your mark or to a rival's.
  6. Keep the certificate. The registration certificate is what you produce when somebody disputes the mark.
  7. Diary the renewal. Seven years from registration, and the renewal term is another seven.

Common mistakes

  • Calling 1965 the start of Nepali IP law. Sec. 28 repeals a law from 1936.
  • Crediting 2006 with classification. Sec. 18A was inserted in 1987.
  • Saying the Act protects well-known marks. The phrase appears nowhere in it.
  • Using TM as though it meant something here. Sec. 18B prohibits presenting a mark as registered when it is not.
  • Quoting a pre-2006 copy. Sections 23 and 23A were deleted, and older texts still print them.
  • Assuming a foreign registration reaches Nepal. Sec. 21B says plainly that it does not.

A worked example

This is an illustration, not a real case. A Kathmandu spice company registered a mark in 1985 and assumes nothing has changed since.

In fact its registration acquired a statutory seven-year term in 1987, along with a renewal procedure, a one-year use deadline and a publication regime that did not exist when it filed.

If nobody in the company has renewed since, the registration may long since have lapsed automatically under Sec. 23B(2). Our renewal calculator is the quickest way to find out.

Is a new IP law coming?

A consolidating industrial property bill has been reported for years, and it is widely expected to add categories the 1965 Act lacks. We will not describe its provisions, because no enacted text exists to read.

Until one is passed and published, this Act is the law in force. Our comparison of Nepal's approach to place names against the EU system shows what one of those gaps costs in practice.

In short

Nepal's IP law is a 1965 statute that replaced a 1936 one, was substantially rebuilt in 1987, and was last touched in 2006 as part of a trade package.

Read it from the current consolidation on the Nepal Law Commission site or on WIPO Lex, and check the amendment markers before quoting a section.

For the filing side, the Department of Industry publishes its own checklists, and our filing team can take the application from there.

People also search for

If you need to know how a section of this Act applies to your own mark, invention or design, send us the facts and we will tell you what the current text requires.

#nepal#pdta 1965#ip law#trademarks#legal history
Share