Legally naming a school or college in Nepal involves two separate systems. Education authorities approve the institution, and its name, before it may teach. The Department of Industry (DoI) handles school name registration as a trademark, usually in NICE Class 41, and only that gives you rights in the name as a brand.
Key takeaways
- An education permission lets you teach; a trademark stops others using a similar name. You need both.
- Municipalities list the naming of schools among their functions, and a degree college needs its university's affiliation.
- Class 41 covers the teaching; workbooks, uniforms and a separate crèche or canteen fall in other classes.
- Academy, International, Public and English Boarding describe a school. They do not distinguish yours.
- The first-to-file principle generally applies, so file before you print anything.
- A published mark faces a 90-day opposition window; a registered one lasts seven years and is renewable.
What does it take to legally name a school in Nepal?
People searching for school name registration are usually asking two questions: may the school operate under this name, and can anyone else use it? Different offices answer each.
The first belongs to the education system: your municipality, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, or a university. The second belongs to the DoI under the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965. Underneath both sits the company or educational trust (guthi) that runs the school.
Who approves a school and its name?
Under Section 3 of the Education Act 2028 (1971), a school may open only with permission, applied for with a recommendation from the local or district education committee. Permission comes with conditions, and full approval follows once they are met.
The Local Government Operation Act 2074 (2017) lists basic and secondary education among the functions of rural and urban municipalities. Its Sec. 11(2) includes permission for community, institutional, guthi and cooperative schools, the naming of schools (विद्यालयको नामाकरण), and permission for tuition and coaching.
So the first stop for a school name is usually your municipality's education section. IP Sewa does not handle these approvals, and the authority's current rules are what count. Both Acts are on the Nepal Law Commission website.
Who approves a college or campus?
It depends on what it teaches. The Education Act defines secondary education as Grades 9 to 12, so a "+2" college is a secondary school in law and follows the route above.
A college teaching a degree needs that university's affiliation. The Tribhuvan University Act 2049, for example, lists approving private campuses and granting them affiliation among the university's functions.
A school affiliated to a foreign institution is a special case: Section 3(8) of the Education Act allows it only with the Ministry's permission, on conditions.
Does an approved school name protect your brand?
No. An education permission lets you teach, but it does not stop a coaching centre across town from using a confusingly similar name. Under Sec. 16 of the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965, title to a trademark comes only from registration at the DoI.
The same goes for the company or trust behind the school. The Office of the Company Registrar records the entity's name, but that record gives no right against a similar brand. Our guide to trademark, trade name and company name sets the records side by side.
Which trademark class covers a school or college?
NICE Class 41, whose heading reads "Education; providing of training; entertainment; sporting and cultural activities." The current list, the 13th edition in its 2026 version, names academies, boarding school education, nursery schools, tutoring, coaching and educational examination among its entries.
Sec. 18A requires a separate application for each class, so start with Class 41 and add others only for real activities. The full class, with its exclusions, is in our Class 41 guide, and the official wording is on WIPO's Nice Classification page.
Does a school also need Class 16, 35 or 43?
Only if the school offers something under its name that is not teaching. The usual cases, against the current Nice list:
| What the school offers under its name | Class | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Teaching, tutoring, exams, boarding school education | 41 | The core filing for every school. |
| Prospectuses, workbooks or branded stationery it supplies | 16 | Covers printed matter and teaching materials. |
| Uniforms sold as a product | 25 | Uniforms are a clothing entry. |
| A downloadable learning app | 9 | Software is separate from the service. |
| Management consultancy sold to other schools | 35 | Business management services. |
| A separately run crèche, canteen or hostel | 43 | Day-nursery and canteen services sit here. |
Class 43's own note keeps the lodging and meals of a boarding school in Class 41, so pupils eating and sleeping there does not call for Class 43. The NICE class finder tests an unusual activity.
Why are words like Academy, International and Public weak?
Sec. 2(c) of the Act defines a trademark as a word, symbol or picture used to distinguish one business's goods or services from those of others. A name built only from words that every school uses distinguishes nothing.
The Nice list shows it plainly: "academies [education]" is one of its entries, so Academy names the service, not your school. International, Public and English Boarding describe a type or a medium, and a town name describes a place.
None of this bans those words. Pair them with a distinctive core, such as a coined word, and protect that core; a name with nothing else gives you little to enforce.
What do Class 41 names in Nepal's bulletins look like?
IP Sewa's archive of more than 120 DoI bulletins holds 1,503 published marks in Class 41 on 16 October 2026, the 14th largest of the 45 classes. These are published entries, not registrations, and only 38.5% carry a Nepali owner address (60% across the archive), partly because foreign media and entertainment brands file here too.
Matching whole words in each mark name, 176 Class 41 names (about 12%) contain an education word such as school, college, academy, university or education, and 137 of those have a Nepali owner.
English Boarding appears in one published school name and Public School in one more. School and College also turn up in Class 16 stationery brands such as pens and notebooks, which is why they cannot carry a school's identity alone.
Filing is rising: 196 Class 41 marks were published in 2026 up to the 16 October issue, more than in any earlier year (141 in 2025).
Can a school use a famous institution's name?
Sec. 18(1) says a mark shall not be registered if it may hurt the prestige of any individual or institution, undermine the reputation of another person's trademark, or is already registered to someone else. A name that borrows a well-known school or university brand runs straight into those words.
A genuine franchise is different. Sec. 16(2) bars using another's registered mark without a transfer or written permission, which both parties record at the DoI on a joint application under Sec. 21D. Check, too, that the foreign brand is registered here, because Sec. 21B gives a foreign registration no force in Nepal.
In what order should a new school do this?
No official sequence exists, but this order avoids paying twice for a name you cannot keep.
- Shortlist distinctive names. The AI brand name generator helps with coined words.
- Search the register for the name, spellings, Nepali forms and sound-alikes in Classes 41, 16 and 35 with our trademark search (published marks only).
- Ask the education authority whether the name meets its naming conditions.
- Set up the entity that will own both the school and the trademark.
- File the trademark at the DoI, which examines it under Sec. 18. The filing date fixes your place in line.
- Apply for permission or affiliation under exactly the same name.
A written opinion from our trademark search and clearance team settles step 2, and our Brand Launch package covers a school with no brand yet.
What does the DoI ask for when a school files?
Sec. 17 calls for the prescribed form with four specimens of the mark. The DoI's checklist for a Nepali applicant, on its Industrial Property Section page, asks for:
- the completed application form;
- a copy of the permission or registration certificate for the industry or business, with VAT or PAN proof;
- four specimens of the mark, at most 8 × 8 cm, showing the business name, address and services;
- the receipt for the application fee; and
- a power of attorney where a representative files.
For a school the business record is usually its company or trust registration, so confirm what the DoI wants. Practitioner checklists also ask for a board resolution and, from an established business, its latest tax clearance. A newly formed company will not have a tax clearance yet, so confirm the DoI's current checklist.
A foreign applicant adds a certified home registration and a Nepal address, since Nepal is not in the Madrid System. Our trademark registration team assembles the file.
How long does it take to protect a school name?
An unopposed application typically takes about 12 to 14 months from filing to certificate, and 6 to 8 months only in the smoothest cases. Treat both as estimates, not promises.
Across the 12 latest issues in our records, the median gap from filing to publication was about 3.5 months and 64% of marks were published within six months, but about one in six waited over two years.
Once published in the Industrial Property Bulletin, a mark can be opposed within 90 days. Rely on the deadline the DoI states and act before the last day; our opposition team can act on a conflicting name.
How long does the protection last?
Sec. 18D sets a term of seven years from the date of registration, not filing, and Sec. 23B makes a trademark renewable any number of times. Renew within 35 days after expiry; a late renewal within six months is possible on a fine, after which the registration is cancelled.
Use matters too. Under Sec. 18C a mark not brought into use within one year of registration can be cancelled after inquiry, so file the name you will actually open under. The renewal calculator works out your dates.
Common mistakes
- Treating the education permission as brand protection. It does not stop a copycat.
- Filing only descriptors. "[Town] International Academy" leaves almost nothing to protect.
- Searching one class and one spelling. Check Classes 16 and 35 and the Nepali form too.
- Borrowing a famous school's name without a recorded written permission.
- Using ® too early. Sec. 18B bars it before registration, and Sec. 19 adds a fine and confiscation.
- Letting a founder own the mark. If that founder leaves, the name can leave too.
- Renaming with one office only. The municipality and the DoI keep separate records.
What does this look like for a new college?
Here is an illustration, not a real case. A group plans a +2 college in Butwal called "Lumbini International Academy". Suppose its search turns up two published Class 41 names that already use both words.
The founders build the name around a coined word, "Vidyora", and search again with nothing close. They register the company, file "Vidyora" in Class 41, and add Class 16 for the workbooks they will sell.
Before printing, they ask the municipality whether "Vidyora International College" meets its naming conditions, then apply under that exact name. Our conflict checker is a quick first test of a shortlist.
In short
The education authorities approve a school and its name; the DoI registers the name as a trademark, and only that stops a copycat. Choose a distinctive core, search Class 41 before printing, and file early.
The same order works for other regulated names, such as a hospital or clinic.
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Choosing a name for a new school or college? Run it through our free trademark search first, then contact IP Sewa for a clearance opinion or to have the Class 41 filing handled for you.
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