To read the IP Bulletin in Nepal, open the latest Department of Industry issue, note its publication date, then work through each trademark entry field by field: applicant, mark name, mark type, application number, filing date, NICE class and goods. Compare those fields, not just the name, with your own brand.
Key takeaways
- Every entry in the Industrial Property Bulletin follows the same printed layout, so once you know the fields you can read any issue.
- Mark type codes tell you what was filed: D for words only, M for words with a logo, F for a logo only.
- Filing dates are printed in the Bikram Sambat calendar, as year, month and day.
- The class and the goods decide whether two marks really clash. The name alone does not.
- For trademarks, the opposition window is 90 days from the issue's publication date.
- Check the corrections section too. A corrected entry replaces the version first printed.
What do you need before you open an issue?
Start with a short list of what you are protecting. Write down your marks, your spelling variants and any Nepali-script versions. Add the classes you trade in and the ones you plan to enter.
Then find the issue on the Department of Industry (DoI) website, where bulletins are listed under Publications as PDFs. Note the year, the issue number and the publication date before you read a single entry. That date starts the clock, so it matters more than anything else on the page.
If you are checking your own filing rather than scanning for rivals, the application-number lookup takes you straight to the entry.
What does a bulletin entry look like?
Each entry is a numbered block of labelled lines, with the logo, if there is one, printed beside it. The labels are in English, even where the applicant's details or goods are in Nepali. Here is a made-up entry laid out the way the DoI prints them.
What does each field in an entry mean?
Read the fields in order. Each one answers a different question about the filing.
| Field | What it shows | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant | The owner's name, address and country | Whether it is a competitor, a distributor or a stranger |
| Mark Name | The words of the mark; "(and logo)" means a device is included | Spelling, sound and meaning against your mark |
| Mark Type | A code: D, M or F | Whether to compare words, a logo, or both |
| Application No. | The DoI's reference for the filing | Quote it in any opposition or enquiry |
| Filing Date | When the application was filed, in Bikram Sambat | Who filed first |
| NICE Class | One class from 1 to 45 | Same class as yours, or a related one |
| Goods/Services | What the mark covers | Whether it reaches your customers |
The applicant line often carries a long address. The same company can appear under several spellings of it, so the owner and applicant search is the easier way to see everything one company has published.
What do the mark type codes D, M and F mean?
In the issues IP Sewa has read, D marks are words only, M marks combine words with a logo, and F marks are a logo or label only. An M entry usually adds "(and logo)" after the name.
The code tells you how to compare. For a D mark, the words are everything. For an F mark, the Mark Name line may be left empty, because there are no words to print, so a name search will never find it. You have to look at the image.
How do you read the dates in an entry?
The filing date is printed in the Bikram Sambat calendar as year, month and day, for example 2082.04.15.
It is not the publication date. An application can wait a long time between filing and publication, so an entry in this month's issue may carry a filing date from years ago.
The filing date matters because Nepal is first-to-file: the earlier complete application generally has the stronger claim. The date that starts the opposition clock is different. It is the publication date of the issue, printed on the issue itself.
How do you read the goods and services line?
This line sets the scope of the mark. Some entries list the goods in full, some in Nepali, and some give only a short reference instead of a list.
Each entry covers one class, because Sec. 18A of the Act requires a separate application per class. Where the list is short, the class number is your main guide, and the full specification sits on the DoI's file. Nepal uses the NICE classification of 45 classes, maintained by WIPO: 1 to 34 for goods and 35 to 45 for services. To see which classes sit near yours, use the NICE class finder, and to compare wording, the goods and services search.
How do you read an entry step by step?
A steady routine keeps you from missing the one entry that matters.
- Record the issue details: year, number and publication date.
- Scan the mark names for your words, close spellings and sound-alikes.
- Look at every logo, including F entries with no name.
- Check the class of anything close. Same or related class means read on.
- Read the goods line to see whether the products reach your customers.
- Note the applicant and filing date to judge who filed first.
- Save the page and the application number of any entry that worries you.
Between issues, a free search of published marks covers the whole archive, and the trademark conflict checker helps with near spellings.
Is this entry a threat to your mark?
Two questions decide most cases. Is the mark similar in sight, sound or meaning? And are the goods the same or related?
Under Sec. 18 of the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965, the DoI can refuse a mark that is already registered in another person's name or that damages the goodwill of another mark. Those are the grounds an opposition usually builds on. Well-known foreign marks have also been protected across classes in DoI decisions, so a different class does not always mean safety.
How do you count the opposition deadline?
For trademarks, DoI practice allows 90 days from the issue's publication date to file an opposition. Count from that date, not from the day you downloaded the PDF or heard about the entry.
Two cautions. The bare text of Sec. 21A of the 1965 Act mentions 35 days, while trademark practice works to 90, so confirm the date with the DoI or a lawyer if you are close to either. And patent and design publications carry a 35-day objection period, not 90. Their terms differ too: a patent runs 7 years, renewable twice, and a design 5 years.
An opposition is filed with the DoI, which hears both sides before it decides. Documents in another language need a notarised Nepali translation, and a foreign owner files through a local agent under a power of attorney. Our opposition and enforcement service handles the filing.
What are corrections, and how do you read them?
Some issues carry a corrections section, headed भुल-सुधार or संशोधन. There the DoI reprints an entry it published with an error, such as a wrong name, class or logo, or a logo left out.
When a mark you are watching has been corrected, compare against the corrected version. One correction notice can also cover several application numbers at once, so read the whole notice. IP Sewa records each correction against the marks it affects, but always check the notice in the issue itself before you rely on it.
What should you record when an entry worries you?
Keep two sets of material. The first comes from the bulletin itself. The second is your own proof that you were there first.
A tidy record saves days when a lawyer has to prepare an opposition inside a fixed window. Your registration certificate is the strongest single document, so keep a clean copy to hand.
What happens if nobody opposes the entry?
The applicant pays the registration fee and the DoI issues the certificate. From filing, the whole route typically takes about 12–14 months when unopposed, and 6–8 months only in the smoothest cases.
A registration lasts seven years and is renewable for further seven-year terms. Once registered, a copy is harder and slower to remove, which is why the bulletin stage is worth the effort.
What are the common mistakes when reading entries?
- Searching names only. F entries have no name, so only the logo shows the clash.
- Using the filing date as the start. The clock runs from the issue's publication date.
- Stopping at the class number. The goods line decides how close two marks really are.
- Skipping the corrections section. The corrected entry is the one that counts.
- Treating a published mark as registered. It still faces opposition and has no certificate.
- Waiting until week twelve. Evidence and translations take longer than people expect.
How does this work on a real-looking entry?
Here is an illustration, not a real case. A Kathmandu café owner with a registered "Himal Bean" mark in Class 43 reads a new issue and finds entry 214: "HIMAL BEANS (and logo)", type M, Class 30, goods "coffee". The applicant is a coffee roaster she has never heard of.
The words differ by one letter, the logo shows a similar mountain, and coffee reaches her café's customers. She saves the page, notes the publication date, and books a lawyer that week. Whether to oppose is a judgment for the lawyer, but she has kept every option open.
In short
Read each bulletin entry as a set of facts: who filed, what mark, what type, which class, what goods, and when. Compare all of them with your brand, check the corrections, and count 90 days from the publication date.
If your own brand is not yet filed, start with a trademark search and then trademark registration, so that the next issue carries your mark rather than a rival's.
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The DoI lists its trademark checklists on its Industrial Property Section page. If an entry looks too close to your brand, send us the issue and entry number and we will check the deadline and your options.
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