A Nepali business protects a product's look in India by registering it with the Indian Patent Office under India's Designs Act 2000. Protection runs 10 years from the filing or priority date and can be extended once by 5 years, to 15. A Nepal registration does not reach India, and neither country is in the Hague System.
Key takeaways
- A design registered at Nepal's Department of Industry (DoI) is protected in Nepal only.
- India tests novelty against the whole world, so a launch in Nepal can cost you the Indian right.
- Paris Convention priority gives you six months to file in India on your Nepal date.
- India registers a design for ten years, extendable once by five; Nepal grants five years, renewable twice.
- India has no pre-grant opposition; challenges come later, by cancellation petition.
- IP Sewa files in Nepal only; for India, appoint a registered Indian patent agent or legal practitioner.
Why does a Nepal design registration not cover India?
Design rights are national. Nepal's Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965 gives title on registration at the DoI, and its Sec. 21B denies validity in Nepal to a design registered only abroad. India works the same way under its own Act.
In India, Sec. 3 makes the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks the Controller of Designs. The office's design manual says applications may be filed in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai or Kolkata, but the Designs Wing in Kolkata examines them all.
There is no shortcut through WIPO. The Hague Agreement party table listed 85 members when we read it on 18 October 2026, and neither India nor Nepal was among them. See why Nepal is not in the Hague System.
What can be registered as a design in India?
Sec. 2(d) covers the features of shape, configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours applied to an article by an industrial process, which "appeal to and are judged solely by the eye". It excludes a mode of construction, a mere mechanical device, a trade mark and an artistic work under the Copyright Act 1957.
That is wider than Nepal's Sec. 2(b), which speaks only of "the form or shape of any material manufactured in any manner". A woven pattern may suit India even where its position in Nepal is less clear; see design rights in Nepal.
Sec. 4 then refuses a design that is not new or original, was disclosed to the public in any country before the filing or priority date, is not significantly distinguishable from known designs, or contains scandalous or obscene matter.
India calls the right a registered design, not a "design patent". A chair's outline may qualify, while its folding mechanism belongs to patent law.
Does showing the product in Nepal first spoil Indian novelty?
It can. Sec. 4(b) counts disclosure "in any other country", so a stall at a Kathmandu fair, a Facebook post or an online listing can be cited against you. The office's manual notes that the old 1911 Act judged novelty within India only.
The exceptions are narrow. Sec. 16 excuses a confidential disclosure or one made in breach of good faith. Sec. 21 covers a showing at an exhibition India has notified, if you warn the Controller first and apply within six months.
The safer rule is simple: file first, then show. Once your Nepal application is in, India measures novelty from that priority date if you claim it in time.
How does Paris priority link a Nepal filing to India?
Both countries belong to the Paris Convention, per WIPO Lex: India since 7 December 1998 and Nepal since 22 June 2001. Article 4C(1) of the Convention gives industrial designs six months of priority.
India applies it in Sec. 44 and Rule 15, calling the filing a "reciprocity application". It must be made within six months of your first filing, a period the manual says cannot be extended. A certified copy of the Nepal filing goes in with it, or within up to three months more if the Controller allows.
The reward is the date: the manual says such an application is registered as of the first filing abroad, so your Indian design takes your Nepal filing day.
Should you file in Nepal or India first?
For most Nepali makers, Nepal comes first. It is the home market, the first-to-file principle generally applies there, and a DoI filing gives you a date to carry into India. Our industrial design registration service handles that Nepal filing.
If an Indian buyer is close, file in both countries within weeks. If your Nepal filing is past six months and the product is still unpublished, file in India now on its own date. If it has been shown, ask an Indian agent what is left to protect.
What does an Indian design application need?
The application goes on Form-1 with four identical representations (Rule 11). Your Indian agent will ask for:
- the applicant's legal name and address, the article's name and its class;
- four matching views on A4 sheets, each labelled, such as front or perspective (Rule 14);
- a short statement of novelty, plus any disclaimer (Rule 12);
- an address for service in India, with an email address and a mobile number registered in India (Rule 4, amended in 2021);
- a power of attorney for the agent; and
- the certified copy of your Nepal filing, if you claim priority.
India classifies articles by the Locarno Classification: Rule 10 adopts its current edition, IP India counts 32 classes, and WIPO Lex shows India's Locarno accession in force from 7 September 2019. Rule 11(3) needs a separate application per class.
Locarno is not the NICE classification, which sorts the goods and services a trademark covers in both countries. Name the article in plain trade terms, because an unclear name invites an objection.
How does examination work in India?
IP India describes the route in stages:
- Prepare. Name the article, pick its class and draw clear views of an unpublished design.
- File. Lodge Form-1 with the fee and views, claiming priority if you have it.
- Formalities. The office checks forms, fees, timelines and representations.
- Examination. An examiner tests novelty, originality, prior publication and the exclusions.
- Objections. You answer within three months (Rule 18); the whole application must be complete within six months of filing (Rule 21).
- Registration. The design enters the Register of Designs and a registration certificate issues (Sec. 9).
- Publication. The particulars appear in the Patent Office Journal (Sec. 7).
The manual says the six months can stretch by three on a timely request. A hearing comes before any refusal, and Sec. 5(4) allows an appeal to the High Court.
Can anyone oppose an Indian design before registration?
No. A challenge comes afterwards: under Sec. 19, any person interested may petition the Controller to cancel a registration at any time. The grounds include earlier registration in India, earlier publication anywhere, lack of novelty, and not being a design at all.
Nepal also publishes after registration. Its Industrial Property Bulletin carries a design section listing designs registered under Sec. 14, and complaints run 35 days from that publication under Sec. 21A(2). The 90-day period is for trademarks. Our opposition and enforcement team can review a conflicting design inside that window.
How long does an Indian design registration last?
Sec. 11(1) gives ten years from the date of registration, which Sec. 5(6) fixes at the application date, or your Nepal date with priority. Apply before year ten and Sec. 11(2) adds five more: fifteen in all.
Miss the extension and Sec. 12 allows a restoration application within one year, explaining the failure. Sec. 14 allows protection for anyone who began using the design while it had lapsed, and bars suits over copying in that gap.
In Nepal a design lasts five years from registration (Sec. 14A) and is renewable twice under Sec. 23B(3). Renew within 35 days after expiry; after six more months on a fine, it is cancelled. See design renewal in Nepal.
How do the Indian and Nepali systems compare?
| Point | India | Nepal |
|---|---|---|
| Law | Designs Act 2000; Designs Rules 2001. | Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965. |
| Office | Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks. | Department of Industry, Kathmandu. |
| What counts | Shape, configuration, pattern, ornament, lines or colours. | The form or shape of a manufactured material. |
| Novelty | Judged worldwide at the filing or priority date. | An originality claim the DoI examines. |
| Challenge | Cancellation petition any time after registration. | Complaint within 35 days of Bulletin publication. |
| Term | Ten years from filing, plus one five-year extension. | Five years from registration, renewable twice. |
| Maximum | 15 years. | 15 years. |
| Hague System | Not a member. | Not a member. |
What happens if someone copies your design in India?
Sec. 22 calls it piracy: applying the design, or a fraudulent or obvious imitation, to an article in the registered class for sale, importing such articles for sale, or knowingly offering them.
The owner can claim a sum capped by the Act, or sue for damages and an injunction, in no court below a District Judge's. If the defendant attacks the registration, the case moves to the High Court.
Mark your goods: Rule 26 asks for "REGISTERED", "REGD." or "RD" with the number, and Sec. 15 can limit damages if you do not.
Does an Indian design protect your brand name or the mechanism?
No. Your name and logo need an Indian trademark; see trademark registration in India for Nepali businesses. A new working part needs a patent under India's Patents Act 1970; see patent registration in India.
A mixer may carry all three: a patentable motor, a registrable casing and a brand under the Trade Marks Act 1999. Screen the name against the 71,500+ marks published in Nepal's bulletins with our trademark search, and let the NICE class finder suggest its Nepal class.
What can IP Sewa do, and what can it not?
IP Sewa files designs, trademarks and patents at Nepal's DoI; we do not file in India. Sec. 43 of India's Act lets the Controller require a foreign applicant to use an agent resident in India, and the manual says only a registered patent agent or a legal practitioner may act.
We handle the Nepal half: a clean DoI application, filed before launch, whose date and drawings can support Indian priority. The DoI's checklist is on its Industrial Property Section page, and our guide to protecting a product's appearance in Nepal covers the home side.
Common mistakes: what trips Nepali makers up in India?
- Launching first. A home launch is a disclosure in India's eyes.
- Letting six months pass. The priority window cannot be extended.
- Changing the drawings. Priority covers the design filed in Nepal, so keep the views consistent.
- Forgetting year ten. Ask for the five-year extension before the first term ends.
- Relying on the design for the brand. A name or logo needs a trademark in each country.
What does a well-timed India filing look like?
Here is an illustration, not a real case. "Diyo Works", a Lalitpur lamp maker, files a new brass lamp shape at the DoI on 1 March, then shows it at a Kathmandu fair in April.
In August an Indian agent files, claiming the Nepal date. The Indian registration is dated 1 March, so the fair does not count against it. Diyo Works diarises year ten for the Indian extension and years five and ten for its Nepal renewals.
In short: how do you protect an industrial design in India?
File in Nepal before you show the product, then file in India within six months to keep that date. Use the right Locarno class and consistent views, and diarise the ten-year extension.
For industrial design registration in Nepal, our design filing team handles the DoI side.
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Planning to sell a product in India? Contact IP Sewa to plan how your Nepal design filing supports an Indian application.
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