How to Register a Patent in the USA (USPTO)

Patent registration in the USA means filing an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which examines it under Title 35 of the US Code. Since 20 July 2026, an applicant based in Nepal must act through a USPTO-registered patent attorney or agent. The patent protects you only in the United States.

Key takeaways

• A US utility patent runs up to 20 years from the US filing date; a design patent lasts 15 years from grant.
• Nepal is not in the PCT, so a Nepali inventor files at the USPTO directly.
• File in Nepal first and you have 12 months to claim that date in the US under the Paris Convention.
• A provisional application holds a US date for 12 months, but it is never examined.
• Foreign-domiciled applicants must use a USPTO-registered practitioner for papers sent on or after 20 July 2026.
• A US patent does not protect you in Nepal; file there separately.

What does a US patent give you?

Under 35 U.S.C. § 154, a US patent grants the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention in the United States. It has no effect anywhere else.

For a Nepal business, a US patent matters when you plan to sell or license there, or a US investor wants protected technology. If your market is only Nepal, a Nepal patent registration at the Department of Industry comes first.

Which kinds of US patent can you apply for?

The USPTO grants three kinds. A utility patent covers a new and useful process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter (§ 101). A design patent covers a new, original and ornamental design for an article (§ 171). A plant patent covers a new plant variety that is asexually reproduced (§ 161).

A design patent protects only appearance, so a competitor can copy the function with a different look. For the look of a product in Nepal, see our industrial design service.

Can an inventor in Nepal apply to the USPTO directly?

Yes. US patent law does not ask for US citizenship or residence, and the same steps apply to any inventor outside the United States.

Under the USPTO's U.S. Counsel Rule, in force since 20 July 2026, applicants and patent owners domiciled outside the US must be represented by a registered patent practitioner. The practitioner may be a patent attorney or a patent agent, and need not live in the US.

The USPTO still gives a filing date to an application that arrives without a practitioner's signature, but later papers must be signed by one.

IP Sewa files patents in Nepal only; we can prepare the Nepal filing your US practitioner builds on.

Why is there no PCT route from Nepal?

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) lets an applicant file one international application and enter many countries later. On 18 October 2026, WIPO's list showed 159 members, and Nepal was not one.

A Nepali national or resident therefore cannot use the PCT from home, so international patent filing from Nepal means a separate application in each market. Our guide to how the PCT works shows what members gain.

How does Paris Convention priority work from a Nepal filing?

Nepal joined the Paris Convention by accession, in force from 22 June 2001, according to WIPO Lex's Paris Convention table. The United States has been a member since 1887. Article 4C gives patents a 12-month priority period, counted from the first filing and excluding the filing day.

On the US side, 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) treats a US application filed within 12 months of your Nepal application as if filed on the Nepal date. If the delay was unintentional, the USPTO can allow two more months, for a fee. You claim priority by naming the Nepal application number, country and filing date. Our page on the Paris Convention in Nepal covers the Nepal side, where Sec. 21C of the Act gives Paris facilities.

The USPTO then needs a certified copy of the Nepal application, certified by the DoI. Under 37 CFR 1.55, it is due by the later of four months from your US filing or 16 months from the Nepal filing.

An English translation is needed only if the examiner asks, though the US application itself must be in English.

What is a provisional application, and when does it help?

A provisional application under 35 U.S.C. § 111(b) is a simpler first filing. It needs a written description and any drawings, but no formal claims and no oath or declaration. The USPTO never examines it, and it never becomes a patent by itself.

You then have 12 months to file a full, non-provisional application that claims its date (§ 119(e)). If you do not, the provisional is treated as abandoned. While it is pending, you may describe the product as "patent pending".

Three limits matter. A provisional cannot be filed for a design. It cannot itself claim Paris priority from a Nepal filing (§ 111(b)(7)). And it protects only what it describes, so a thin provisional gives a false sense of security.

Our guide to what makes a claim strong shows why the description matters.

What are the steps to get a US patent?

The order is fixed; the time each step takes is not.

1. Search first. Check earlier patents and published applications in the USPTO's Patent Public Search and WIPO's PATENTSCOPE. Our guide to researching existing patents shows how.
2. Draft with a practitioner. Your USPTO-registered attorney or agent writes the specification, claims, abstract and drawings.
3. File online. The application is filed through Patent Center, the USPTO's online system, with the filing, search and examination fees.
4. Publication. Most utility applications are published promptly after 18 months from the earliest filing date claimed (§ 122(b)).
5. Examination. An examiner reviews the claims and may issue an office action rejecting some or all of them. Your practitioner replies with arguments or amendments.
6. Allowance and grant. Once the examiner allows the claims, you pay the issue fee and the patent is granted.

What goes into a US non-provisional application?

The USPTO's utility checklist lists:

• a transmittal form and the required fees;
• an application data sheet naming the inventors and applicant;
• the specification: a description, at least one claim and an abstract;
• drawings where the invention needs them; and
• an executed oath or declaration from each inventor (§ 115).

The description must let a skilled person make and use the invention (§ 112(a)). You do not need a prototype to file, although § 114 lets the USPTO ask for a model.

Everyone involved also owes the USPTO a duty of candour, including disclosing information they know is material to patentability (37 CFR 1.56).

How does USPTO examination work?

The examiner checks that the invention is eligible subject matter (§ 101), new (§ 102), not obvious to a skilled person (§ 103), and clearly described and claimed (§ 112). Abstract ideas, laws of nature and natural phenomena are not eligible.

The USPTO publishes its average pendency on its Patents Dashboard, measured quarter by quarter. Track One prioritised examination aims at a final disposition within 12 months, on average, from the grant of prioritised status, for an extra fee.

How long does a US patent last, and what keeps it alive?

A utility patent runs from grant until 20 years after the US non-provisional filing date (§ 154(a)(2)). Paris priority is not counted (§ 154(a)(3)), so the clock starts at the US filing, not the Nepal date.

The USPTO notes that filing a provisional first can push the end date out by up to 12 months.

To keep a utility patent in force, you pay maintenance fees at 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years after grant (§ 41(b)). A six-month grace period follows each deadline, with a surcharge; after that the patent expires. Design and plant patents have no maintenance fees.

How does the US grace period differ from Nepal's rules?

US law gives a one-year grace period: a disclosure by the inventor, or by someone who got it from the inventor, made one year or less before filing is not prior art (§ 102(b)(1)).

Nepal's Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965 contains no grace-period provision. Under Sec. 5, the DoI asks whether the invention is new and useful, so a public demonstration before filing puts the Nepal application at risk. Our guide to what "new" really means covers the test.

The safe rule is the same in both countries: file before you show, sell or publish the invention. Under the America Invents Act, the US has been first-inventor-to-file since 16 March 2013, and in Nepal the first-to-file principle generally applies, so a rival's earlier application can defeat yours.

How do US and Nepal patents compare?

In Nepal, the DoI issues a registration certificate under Sec. 7, Sec. 8 sets the seven-year term, and Sec. 23B allows renewal not more than twice. Under Sec. 7A, registered patents are published in the Nepal Gazette, and anyone may object within 35 days from seeing or copying one.

Our guides to how long patent protection lasts and the steps to a granted Nepal patent go further.

What does a US patent cost from Nepal?

We do not quote figures. Cost is driven by the length and number of claims, how many office actions you answer, your practitioner's rates and the USPTO's fees, which fall due at filing, grant and each maintenance date.

The USPTO offers reduced fees to applicants who qualify as a small or micro entity; your practitioner can check. For the Nepal side, contact IP Sewa for a plan.

Common mistakes Nepali applicants make

• Disclosing before filing. The US grace period may help; Nepal has none.
• Missing month 12. After 12 months, the Nepal date is normally lost.
• Forgetting the certified copy. It has its own deadline under 37 CFR 1.55.
• Filing without a practitioner. Since 20 July 2026, unsigned papers from a foreign-domiciled applicant are not entered.
• Assuming one patent covers both. Each country needs its own grant.

What does a sensible Nepal-to-US sequence look like?

Here is an illustration, not a real case. A Kathmandu engineering startup designs an improved turbine blade for micro-hydro plants. It wants protection in Nepal and the US. Before any trade fair, it files a patent application at the DoI.

Eleven months later, its US practitioner files a non-provisional utility application claiming Paris priority from the Nepal filing. It sends a DoI-certified copy within the 37 CFR 1.55 deadline. Its US term will run 20 years from the US filing date, not the Nepal date.

After two office actions, the patent is granted. The company diarises its three maintenance dates and its Nepal renewal date.

Where should a Nepal business start?

Decide which markets matter before you disclose. Our guide to patent registration strategy helps you choose what to protect and when.

For a brand, IP Sewa's trademark search covers 71,500+ marks published in DoI bulletins, but it holds no patents.

In short: how do you register a patent in the USA?

Work with a USPTO-registered practitioner, file a provisional or a full utility application, and claim Paris priority within 12 months if you filed in Nepal first. Expect publication at about 18 months, then examination, grant and three maintenance fees.

Protect Nepal separately at the DoI, and file before you disclose.

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Planning a US filing from Nepal? Start the Nepal application with our patent registration team, or contact IP Sewa to talk through your markets.