Patent Registration Steps: From Idea to Granted Patent

Patent registration in Nepal turns an idea into a granted right in two halves. First you shape it into a working invention, keep it secret, check it is new and useful, settle ownership and draft the claims. Then the Department of Industry (DoI) investigates it, registers it and issues the certificate.

Key takeaways

• A bare idea cannot be patented; Sec. 2(a) protects a useful invention such as a new process or method of manufacture.
• The first-to-file principle generally applies, so file before you show, sell or publish the invention.
• The DoI checks two things under Sec. 5: is the invention new, and is it useful to the public?
• The applicant must be the inventor or someone who acquired the rights from the inventor (Sec. 4 and Sec. 6).
• A registered patent is published in the Nepal Gazette (Sec. 7A), not in the trademark Bulletin.
• Protection lasts seven years from registration and is renewable twice, for 21 years at most.

What are the patent registration steps in Nepal?

The full journey has eight steps. The first five happen at your desk, before any form is filed. The last three happen at the Department of Industry under the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965.

1. Turn the idea into an invention. Work out how it is made, operated or used.
2. Keep it confidential. Share details only under a written confidentiality promise.
3. Check novelty and usefulness. Search what already exists, at home and abroad.
4. Settle ownership. Record who invented it and who will apply.
5. Draft the specification and claims. Describe the invention and define the protection sought.
6. File the application. Submit the Schedule 1(a) form, drawings and fee (Sec. 4).
7. Answer the investigation. The DoI studies the invention, with experts if needed (Sec. 5).
8. Receive the certificate. Pay the registration fee and the patent is registered (Sec. 7).

Can an idea on its own be patented?

No. Sec. 2(a) defines a patent as a useful invention relating to a new method of process or manufacture, operation or transmission of a material, or one made on the basis of a new theory or formula. "A cheaper water filter" is a wish; its layered housing and how it is assembled are an invention.

The test is whether you can explain, in writing, how the thing is made, operated or used. Sec. 4(1)(c) asks for exactly that, and the DoI's checklist repeats it. If you cannot yet describe it, keep building before you spend on a filing.

A product name or logo is a trademark, and a product's shape is an industrial design. Our guide on what can be patented in Nepal covers the borderline cases.

Why must the invention stay secret until you file?

The first-to-file principle generally applies in Nepal: rights come from registration, not from having the idea first. Sec. 3(1) says a person wanting rights over a patent "shall register such patent" in their name.

Secrecy also protects novelty. The Department asks whether the invention is new, and a public demonstration, sale, article or video can make it look old, even when you were the inventor. Trade fairs and pitch decks are the usual leaks.

Share details only under a signed confidentiality agreement, and keep a dated notebook of drawings and tests. Our note on timing a patent filing covers when to file and when to wait.

How do you check the invention is new and useful?

Sec. 5 tells the Department to find out "whether the patent … is a new invention or not, and whether it is useful to the general public or not". Those are the two statutory questions, and you should answer them yourself before the DoI does.

Search existing patents, journals and products, especially foreign patent databases, because Nepal publishes no searchable patent register of its own. Note the closest designs and how yours differs. Our guide to patent searching explains where to look.

The Act never uses the words "inventive step" or "obvious". Expect the DoI and any experts it consults to ask what is genuinely new, so a small tweak to a known product is a weak candidate.

Who should be named as the applicant?

Sec. 4(1)(a) asks for the inventor's name, address and occupation. If the applicant is not the inventor, Sec. 4(1)(b) asks how and in what manner the applicant acquired title from the inventor.

This matters because Sec. 6(1)(b) bars registration where the applicant is neither the inventor nor someone who acquired the rights from the original inventor. A company filing for an engineer's invention needs a signed, written assignment, not an assumption.

Settle it before anyone signs, especially where founders, staff or a funder all contributed. Our guide on who owns an invention covers employees and co-inventors.

What goes into the specification and claims?

The written description is the core of the file, and the DoI's own Industrial Property Section checklist lists what it must contain. Sec. 4(2) adds maps and drawings with particulars of the patent.

The claims define the boundary of protection. Draft them too broadly and they claim things that already exist; too narrowly and a competitor changes one detail and walks around them. It is technical and legal drafting, not marketing copy.

How do you file at the Department of Industry?

Sec. 4(1) requires an application in the Schedule 1(a) format with "all available evidence" in your possession, plus the application fee under Schedule 3. The filing date you receive is the date that counts under first-to-file, so the file should be complete on day one.

You may act through an attorney or legal practitioner, and Sec. 20 treats their actions as yours. A power of attorney appointing them goes in with the papers. Our patent registration team drafts, files and handles DoI correspondence.

Fees are set in Schedule 3 and can be changed by Gazette notice under Sec. 26A, so we do not print them here. Total cost depends mostly on drafting work; see what drives patent costs or ask us.

What does the Department investigate, and when can it refuse?

Under Sec. 5(1), the DoI conducts "all investigation or study" needed, on the advice of experts where it considers that necessary, and then decides whether to register. Answer every query fully and on time.

Sec. 6(1) lists four grounds for refusal:

• the patent is already registered in someone else's name;
• the applicant is neither the inventor nor someone who acquired the rights;
• it would harm public health, conduct, morality or the national interest; or
• registering it would contravene Nepal law.

If the DoI decides not to register, Sec. 5(2) requires it to notify you. Under Sec. 27 you may appeal a Department order to the court within 35 days. The table sums up each stage.

When is the patent granted and published?

Under Sec. 7, once the investigation is complete and no Sec. 6 ground applies, the DoI issues a registration certificate on payment of the registration fee. Our article on the patent certificate explains what it shows.

Sec. 7A(1) then has registered patents published in the Nepal Gazette, unless they must be kept secret in the national interest. They do not appear in the Industrial Property Bulletin, which IP Sewa's trademark search draws on; it holds 71,500+ published trademarks and no patents.

On the Act's wording, publication follows registration. Our advocate's practice note describes publication after acceptance instead, so ask the DoI how a current file is sequenced.

How does the 35-day objection window work?

Under Sec. 7A(2), anyone may see or copy a published patent's particulars, maps and drawings after paying the prescribed fee. Sec. 7A(3) then gives them 35 days, counted from the date they see or copy it, to file a complaint.

So the patent clock is personal to each objector, unlike a trademark's 90 days from Bulletin publication. Our advocate's note also gives 35 days for patent objections. Under Sec. 7A(4) the DoI inquires and acts, and Sec. 6(2) lets it cancel a registration after giving you a chance to show cause.

How long does it take from filing to grant?

The Act sets no deadline for the Department to finish its investigation, and we have no official patent timeline to quote. The 12–14 months seen on some sites, or 6–8 months in the best case, is a trademark estimate and does not carry over.

What you control is a complete, consistent file and quick answers. For current timings, ask the DoI or an adviser handling patent files now.

How long does a granted patent last?

Sec. 8(1) makes a patent valid for seven years from the date of registration, unless renewed. Sec. 23B(3) lets a patent be renewed not more than twice, seven years at a time, so the maximum is 21 years.

Renew within 35 days of expiry. Sec. 23B(2) allows a late renewal within six months on a fine; after that the registration is cancelled automatically. Our guide to patent renewal lists the DoI's documents.

Sec. 10 asks the patentee to send the National Archive a copy of the design or model. Under Sec. 21D, a sale or licence is recorded at the DoI on a joint application.

What changes for a foreign applicant?

Sec. 21B says a patent registered abroad has no validity in Nepal until it is registered here. Sec. 21C lets the DoI register a foreign-registered patent without its usual enquiries when the foreign certificate is enclosed, and grants Paris Convention facilities.

Nepal has applied the Paris Convention since 22 June 2001, per its WIPO Lex profile. Article 4C gives 12 months from the first filing to claim priority for a patent. The DoI's checklist adds proof of the first application and a certified copy of any foreign certificate.

Nepal is not a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty: WIPO's list of 159 PCT states omits it. A PCT application cannot designate Nepal, so a direct national filing is the only route. See our guide to international patent filing for the reverse journey.

Common mistakes: what slows a patent down?

• Pitching before filing. A demo at a fair can undermine novelty.
• Filing an idea, not an invention. No working method, no patent.
• Leaving ownership loose. Sec. 6(1)(b) lets the DoI refuse an applicant without title.
• Writing a brochure. Claims need technical precision, not sales language.
• Expecting the trademark Bulletin. Patents go in the Nepal Gazette.
• Relying on a PCT filing. It does not reach Nepal.
• Missing renewal. Six months after the 35-day window, the patent is cancelled.

What does the journey look like for a small inventor?

Here is an illustration, not a real case. A Butwal workshop owner builds a rice-husk stove grate that burns longer with less smoke. Her cousin paid for the prototype, and she wants to show it at a district trade fair next month.

She postpones the fair, records her drawings and tests, and searches foreign databases for similar grates. Her cousin signs a written agreement that the invention is hers, so she can apply alone and prove her title.

An agent drafts claims around the airflow channels, files with the DoI and answers its questions. Her stove's brand name is a separate question, handled by trademark registration.

In short

Patent registration steps run from idea to invention, secrecy, a novelty check, clear ownership and careful claims, and then the DoI's Sec. 5 investigation, a Sec. 7 certificate and a Gazette notice. Renew on time and protection can last 21 years.

If the value is in how the product looks, an industrial design registration may suit it better. For an invention, start with the description and keep it private until filed.

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Have an invention you want to protect? Read the official Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act text, then talk to IP Sewa about patent filing in Nepal.