Trademarks for Cosmetics in Nepal

A cosmetics trademark in Nepal is registered at the Department of Industry (DoI), usually in NICE Class 3, which covers skincare, make-up, soap and perfume. Class 3 is one of the busiest classes in the country, so a beauty brand should clear its name, count every class it needs and file before the packaging is printed.

Key takeaways

• Class 3 holds 5,027 published entries in our index, the third-busiest class in Nepal.
• About two-thirds of them carry a Nepal address, and over half were published from 2021.
• Medicated products need Class 5, brushes Class 21, a shop Class 35 and a salon Class 44.
• The first-to-file principle generally applies, so file before you launch.
• A published mark can be opposed within 90 days of its Bulletin publication.
• Registration lasts seven years from the registration date and is renewable any number of times.

Why does a beauty brand need a registered trademark in Nepal?

Under Sec. 16(1) of the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965, you acquire title to a trademark upon registration at the Department. Sec. 16(2) then bars anyone from using a registered mark without a recorded transfer or written permission.

Timing matters because the first-to-file principle generally applies. If a rival files your skincare name first, your earlier posts and invoices may not win it back. A company name approved by the Office of the Company Registrar (OCR) gives no trademark right either.

How crowded is Class 3 in Nepal's published record?

Across the more than 120 Industrial Property Bulletin issues we index, from January 2006 to 16 October 2026, Class 3 carries 5,027 published entries. Only Class 30 (staple foods such as tea, rice and spices) and Class 33 (alcoholic drinks other than beer) hold more. These are IP Sewa counts of published entries, not official DoI statistics.

The class is filling up fast. From 2006 to 2010 the Bulletin published 559 Class 3 entries; from 2021 to 2025 it published 2,151. In 2025 alone there were 609, and 499 more appeared in 2026 up to 16 October.

A new skincare name is now more likely to meet an earlier look-alike. Browse the class with marks by class, or test one name in our Nepal trademark registry search, which shows published marks only.

Who files cosmetics trademarks in Nepal?

Mostly Nepali businesses. Of the 4,996 Class 3 entries whose printed address names a country, about 68% are in Nepal, against 60% across the whole register. India follows with about 12%, and 43 other countries share the rest, led by the United States, China and Japan.

Since 2021 the Nepali share has reached about 74%. Much of it comes from makers of soap, detergent, herbal care and incense, all in the same class as a face serum.

We count 1,828 owners in Class 3, grouping each owner's name so that different address spellings count once. Of those, 1,099 hold a single Class 3 entry.

Related companies count separately. Unilever PLC holds 24 entries, with more under Hindustan Unilever and Unilever Nepal, while Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble hold 22 and 20. See any company's marks with the owner search.

What does that mean for choosing a beauty brand name?

The obvious words are taken many times over. Counting the letters anywhere in Class 3 mark names, "derma" appears in 89 entries, "care" in 84, "herbal" in 52, "skin" in 52 and "glow" in 41. A name built from them starts in a crowd.

A name that only describes the product, such as "Natural Skin Cream", says what it is rather than who made it, and gives you little to stop others. Under Sec. 18 the DoI may also refuse a mark that harms the reputation of another trademark or is already registered to someone else.

An invented word is easier to clear and to defend. Test spellings, sound-alikes and Nepali versions with the conflict checker, and read how the DoI weighs confusingly similar marks.

What does Class 3 cover in the 2026 edition?

WIPO's 13th edition of the NICE classification, version 2026, gives Class 3 this heading: non-medicated cosmetics and toiletry preparations; non-medicated dentifrices; perfumes; bleaching preparations and other substances for laundry use; cleaning, polishing and abrasive preparations.

One phrase changed. The 2025 version read "perfumery, essential oils"; the 2026 version says "perfumes", and essential oils used as ingredients for making cosmetics are now named among the goods sent to Class 1. Essential oils for cosmetic purposes and for fragrancing remain Class 3 items.

Name your products, such as cosmetic creams, sunscreen preparations, lipsticks and shampoos, rather than writing "cosmetics" alone. Our Class 3 walkthrough covers the edge cases.

When does a skincare brand also need Class 5?

When a product is sold as treating something. WIPO's exclusions send medicated shampoos, soaps, lotions and dentifrices to Class 5, and acne treatment preparations are a Class 5 item. A moisturiser is Class 3; a cream sold to treat a skin condition is not.

This is the line cosmetics owners cross most often: 216 of the 1,828 Class 3 owners also hold Class 5, more than for any other class. If your range spans both, file both, and see our Class 5 guide.

A trademark certificate covers the name only; it does not approve a formula or a health claim, so ask a regulatory adviser what the product needs before sale.

Do brushes, sprayers and bottles need their own protection?

Brushes and applicators do. Make-up brushes, powder puffs and perfume sprayers are Class 21 goods, and 91 Class 3 owners also hold Class 21. Lipstick cases, by contrast, stay in Class 3.

A bottle's shape is a different right. A new jar, cap or carton appearance may qualify as an industrial design if it is new when filed. Our industrial design service can check that before you show the pack in public.

When does a beauty shop or salon need Classes 35 and 44?

Class 35 covers retail services: bringing a range of goods together so customers can view and buy them, in a store or online. WIPO's note says selling goods is not itself a service, so a brand selling only its own products relies on Class 3. A multi-brand shop under your name needs Class 35, and 144 Class 3 owners hold one.

Class 44 covers beauty care, including beauty salon services, hairdressing, manicuring and health spa services. Only 45 Class 3 owners hold it, but a brand planning a studio should count it in. Class 40, custom manufacturing to another's order, is the contract maker's class, so a private-label brand still files Class 3.

Sec. 18A(2) of the Act requires a separate application for goods or services in different categories. That count drives most of the cost. The NICE class finder gives a quick first view.

How do you register a cosmetics trademark at the DoI?

Seven steps take a beauty brand from a name to a registration certificate:

1. Clear the name. Search the word, its spellings, sound-alikes and the logo.
2. Choose what to file. A word mark protects the name in any lettering; a logo filing protects the design as filed.
3. Count the classes. Start with Class 3 and add others only for real products and services.
4. File the application. Sec. 17 asks for the prescribed form with four specimens of the mark.
5. Answer examination. The DoI investigates and gives you a chance to be heard (Sec. 18(1)).
6. Wait out the opposition window. The accepted mark is published in the Industrial Property Bulletin, and anyone may oppose within 90 days.
7. Collect the certificate. Pay the registration fee and diary the renewal date.

An unopposed application typically takes about 12–14 months from filing to certificate, and 6–8 months only in the smoothest cases; both are estimates. Our trademark registration service runs each stage for you.

What documents does a cosmetics brand file?

The DoI's checklist for a Nepali applicant asks for the application form and a copy of the industry or business registration certificate, with VAT or PAN proof. It also wants four specimens of the mark, at most 8 × 8 cm, showing the business name, address and goods, the fee receipt and a power of attorney if an agent files.

Some practitioner checklists add 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. Our documents guide lists each one.

A foreign owner adds a certified copy of its home registration certificate and any priority-date letter. Nepal is outside the Madrid System, and Sec. 21B gives a foreign registration no force here until the mark is registered in Nepal. Sec. 21C adds Paris Convention facilities.

How long does protection take and last?

Across the 12 latest Bulletin issues by date, the median Class 3 mark was published about 2.6 months after filing, against about 3.5 months for all 9,652 marks in those issues with a filing date. The tail is long: about one Class 3 mark in ten took over two years, and one in six across the register.

Once registered, the term is seven years from the date of registration under Sec. 18D. The renewal term repeats any number of times under Sec. 23B: renew within 35 days of expiry, or within six months after that on a fine, or the registration is cancelled.

Use the mark, too. Under Sec. 18C, a registration not brought into use within one year can be cancelled after inquiry.

How do you stop a copycat cosmetics brand?

Watch the Bulletin. A published trademark can be opposed within 90 days of its publication, so rely on the deadline the DoI states and act before the last day. New issues appear on the DoI's Bulletin page.

After registration, Sec. 19 backs Sec. 16(2) with a fine and confiscation of the goods connected with the offence, on the orders of the Department. Our opposition and enforcement team handles both routes. Until the certificate arrives, keep ® off the label, because Sec. 18B bars using a mark as registered before it is.

What are the common mistakes?

• Printing packaging first. A rival who files first can leave you rebranding stock.
• Building the name from crowded words. "Herbal", "glow" and "derma" are already everywhere.
• Letting a treatment claim into the goods list. It can pull a product into Class 5.
• Forgetting the salon or shop. Class 3 covers neither.
• Filing only a logo. A redesign can leave the name unprotected.

What does this look like for a new skincare brand?

This is an illustration, not a real case. "Maya Dew", a Kathmandu start-up, plans a cleansing balm, a sunscreen and an anti-acne gel, sold on its own website and, next year, in a facial studio.

The balm and sunscreen go in Class 3, and the anti-acne gel in Class 5 because it claims to treat. Selling only its own products online needs no Class 35, but the studio needs Class 44. That is three applications, filed before the first carton is ordered.

In short: how does a beauty brand protect its name?

Choose a distinctive name, clear it against a crowded Class 3 and file every class the business really uses, before launch. For a written view on whether your name clears, our trademark search and clearance team weighs the name and the goods together.

The class list is on WIPO's Nice Classification page, and the Act on the Nepal Law Commission site.

People also search for

• How to protect a cosmetics and skincare brand in Nepal
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Send us the product list and the name, and we will say how many classes it needs and whether it clears. Start with trademark registration, or contact IP Sewa before the packaging is ordered.