Protecting Your Brand When Exporting from Nepal

To protect your brand when exporting from Nepal, file it at the Department of Industry (DoI) first, then file in each export market yourself. Nepal is outside the Madrid System, so no single application reaches abroad. A Nepali filing does give you six months of Paris Convention priority, and that window shapes your whole export timetable.

Key takeaways

• A Nepali registration protects your brand in Nepal only; Sec. 21B states the same rule in reverse.
• Nepal is not in the Madrid System, the PCT or the Hague System, so you file country by country.
• Paris Convention priority gives six months for trademarks and designs and twelve for patents.
• The first-to-file principle generally applies in Nepal, and a stranger can file your name abroad first, so file before samples travel.
• A distributor agreement should say plainly that the distributor may not register your brand.
• Each NICE class needs its own application, at home and usually abroad.

What does protecting your brand when exporting from Nepal involve?

Export brand protection means owning your name, logo and product look in every country where you sell, not just at home. A tea exporter may need the word mark on its packets, the logo on its cartons, a new sealing device and a distinctive tin shape. Those are four different legal assets.

A trademark covers the name and logo, a patent may cover the device, and an industrial design may cover the tin. Contracts help, but they do not replace a registration in each market.

Why does a Nepali certificate stop at the border?

Because every trademark register is national. Sec. 21B of the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965 says a foreign registration "shall not be valid in Nepal" unless it is registered in Nepal. Your export markets read their own law the same way.

The Paris Convention adds that a mark registered in one country is independent of the same mark registered elsewhere (Article 6(3)). So a refusal in Delhi does not touch your Kathmandu registration, and your Kathmandu certificate wins nothing in Delhi. You can read the Act through the Nepal Law Commission.

Can a Nepali exporter use the Madrid System?

Not from Nepal. WIPO Lex listed 117 members of the Madrid Protocol when we checked on 17 October 2026, and Nepal was not among them. India, China and the United States are members, but that helps only applicants based in a member country.

Article 2 of the Protocol lets a business file through Madrid if it is a national of a member, is domiciled there, or has a real and effective commercial establishment there. A Nepali group with a genuine subsidiary in a member country could ask a representative there whether it qualifies. You can check the current list on WIPO Lex's Madrid page.

How does Paris Convention priority buy you time?

Nepal acceded to the Paris Convention on 22 March 2001, and it took effect on 22 June 2001. Under Article 4, once you file in Nepal you have six months to file the same trademark or design in another member country, and twelve months for a patent. The day you file is not counted.

Article 4B is the real prize. A filing made inside that window cannot be defeated by "another filing" or by use of the mark in the meantime. If a copycat files your name in Dhaka in month three, your claimed Nepali date ranks first.

Priority is a date, not a registration. The foreign office still examines your application under its own rules, so our guide to the Paris Convention in Nepal covers the claim in more depth.

Which export markets accept a Nepali priority claim?

Every main market we checked is a Paris member; none can be reached through Madrid from Nepal. The dates below are the "in force" dates on WIPO Lex's party tables, read on 17 October 2026.

For India in detail, see our guide to trademark registration in India for Nepali businesses.

When should an exporter file: before samples, fair or first order?

Before any of them. File in Nepal before samples leave the country, then file abroad before the six months run out. The first-to-file principle generally applies, so the earliest complete application usually wins over the business that used the name first.

Plan the six months backwards from your launch. Packaging trials and a distributor negotiation can use up the window before anyone checks the date.

What should you settle before a trade fair abroad?

File first. Article 11 of the Paris Convention asks members to give temporary protection to goods shown at "official or officially recognized international exhibitions", but each country applies it under its own law. It also does not lengthen the priority period.

A product design is the bigger risk. Design protection usually depends on novelty, so a public showing before filing can put the right at risk. File the design in Nepal before the stand opens. Our industrial design team can prepare the drawings, which fix what the registration covers.

How do you stop a distributor registering your brand abroad?

Write it into the agreement first. The distributor should confirm that you own the mark, that it may use it only as permitted, and that it may not register it, a translation of it or a matching domain. Add who owns marketplace accounts and what comes back when the deal ends.

If an agent files anyway, Paris Article 6septies helps. It lets the owner of a mark in a member country oppose or cancel a registration its agent filed without authority, or take an assignment where local law allows. Countries may set a time limit, so act quickly through a local representative.

A Nepali registration in your company's name helps show you are the "proprietor" the Article means. Our opposition and enforcement team handles the Nepali side alongside a foreign representative.

What does Nepal's register show about export-sector brands?

Our bulletin data shows Nepali owners strong in some export classes and thin in others. Of 71,842 marks published across 123 bulletins (Vol. 1 No. 1, 22 January 2006, to Vol. 20 No. 8, 16 October 2026), 43,161, or 60%, carry a Nepal address.

In Class 30, which covers tea and coffee, 86% of published marks are Nepali. In Class 24 (textiles) the share falls to 26%, and in Class 18 (bags and leather) to 22%.

Foreign owners already hold most published marks there, so search before you choose a name.

India, the United States and China lead the foreign owners, with 5,710, 5,465 and 3,838 marks. These are IP Sewa counts of published entries, by the country in each printed address, not official DoI figures.

Which NICE classes do typical export goods need?

Nepal uses the NICE classification of 45 classes: goods in Classes 1–34 and services in Classes 35–45. Sec. 18A(2) requires a separate application for each class. A tea seller may need Class 30 for the tea and Class 35 for retail services.

A felt-bag maker may need Class 18 for the bags and Class 24 for felt fabric. Choose from what you actually sell. The NICE class finder gives a first list to check with an adviser.

How do you register the brand at home first?

1. Search. Run your name through the trademark conflict checker, then our clearance service for a written opinion.
2. Fix the owner. File in the exporting company's name, spelled as it will appear on foreign forms.
3. File at the DoI. Submit the form, mark specimens and documents for each class to the Department of Industry.
4. Examination. The DoI checks the mark and gives you a chance to be heard.
5. Publication. An accepted mark is printed in the Industrial Property Bulletin.
6. Opposition window. Anyone may oppose within 90 days of publication; rely on the deadline the DoI states.
7. Certificate. The registration certificate issues, and the seven-year term starts.

An unopposed trademark typically takes about 12–14 months from filing to certificate, and 6–8 months only in the smoothest cases. In our data, the median gap from filing to publication over the 12 latest issues was about 3.5 months, but about one mark in six took over two years.

Our trademark registration team handles each step.

What documents should an exporter prepare?

Prepare the application form, the mark label, your industry or business registration where needed, and a notarised power of attorney if an agent files. Companies may also need a board resolution. An established business provides its latest tax clearance; a newly formed company will not have one yet, so confirm the Department of Industry's current checklist.

For a priority claim abroad, foreign offices usually ask for a certified copy of the Nepali application, often in English. Order it early, and keep the owner's name identical on invoices, contracts and every filing.

What about patents and product designs?

Nepal is outside the PCT and the Hague System too, so patents and designs also need national filings. A patent file needs a specification and claims; a design file needs clear views, commonly plan, elevation and side views. Do not show either publicly before filing.

Our patent registration team handles the Nepali application, and our guide to international patent filing from Nepal covers the twelve-month route.

How long does protection last, and when do you renew?

Under Sec. 18D, a Nepali trademark lasts seven years from the date of registration, not filing. Sec. 23B makes it a renewable right any number of times, seven years at a time. A patent lasts seven years and may be renewed twice; a design lasts five years and may also be renewed twice.

Renew within 35 days after expiry, with a six-month late window on a fine. Sec. 18C also lets the DoI cancel a mark not used within one year of registration, so ask an advocate whether export-only sales count. Our renewal team tracks every class.

What does export brand protection cost?

It depends on the number of classes, the number of countries, translations, local representatives and any objections. Government and professional fees are separate, and each foreign market adds its own. Tell us your classes and markets through our contact page for a quote.

Common mistakes exporters make

• Treating a Nepali certificate as worldwide. It stops at the border.
• Waiting for the certificate before filing abroad. The six months run from filing.
• Using ® too early. Sec. 18B bars presenting a mark as registered before it is, and many markets have similar rules.
• Letting a distributor own the local mark. Put ownership in writing first.
• Filing in the founder's name while the company trades.

What does a well-timed export launch look like?

Here is an illustration, not a real case. "Himalayan Loom", a Kathmandu felt-bag maker, plans sales in India and the UAE. It searches Nepal, then files its word mark and logo at the DoI in Classes 18 and 24, in the company's name.

It files the bag design before showing it at a fair. In month four it instructs agents in both countries, claiming the Nepali date, and signs a distributor deal that bans local filing. When a copy appears in month five, its earlier date already ranks first.

In short: how do you protect a brand when exporting from Nepal?

File at home first, diary the six-month priority window and file directly in each market before it closes. Sign the distributor agreement before goods move, and renew every registration on time.

For the wider picture, read our guide to IP protection for Nepali export businesses, or check existing marks with our trademark search.

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Ready to export? Start with our trademark registration service or contact IP Sewa with your classes and target markets.