The Industrial Property Bulletin, usually called the IP Bulletin, is the Department of Industry's official notice of trademark applications that have passed examination in Nepal. Publication opens a 90-day window for anyone to oppose a mark. It comes before registration, so a mark in the bulletin is published, not yet registered.
Key takeaways
- The Department of Industry (DoI) publishes the IP Bulletin. Its Nepali name is औद्योगिक सम्पत्ति बुलेटिन.
- Issues are numbered by year (volume) and issue number, and the series began in 2006.
- In practice the bulletin is almost entirely trademarks. Patent entries are rare and design sections are absent from the issues we have read.
- For trademarks, publication opens a 90-day opposition window that runs from the publication date.
- A published mark is not yet registered. Registration follows only if the mark survives the opposition stage.
- Nepal is first-to-file, so reading new issues is how brand owners catch conflicting filings in time.
What is the IP Bulletin in Nepal?
The IP Bulletin is the public checkpoint in Nepal's trademark system. When the DoI examines an application and finds it fit to proceed, it prints the mark in the bulletin so that the public can see it before registration. People also call it the DoI bulletin, the trademark bulletin or, in older writing, the trademark gazette.
The legal base is the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965 (2022 BS), which covers patents, designs and trademarks in one statute. Sec. 21A of the Act provides for publication and for objections after it.
The bulletin is how the DoI gives that notice. Without it, you might learn of a rival's copy only after its certificate was issued.
How are bulletin issues numbered and dated?
Each issue is identified by its year (वर्ष) and number (संख्या). The DoI's own archive lists the series from Year 1, which began in 2006, and it had reached Year 20 by 2083 BS (2026).
Dates on the cover and inside the entries use the Bikram Sambat calendar. The publication date of the issue is the one that counts for the opposition window, so convert it carefully if you work in the Gregorian calendar.
In recent years the DoI has published several issues a year, with no fixed schedule. It posts a notice on its website when a new one appears, which is the simplest signal to watch.
Where does the bulletin fit in the registration process?
Every Nepali trademark follows the same path: filing, examination, publication, the opposition window, then the certificate.
Who publishes the bulletin, and where can you find it?
The DoI publishes it through its Industrial Property Section and lists each issue under Publications on its website. The files are PDFs, one per issue.
Older issues are partly scanned images, so their text is hard to search. Entries also mix English with Nepali.
Can you search old bulletins by trademark name?
Not easily in the raw PDFs, which is a problem when you need to know whether a name has appeared anywhere in twenty years of issues. IP Sewa reads every issue and extracts each entry and logo, so you can search published marks across the whole archive of 122 issues at once.
The search shows what was published, with the applicant, class and application number. It does not show whether a mark was later registered, which only the DoI can confirm. To browse a whole field, try search by NICE class, and for near spellings use the trademark conflict checker.
What does a bulletin issue contain?
A modern issue is mostly a list of numbered trademark entries, each setting out who applied, what the mark is and what it covers. Some issues add a corrections section, where the DoI reprints an entry it got wrong.
| Part of an issue | What it tells you | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Trademark entries | Applicant and address, mark name, mark type, application number, filing date, NICE class, goods or services, and the logo where there is one | This is the notice that starts the opposition window |
| Corrections (भुल-सुधार) | An earlier entry reprinted with a fixed name, class or logo | The corrected version is the one to compare against |
| Issue details | Year, number and publication date | The publication date is day one of the 90-day count |
For a known filing, the application-number lookup finds the entry directly.
Why does bulletin publication matter?
Publication is the public's chance to object before a mark is registered. For trademarks, DoI practice allows 90 days from the publication date to file an opposition. Once that window closes without a successful objection, the applicant pays the registration fee and receives the registration certificate.
One note on the law. The bare text of Sec. 21A of the 1965 Act speaks of 35 days. Practice for trademark oppositions, which our filing team works to, is 90 days from bulletin publication. If you are close to either date, confirm the deadline with the DoI or a lawyer rather than risk it.
Timing matters because Nepal is first-to-file. The earlier valid application generally wins.
Once a copycat mark is registered, removing it is slower and harder than stopping it at the bulletin stage. The bulletin is the cheapest point at which to act.
Is a mark in the IP Bulletin already registered?
No. A published mark has passed examination, but it is still an application. It can be opposed, and it has no certificate yet. Under Sec. 16 of the Act, title to a trademark comes with registration, and only a registered owner may use the ® symbol.
What happens after the 90 days?
If nobody opposes, or an opposition fails, the applicant pays the registration fee and the DoI issues the certificate. The whole route typically takes about 12–14 months from filing when unopposed, and 6–8 months only in the smoothest cases.
A registration lasts seven years and is renewable for further seven-year terms. Renewals and later changes are handled by the DoI, so for the current status of any mark, ask the DoI rather than relying on an old bulletin entry. Owners can hand the dates to our trademark renewal service.
Who should read the bulletin, and how often?
Anyone whose business depends on a brand in Nepal, and each reader looks for something different.
Applicants should check that their own entry is correct, since a wrong name, class or logo is easier to fix early. Brand owners should scan each new issue for anything close to their marks. Buyers and investors can use past issues to see what a company has filed.
Given the 90-day window, checking each issue soon after it appears is the safe habit. The owner and applicant search helps you see every mark a competitor has published.
How do you use the bulletin to protect your brand?
Reading the bulletin only helps if it leads to action inside the window.
- Search the new issue for your mark, close spellings, sound-alikes and similar logos.
- Compare the scope. Check the NICE class and the goods or services, not just the name. Nepal uses the NICE classification of 45 classes, and Sec. 18A requires one application per class. The NICE class finder shows which classes sit near yours.
- Record the details: issue, page, application number and publication date.
- Gather your evidence: your own registration or earlier application, labels, invoices and advertising.
- Take advice early. An opposition is filed with the DoI, which hears both sides before deciding. A document in another language needs a notarised Nepali translation, and a foreign owner acts through a local agent under a power of attorney.
If you want a team to handle this, our opposition and enforcement service assesses the entry and files the objection. That is staffed work, not an automated alert.
What about patents and industrial designs?
The Act lets the DoI publish accepted patents and designs too, and for them the objection period is 35 days. In practice they barely feature in the bulletin.
When IP Sewa scanned 121 issues, only one had even a passing patent reference, and none had a design section, because Nepal grants few patents. For those rights, ask the DoI directly about anything published.
Does a foreign registration protect a mark from bulletin copies?
No. Nepal protects trademarks nationally. It has been a WIPO member since 1997 and a Paris Convention member since 2001, but it is not in the Madrid System, so an international registration does not cover Nepal.
A foreign owner who wants protection files directly at the DoI through a local agent, and may claim Paris Convention priority. Until then, the owner has no Nepali registration to oppose with and must rely on reputation evidence.
What are the common mistakes with the bulletin?
- Calling a published mark registered. It is still an application until the certificate issues.
- Counting from the day you noticed. The window runs from the publication date printed for the issue.
- Checking the name only. The class and the goods decide whether two marks actually clash.
- Ignoring corrections. A corrected entry can change the name, class or logo you should compare.
- Relying on company registration. A company name at the Office of the Company Registrar does not stop a trademark filing.
- Waiting for someone to warn you. Nobody is obliged to tell you that a similar mark was published.
What does catching a copy in time look like?
Here is an illustration, not a real case. A Pokhara tea company has sold "Kalo Chiya" packs for years and holds a registration in Class 30. A new issue carries "Kaalo Chiya" for tea, filed by an unrelated firm. The owner's staff spot it three weeks after publication, save the page, and brief a lawyer the same week.
The owner files an opposition with its registration and sales evidence well inside the 90 days. The DoI hears both sides and decides.
Had the entry been missed, the owner would have faced a registered rival and a slower fight.
In short
The IP Bulletin is the DoI's official notice of examined trademark applications in Nepal. It is the moment a mark becomes public and the start of the 90-day opposition window.
Read each issue, compare class and goods as well as names, and act early. For your own brand, start with a trademark search, then move to trademark registration so that your mark reaches the bulletin first.
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The DoI lists its trademark checklists on its Industrial Property Section page. You can search every published mark free, and if a new entry worries you, send us the details so we can check the deadline and your options.
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