The PCT: One Patent Application, Worldwide

The Patent Cooperation Treaty — the PCT — is a single international patent application that starts the clock for protection in over 150 member countries at once. It doesn't grant an "international patent," and Nepal is not a member. For Nepali businesses and foreign filers targeting Nepal, that creates a very specific set of rules you need to understand before you spend a rupee.

Key Takeaways

• The PCT is a filing treaty, not a granting treaty — it buys you time (30–31 months) to decide where to seek patents, but each country's patent office decides whether to grant one.
• Nepal is not a PCT contracting state. You cannot file a PCT application designating Nepal, and you cannot use the PCT route if your priority filing is in Nepal.
• A Nepali applicant can still file a PCT application by first filing in a PCT member country (or claiming priority from one), typically through a Paris Convention route.
• Foreign applicants who want patent protection in Nepal must file directly with the Department of Industry under the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965 — the PCT cannot help you enter Nepal.
• The PCT process has two phases: an international phase (search, publication, optional examination) and a national phase where you pursue grants in each chosen country.
• IP Sewa's team can help you navigate the Nepal side of patent filing and coordinate with foreign agents for PCT work — reach out through our contact page.

What exactly is the PCT?

The Patent Cooperation Treaty is a 1970 multilateral agreement administered by WIPO that unifies the first part of the patent-filing process. It lets you file one international application in one language at one receiving office, and that single filing counts as a valid application in every PCT member country you later choose. The PCT does not grant patents — only national or regional patent offices can do that. What it gives you is a 30- to 31-month window (from your earliest priority date) before you have to commit to each individual country's full examination and translation costs.

Is Nepal part of the PCT system?

No. Nepal is not a contracting state to the Patent Cooperation Treaty. That means you cannot designate Nepal in a PCT application, and you cannot enter the Nepali national phase through the PCT route. A Nepali priority filing — an application lodged first with the Department of Industry under the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965 — cannot serve as the basis for a PCT filing because Nepal has no PCT receiving office. This single fact shapes every international patent strategy that involves Nepal.

How can a Nepali applicant use the PCT?

A business or inventor based in Nepal can still file a PCT application, but the route is indirect. The most practical path is to first file a patent application in a PCT member country where you do business — India is the most common choice for Nepali applicants — and then file the PCT application within 12 months claiming priority from that first filing. Nepal and most countries are members of the Paris Convention, so that priority claim is recognised. The alternative is to file the PCT directly at the WIPO International Bureau, again claiming Paris Convention priority from a first filing in a member country. In either case you need a patent agent or attorney in the country where that first filing lands.

What does the PCT process actually look like, step by step?

The PCT unfolds in two distinct phases. First comes the international phase, managed by WIPO, where your application gets a search report and optional preliminary examination. Then comes the national phase, where you pursue actual patent grants country by country. Here is the sequence, bearing in mind that Nepal sits outside every step after any initial priority filing there.

1. File a priority application. You lodge a first patent application — if you are in Nepal, this is at the Department of Industry. If you plan to use the PCT, you'll instead file in a PCT member country like India, using a local agent. The filing date becomes your priority date.
2. File the PCT application (within 12 months). You submit the PCT application to a receiving office — typically WIPO's International Bureau or a national office of a PCT member state. You must claim priority from your first filing. The application must include a description, claims, drawings if needed, and an abstract.
3. International search. An International Searching Authority (ISA) — such as the Indian Patent Office or the European Patent Office — searches prior art and issues a written opinion on patentability. You receive the report roughly 4–5 months after filing.
4. International publication. At 18 months from your priority date, WIPO publishes your application on PATENTSCOPE. The world now knows what you have filed.
5. Supplementary international search (optional). You can request additional searches from other ISAs to cover different language prior-art databases.
6. International preliminary examination (optional). You can request a deeper examination and get a non-binding opinion on novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability. This helps you decide whether to enter the national phase.
7. National phase entry (30 or 31 months from priority date). You choose which PCT countries to pursue, pay each country's fees, provide translations, and appoint local agents. Each patent office then examines your application under its own law. This is the expensive stage.
8. For Nepal (separately). Because Nepal is not in the PCT, you file a direct application at the Department of Industry under the PDTA 1965, claiming Paris Convention priority from your earliest filing if it is still within 12 months. You need a notarised Power of Attorney, a board resolution, the patent specification, and certified copies of any priority documents.

What does the PCT cost and what drives the total?

PCT filing costs come in layers, and the total depends heavily on how many countries you eventually enter. The international phase has WIPO filing fees, search fees set by the ISA you choose, and transmittal fees if you go through a national receiving office. The national phase is where costs multiply — each country charges its own filing, examination, and annuity fees, plus translation costs and local attorney fees. For Nepal specifically, government fees are set under the PDTA 1965's Schedule 3, and a foreign applicant files through a Nepal-based agent. Because no two patent portfolios look alike, it is far more useful to talk through your target countries with someone who does this daily than to quote a generic number — our team can walk you through the structure on a call via our contact page or you can explore the cost build-up on our tools page.

What documents do you need for PCT filing and the Nepal side?

For the international phase, the core documents are the patent specification (description, claims, abstract, drawings), a request form identifying the applicant, inventor, and designated states, and the priority document if you are claiming an earlier date. Translations depend on the receiving office. For the separate Nepal filing at the DoI — whether you are a foreign applicant or a Nepali business that already pursued the PCT for other countries — the document set is prescribed by the PDTA 1965 and current practice: a notarised Power of Attorney signed by the applicant with two witnesses, a board resolution authorising the filing, the patent specification and drawings, a certified copy of any priority application (in English or with a notarised translation), and your company registration documents. Our patent registration service page walks through what our team handles for you.

What are the common mistakes when PCT and Nepal intersect?

A frequent error we see is a foreign applicant assuming the PCT covers Nepal and discovering too late that it does not. By the time the PCT national phase deadline arrives — 30 or 31 months from the priority date — the 12-month Paris Convention window for a direct Nepal filing has long since passed. The result is a permanent gap: patent protection in every major market except Nepal. Another mistake is a Nepali applicant filing first at the DoI, then attempting to file a PCT designating fifty countries — WIPO will reject it because Nepal is not a member and cannot act as the priority jurisdiction for a PCT filing. The fix is always the same: plan the Nepal piece and the international piece as two parallel tracks from day one, not as an afterthought.

A concrete example: a Nepali solar-tech startup goes global

Imagine a Kathmandu-based clean-energy company develops a new solar-panel mounting system. They want patent protection in Nepal, India, Germany, and Kenya. Here is how the strategy looks in practice. They file first in India — a PCT member — through an Indian patent agent, securing a priority date. Within 12 months they file a PCT application at WIPO claiming that Indian priority, designating Germany and Kenya (and any other PCT states). At 30 months they enter the national phase in Germany and Kenya. Simultaneously — ideally around the same time as the Indian filing, and certainly within 12 months — they file directly at Nepal's Department of Industry through a local agent, claiming Paris Convention priority from the Indian application. They now have an Indian patent pending, a Nepal patent pending, and PCT national-phase applications in Europe and Africa, all tied to one priority date. The Nepal filing sits outside the PCT bundle but is no less real or enforceable for it.

Legal basis: the PDTA 1965 and the international framework

Nepal's domestic patent law is the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965, administered by the Department of Industry. The Act sets a patent term of 7 years from registration, renewable. Nepal joined the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, which is what allows Nepali applicants to claim priority from a DoI filing when they later file abroad, and vice versa. Nepal is also a member of the World Trade Organization and bound by the TRIPS Agreement, which sets minimum standards for patent protection. The PCT itself is a WIPO-administered treaty — the full member list and the legal texts are on WIPO's PCT resources page. The PDTA 1965 statutory text is accessible through the Nepal Law Commission.

In short

The PCT is a powerful time-buying tool for international patent strategy — but it does not cover Nepal, and it never will until Nepal accedes to the treaty. If Nepal is in your patent plans, whether as a home jurisdiction or a target market, the filing path runs straight through the Department of Industry, under the PDTA 1965, with no PCT shortcut. Get the Nepal filing and your PCT strategy running together from the start, and you avoid the expensive gaps that catch companies off guard.

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Every international patent strategy that touches Nepal needs local execution. Use our trademark database search if you are also protecting your brand, or head to our patent registration service to see how we handle DoI filings. Ready to talk through your specific countries? Get in touch with our team — we will help you map the right route, PCT and Nepal together.