Trademark Class 29 in Nepal — Meat, Dairy & Preserved Foods (What It Covers & How to File)

A Class 29 trademark in Nepal protects a brand for meat, fish, eggs, milk products such as ghee and yogurt, edible oils and fats, and preserved fruit and vegetables such as pickles and jams. Ice cream and spices are Class 30, fresh produce Class 31. IP Sewa's index holds 2,577 published Class 29 marks.

Key takeaways

• The current NICE classification heading covers meat, fish, eggs, milk products, oils and fats for food, and preserved produce.
• Ghee is a Class 29 good: all 264 published entries in our index that name ghee in their goods sit in this class.
• Ice cream, spices and noodles are Class 30; fresh vegetables and live animals are Class 31.
• Our index holds 2,577 published Class 29 marks, 10th of the 45 classes, and 70% have a Nepali owner address.
• Sec. 18A(2) of the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965 requires a separate application for each class.

What does a Class 29 trademark cover in Nepal?

WIPO's current list, the 13th edition (version 2026), gives the heading as meat, fish, poultry and game; meat extracts for culinary purposes; preserved, frozen, dried and cooked fruits, vegetables and seaweeds; jellies, jams, compotes; eggs; milk, cheese, butter, yogurt and other milk products; oils and fats for food.

Its note says the class holds mainly foods of animal origin, plus fruit and vegetables prepared or preserved for eating, and names milk substitutes such as soya milk. Check any item on WIPO's Nice Classification page.

Nepal applies the list because Sec. 18A(1) of the Act, published by the Nepal Law Commission, lets the government classify goods and services by Nepal Gazette notice. The goods you name then set the scope.

Which trademark class is ghee in?

Class 29. WIPO's alphabetical list does not use the word ghee, but ghee is clarified butter, and the heading covers butter, other milk products and fats for food. Vegetable ghee is an edible fat, so it belongs here too.

The Bulletin agrees. Of every published entry in our index whose goods name ghee, in English or Nepali, all 264 sit in Class 29, and 257 of them have a Nepali owner address.

Write the goods as "ghee" or "butter", and add "vegetable ghee" only if you sell it. A ghee shop still needs a service class.

Are edible oils in Class 29?

Yes, when they are for food. WIPO lists vegetable oil, sunflower oil, soya bean oil, coconut oil and olive oil "for food", along with lard and margarine. Oil is a big part of the class: 676 of the 2,577 entries name an oil in their goods, against 262 that name milk.

Industrial oil is Class 4 and castor oil for medical purposes is Class 5, so an oil mill that also sells lubricants needs both filings.

Which dairy products fall outside Class 29?

Milk, curd, yogurt, cheese, cream, whey, condensed milk, powdered milk and milk shakes are all listed here. So are milk drinks where milk predominates, even when flavoured with coffee or chocolate.

Three dairy lines leave the class. Ice cream and frozen yogurt are Class 30, baby food is Class 5, and rice or soya drinks that are not milk substitutes are Class 32. A dairy selling milk, ghee and kulfi under one name therefore needs at least two filings.

Are pickles, achar and dried foods Class 29?

Mostly. WIPO lists pickles, kimchi, dried vegetables, preserved lentils, jams, soups, fruit chips and potato chips here. Chutneys, however, are listed in Class 30 as condiments, along with spices and sauces.

So an achar sold as a preserved vegetable starts in Class 29, while a masala or chutney sold as a condiment points to Class 30. Corn chips, noodles and biscuits are Class 30 as well; see our Class 30 guide.

Where does Class 29 end and the other food classes begin?

What the product is decides the class. A dairy starts in Class 29, but its next product may not.

Test anything unusual with the NICE class finder and the goods and services search. Fresh produce has its own Class 31 guide.

How many Class 29 marks has Nepal published?

Across 123 Industrial Property Bulletin issues, from January 2006 to 16 October 2026, our index holds 2,577 published Class 29 entries. That is about 3.6% of 71,842 marks, 10th of the 45 classes.

Publication has sped up: 770 marks came in the ten years to 2015, and 1,199, nearly half the total, have been published since 2023. The 12 latest issues carried 386 of 9,652 entries, or 4%.

These are IP Sewa counts of published Bulletin entries, not official statistics, and show no registration status. Browse the class with search by NICE class.

Who owns Class 29 marks in Nepal?

Counted by the country in each owner's printed address, 1,807 of the 2,577 marks are Nepali, or 70%, against about 60% across all classes. India follows with 256, then the United States with 138.

Among Nepali entries, Kathmandu addresses lead with 373, ahead of Bara with 211, Kaski with 148, Rupandehi with 146 and Morang with 131.

Which companies hold the most Class 29 marks?

Grouping name spellings so one company counts once, R. M. C. Foods Pvt. Ltd. of Bara leads with 125, all published from November 2022 on. Sujal Dairy Pvt. Ltd. of Kaski follows with 117; the Bulletin also prints the name as Sujal Diary and Sujal Dary.

India's ITC Limited holds 88, published from 2006 to 2016, and 82 of them list their goods only by reference. Yashoda Foods Private Limited of Rupandehi holds 30 and Sitaram Gokul Milks of Kathmandu 26. Look up any rival with the owner search.

R. M. C. Foods files each brand once per oil, and often again in romanised Nepali, so 111 of its 125 names contain OIL or TEL. Sujal Dairy files its SAFAL range product by product, from ghee to dahi.

What makes a dairy or oil brand name strong?

One that tells buyers who made the product, not what it is. In this class 147 mark names contain OIL or TEL, 61 contain DAIRY, MILK or DUDH, and 15 contain GHEE.

Those words describe the goods, so they protect nothing on their own; the brand word in front does the work. The Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965 never uses the word "distinctive". Sec. 18 lets the Department refuse a mark already registered to someone else, or one that harms another mark's reputation, public morality or the national interest.

"Pure Cow Ghee" will struggle to stop a rival; an invented word before "ghee" gives you something to own.

Does a Class 29 search clear a food brand?

Only partly. A check in the published trademark search takes minutes, but 608 of the 2,577 entries print a reference such as "AS PER HRC" instead of a goods list, so the Bulletin often hides what a mark covers.

Search Classes 30, 31, 32, 35 and 43 too, because buyers meet food brands across all of them. Under Sec. 18 the Department may refuse a mark that would undermine the reputation of another person's trade mark, so a well-known name in another class can still matter. Our guide on checking whether a trademark is registered covers the method, and a blank result is never clearance.

How should you word Class 29 goods?

Name the products in the words WIPO uses: ghee, butter, curd, yogurt, cheese, milk, sunflower oil for food, vegetable oil for food, pickles or dried vegetables. Avoid "food products" or "dairy items" on their own, which hide what you actually sell.

Our guide to goods versus services explains why ghee and a ghee shop are different filings.

How do you file a Class 29 trademark in Nepal?

Title comes from registration under Sec. 16, and the first-to-file principle generally applies, so file before you print labels. Filing happens at the Department of Industry, one class at a time:

1. Search the name and logo. Use the published register and the conflict checker.
2. Map the range to classes. Ghee and oil are 29; kulfi, spices and the shop are separate Sec. 18A filings.
3. Write the goods list. Name the foods you sell, in published wording.
4. File the application. Sec. 17 asks for the prescribed form with four specimens of the mark, plus a power of attorney where an agent files.
5. Answer examination. Under Sec. 18(1) the Department investigates and gives you a chance to be heard.
6. Watch the Bulletin. The 90-day opposition period runs from publication; act before the deadline the Department states.
7. Collect the registration certificate. Once the registration fee is paid, the Department issues it under Sec. 18(2).

The Department's own notice in the 8 July 2025 Bulletin, Vol. 19 No. 5, cites Sec. 18(1) and invites objections within 90 days of publication. Over the 12 latest issues, the median filing-to-publication gap is about 3.5 months, though about one mark in six waits over two years.

An unopposed mark typically takes about 12 to 14 months to certificate, 6 to 8 in the smoothest cases; treat both as guidance, not a promise. Our trademark registration service runs each stage.

What documents does a Class 29 application need?

Under current Department practice, a Nepali company provides the form, four specimens of the mark, a board resolution and, where an agent files, a notarised power of attorney. An established business adds its latest tax clearance; a new company will not have one yet, so confirm the checklist the Department of Industry publishes.

Foreign applications go through a local representative under a power of attorney, under current Department practice. Product licences and label approvals are separate records and do not replace a trademark filing. Costs depend on the filing; the fee calculator shows sourced, dated government fees.

How long does a Class 29 registration last?

7 years from registration under Sec. 18D, and the mark is renewable any number of times, seven years at a time, under Sec. 23B. Renew within 35 days after expiry; a six-month late window follows on a fine, after which the registration is cancelled automatically.

Under Sec. 18C, a mark not used within one year of registration can be cancelled after inquiry, so plan the launch around it. The renewal calculator works out the dates.

Common mistakes

• Filing ice cream or kulfi in Class 29. Edible ices are Class 30, even from a dairy.
• Putting spices or chutney beside ghee. Condiments and spices are Class 30.
• Listing fresh vegetables with pickles. Fresh produce is Class 31.
• Writing "food products" as the whole list. Name the actual goods.
• Assuming Class 29 covers the dairy shop. Retail is Class 35 and a café is Class 43.
• Ignoring a rival's new mark. The opposition window closes 90 days after publication; our opposition service can act inside it.

What does a ghee and achar brand need?

This is an illustration, not a real case. "Tarali Foods", a Chitwan maker, sells ghee, yogurt and mango achar, plans a masala blend and kulfi, and wants a branded outlet in Narayangarh.

The ghee, yogurt and achar share one Class 29 application. The masala and kulfi are Class 30, and the outlet is a Class 35 service, so the name needs three Nepal filings.

Filing all three before launch avoids owning the ghee but not the kulfi.

In short

Class 29 is meat, fish, eggs, milk products including ghee, oils and fats for food, and preserved produce such as pickles and jams. Ice cream, spices and chutney are 30, fresh produce 31, the shop 35 and the café 43.

Search first, avoid a descriptive name, and file before you print labels. For a written view, our trademark search service weighs the conflicts.

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Making ghee, oil or dairy goods under one name? Contact IP Sewa and we will map your range to the right classes.