You register a clothing brand in Nepal by filing the name or logo with the Department of Industry (DoI) under the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965. Apparel sits in Nice Class 25 — clothing, footwear, headwear. An unopposed application usually takes about 12 to 14 months.
Key takeaways
- Class 25 is clothing, footwear and headwear. Saris, shawls, scarves and caps are all named in it.
- Bags are Class 18, jewellery is Class 14, and a named shop is Class 35. Nepal takes one application per class (Sec. 18A).
- Nepal is first-to-file. Selling on Instagram for two years does not beat someone else's earlier application.
- A trademark protects the name and logo. The cut, print or shape of a garment is an industrial design question, with a shorter objection window.
- A registration lasts 7 years and renews in 7-year terms, but Sec. 18C lets the DoI cancel a mark not used within a year.
Which class covers a clothing brand in Nepal?
Class 25 of the Nice Classification is the home class for apparel, and its heading is short: clothing, footwear, headwear.
Older lists say "headgear". The current wording is headwear, and using the current phrasing keeps your application tidy and your examiner unbothered.
Nepal's DoI applies the same 45-class system the rest of the world uses, so the class you would pick in Delhi or Dubai is usually the class you pick here.
Does Class 25 name sari, shawl and scarf?
It does, and that helps a Nepali label more than people realise. Saris, shawls, scarves and headscarves all appear as their own entries in the class list, as do caps, skull caps, bath slippers, jerseys and aprons.
You do not need to invent wording for a kurta line. You describe the goods plainly and match them to terms the class already carries.
The class also reaches parts of garments — cuffs, pockets, ready-made linings, heels, cap peaks — and sportswear such as cyclists' clothing and football shoes. The heading, the note and the full list are published on the WIPO Nice Classification pages.
Which garments fall outside Class 25?
The Nice note carries a long "does not include" list, and several exclusions catch Nepali makers by surprise.
A helmet is Class 9, not Class 25, because it is protective equipment. Clothing made to resist fire goes the same way. Orthopaedic footwear is Class 10.
Boxing gloves and ice skates are Class 28, because they count as sports equipment rather than clothing. Clothing made for animals sits in Class 18, and paper handkerchiefs and paper bibs in Class 16.
Why are zips and buttons in a different class?
Trims and fastenings are their own world. Zips, buttons, buckles, ribbons, hatbands and shoe trimmings are Class 26, even though you sew them onto Class 25 goods.
That only matters if you sell them. Buying buttons for your jackets changes nothing; launching a brand of buttons is a Class 26 filing.
How do you register a clothing trademark at the DoI?
The DoI is the registering authority and also acts as a quasi-judicial body when a mark is challenged. Under Sec. 16, title to a trademark comes from registration, so the sequence below is what turns a name into a right.
- Search before you print. Check the exact name, close spellings and sound-alikes in Class 25 and in any other class you sell into. Our free trademark search covers marks published in DoI bulletins; it shows published marks, not registration status.
- Decide the owner. An individual, a partnership or the company. Getting this right now avoids an assignment later if partners change.
- List the real goods. Write what you actually make, matched to Class 25 wording. The NICE class finder is a quick first test for anything outside apparel.
- File at the DoI. Sec. 17 calls for the prescribed form with four specimens of the mark, plus your company papers. A foreign label files through a Nepal-based agent with a notarised power of attorney.
- Answer examination. The DoI checks the mark under Sec. 18 and may raise objections you must reply to in writing.
- Clear publication. Under Sec. 21A an accepted mark is published in the Industrial Property Bulletin, and anyone may oppose it within 90 days.
- Collect the certificate. Sec. 18D sets the 7-year term and Sec. 23B the renewals; diarise both.
How long does a clothing filing take?
An unopposed application usually takes about 12 to 14 months from filing to certificate. The smoothest cases finish in 6 to 8 months.
Our own bulletin records suggest the gap between filing and publication alone often runs 15 to 18 months, so treat those figures as typical rather than promised.
The 90-day opposition window after publication is fixed. It sets the floor on how quickly any clothing mark can reach a certificate.
Which documents does a fashion label need?
The set depends on who owns the mark. A Nepali company usually prepares more paperwork than a sole trader, and a foreign house always files through a local agent.
| Document | Why the DoI wants it | Who provides it |
|---|---|---|
| Application form and label of the mark | Fixes the applicant, the class and exactly what is claimed | Every applicant |
| Notarised power of attorney | Authorises an agent to act, signed, sealed and witnessed | Anyone filing through an agent |
| Board resolution and industry certificate | Shows a company applicant is entitled to file | Company applicants |
| Latest tax clearance letter | Part of the standard domestic file in current practice | Nepali business applicants |
| Home registration certificate in English | Supports a foreign owner's application | Foreign applicants |
| Certified copy of the earlier filing | Supports a Paris Convention priority claim | Applicants claiming priority |
Requirements shift over time. Confirm the current list with the Department of Industry before you assemble the file, or let our trademark registration team prepare it.
Does a trademark protect the garment itself?
No. Sec. 2(c) defines a trademark as a word, symbol or picture that distinguishes one business's goods from another's — the name on the label, the logo on the chest, the wordmark on the tag.
It does not stop a rival cutting a similar jacket or printing a similar motif. That is a common and expensive misunderstanding in fashion.
The Act's text is published by the Nepal Law Commission if you want to read the definitions yourself.
When should a label also file an industrial design?
When the shape or pattern itself is the asset. An industrial design registration covers the appearance of a manufactured article, and the DoI handles it under the same 1965 Act.
The mechanics differ in ways that matter. The objection window after publication is 35 days for a design, not the 90 days a trademark gets, and the design term is shorter.
Most labels need only the trademark. A studio whose signature is a distinctive silhouette or a repeating print is the case where industrial design registration earns its keep.
How crowded is Class 25 in Nepal?
Across the DoI bulletins IP Sewa has indexed, more than 2,600 published marks carry Class 25. That is a mid-sized class here.
It sits well behind food at over 10,000 and cosmetics at nearly 5,000, but it is busy enough that plain descriptive names are already taken. These are IP Sewa's counts of published bulletin entries, not official DoI statistics.
The practical effect is that "Nepal Fashion" and "Himalayan Wear" are both weak in law and crowded in fact. A coined word gives an examiner less to object to and gives you something to enforce. The brand name generator is one way to push past the obvious ones.
Is registering the company enough?
No, and this is the single most common mistake we see. The Office of the Company Registrar records a legal entity. The DoI records a trademark. They are different registers doing different jobs.
Incorporating "Himal Thread Pvt. Ltd." does not register HIMAL THREAD as a mark for clothing. Someone else can still file that name in Class 25 and, under first-to-file, be in the stronger position.
Our guide to brand registration in Nepal sets out how the two records interact.
Should you file the word mark or the logo?
File the word mark first if you can only do one. It protects the name however you style it, so it survives the next redesign of the artwork.
A logo filing protects the drawing you filed and not much wider. Change the artwork and you may find yourself outside your own registration.
Many labels file both eventually, in the order their budget allows. Choosing a registrable name is the step before either decision.
While you wait, use TM rather than the registered symbol. Sec. 18B bars presenting a mark as registered before the DoI has registered it.
Can a foreign fashion house register in Nepal?
Yes, but only by filing here. Nepal is not part of the Madrid System, so an international registration does not extend to Nepal on its own.
A foreign owner appoints a Nepal-based agent, supplies a notarised power of attorney, and where relevant a certified home registration. A Paris Convention priority claim may be available with the right earlier filing.
What does this look like for a real label?
Picture a Patan studio trading as "Rato Dhago". It sells hoodies and caps, a canvas tote, and runs a small shop under the same name. This is an illustration, not a real case.
The hoodies and caps are Class 25. The tote is Class 18. The shop, if the name is used for the retail service itself, is Class 35.
Filing only Class 25 protects the clothes and leaves the bag and the shop sign exposed. That is fine if the clothes are the business, and a gap if the tote is the thing on everyone's shoulder.
If a confusingly similar mark reaches the bulletin, our opposition and enforcement team can act inside the 90-day window.
Common mistakes
- Treating company registration as brand protection. Two registers, two jobs. Only the DoI record is a trademark.
- Choosing a descriptive name. Words every clothing seller needs are hard to register and harder to enforce.
- Filing only the logo. A logo registration protects the drawing you filed, not the name.
- Forgetting the bags and the shop. One application, one class — the tote line and the store sign are separate filings.
- Assuming an overseas mark covers Nepal. Nepal is not in the Madrid System, so the filing has to happen here.
- Printing first. Searching after the first production run is how a label ends up renaming itself.
- Letting the mark go unused. Sec. 18C allows cancellation where a registered mark is not put into use within a year.
In short
A clothing brand in Nepal is protected by a Class 25 trademark filed at the DoI, not by selling first and not by registering a company.
Check what else you sell — bags, jewellery, a named shop — because each needs its own application. Search before the labels are printed, file the word mark early, and keep the registration renewed and in use.
If the shape or print of the garment is the asset rather than the name, ask about a design filing too. For a broader view of protecting an apparel business, see protecting a clothing and fashion brand.
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The best time to check a clothing name is before the first bulk order. Start with the free conflict checker, then contact our team if a close mark turns up or you want the Class 25 filing handled end to end.
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