• 08 Aug, 2026
  • Updated 16 Oct, 2026
  • International & IP Law
  • IP Sewa
  • 13 min read

WIPO is the World Intellectual Property Organization, a specialised agency of the United Nations. Nepal has been a member since 4 February 1997. Membership brings treaties and shared systems, not rights: every Nepali trade mark, patent and design still comes from the Department of Industry.

Key takeaways

  • Nepal holds exactly three WIPO-administered treaties in force.
  • They are the WIPO Convention (1997), the Paris Convention (2001) and Berne (2006).
  • Nepal signed the Marrakesh Treaty in 2013 and has never brought it into force.
  • No Madrid, no Patent Cooperation Treaty, no Hague, and not even the Nice Agreement.
  • Nepal still uses the NICE classification, under its own power in Sec. 18A(1).
  • Sec. 21B says a foreign registration has no validity here until it is registered here.
  • TRIPS is a World Trade Organization agreement, not a WIPO one.

What is WIPO, in one paragraph?

An intergovernmental organisation that administers international intellectual property treaties, runs shared filing systems for the countries that join them, maintains the classifications, and publishes data. It was established by a convention signed at Stockholm in 1967 and became a United Nations specialised agency in 1974.

It is not a court, a global registry or an examiner. No WIPO decision creates a right inside Nepal.

When exactly did Nepal join?

Nepal acceded to the Convention establishing WIPO on 4 November 1996, and it entered into force for Nepal on 4 February 1997. The three-month gap between the two dates is normal and is worth quoting correctly.

Note the word: this was an accession, not a signature. Nepal deposited an instrument rather than signing at a diplomatic conference, which is how most later members join.

These dates are read off the organisation's own record of Nepal's treaty membership, checked on 30 September 2026. Treaty tables are republished, so re-check before you rely on one.

Which other treaties does Nepal hold?

Two. Nepal acceded to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property on 22 March 2001, in force from 22 June 2001, under the Stockholm Act of 1967.

It acceded to the Berne Convention for literary and artistic works on 11 October 2005, in force from 11 January 2006, under the Paris Act of 1971.

Those three are the whole list of treaties in force. For a country that has been a member for nearly thirty years, it is a short one.

Nepal's treaty timelineA timeline with four points. In 1997 the WIPO Convention entered into force for Nepal, following accession on 4 November 1996. In 2001 the Paris Convention entered into force on 22 June, under the Stockholm Act of 1967. In 2006 the Berne Convention entered into force on 11 January, under the Paris Act of 1971 and with the Article 33(2) declaration. In 2013 Nepal signed the Marrakesh Treaty and it has never entered into force.Nepal's treaty timelineThree in force, and one that never arrived11997220013200642013WIPO ConventionAcceded 4 November 1996,in force 4 February 1997.Paris ConventionAcceded 22 March 2001, inforce 22 June 2001.Berne ConventionAcceded 11 October 2005,in force 11 January 2006.Marrakesh Treaty: signed 28 June 2013, and still not in forceA signature without an instrument does not bind. It is the only other entry on Nepal's record.
Dates read from the organisation's own record of Nepal's membership on 30 September 2026.

What is missing from that list?

The filing systems. Nepal is not a party to the Madrid System for international trade mark registration, so a Madrid designation cannot reach it.

Nepal is not a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty either, which means a Nepali applicant cannot file an international patent application at all, and there is no receiving office here.

The Hague system for industrial designs is absent too. Every design, patent and trade mark for Nepal is a national filing made here, which is why our patent and industrial design work is domestic from the first step.

Is Nepal in the Nice Agreement?

No, and this is the detail most articles get wrong. The Nice Agreement is the treaty behind the 45-class list, and Nepal has never joined it.

Nepal nonetheless uses the NICE classification, because it does not need the treaty to do so. Sec. 18A(1) of the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965, known in the Nepali calendar as the 2022 BS Act, empowers the Government to classify goods or services for trade mark registration by a notification in the Nepal Gazette.

The Act never names the classification. Joining a classification treaty and using a classification are different things, and Nepal does the second without the first. Our note on how the 45 classes came about tells that story.

Nepal's treaty status boardA status board. In force: the WIPO Convention since 1997, the Paris Convention since 2001, and the Berne Convention since 2006. Signed but not in force: the Marrakesh Treaty since 2013. Not a party: the Madrid System for trade marks, the Patent Cooperation Treaty for patents, the Hague system for designs, and the Nice Agreement behind the class list.In, out, and neitherNepal's position on the treaties people ask aboutWIPO Convention, in force since February 1997Paris Convention, in force since June 2001Berne Convention, in force since January 2006Marrakesh Treaty, signed in 2013 and never in forceMadrid System for international trade marksPatent Cooperation Treaty, and no receiving office hereHague for designs, and the Nice Agreement for classes
Four of these are the ones foreign counsel most often assume are available in Nepal.

Does Nepal's Berne entry carry anything unusual?

Yes, and it is easy to miss. Nepal's record notes that it acceded to the Paris Act of 1971 with the declaration provided for in Article 33(2), which concerns the International Court of Justice.

In plain terms, Nepal opted out of the treaty's route to that court for disputes about Berne. It changes nothing for an author or a business, but it is a real feature of Nepal's membership and worth stating accurately.

What does membership actually change?

Three practical things. Nepali nationals get national treatment in other member states, so a Nepali applicant is treated like a local one when filing abroad.

Priority becomes available under the Paris Convention, so a filing in one member country can anchor the date of a later filing in another, within the permitted window.

And Nepal takes part in the institutional side: assemblies, technical cooperation and the shared data systems. None of that is a right you can enforce against a competitor in Kathmandu.

WIPO does this, the Department does thatTwo comparison columns. WIPO administers international treaties, maintains the class lists, publishes global intellectual property data, runs filing systems for its members, supports technical cooperation and hosts the member assemblies. Only the Department of Industry receives a Nepali application, examines the mark or invention, publishes it in the Industrial Property Bulletin, decides an objection, issues the registration certificate and records a renewal or a transfer.What WIPO does, and what it cannotThe second column is the one that creates a rightWIPO does thisAdministers international treatiesMaintains the class listsPublishes global IP dataRuns filing systems for membersSupports technical cooperationHosts the member assembliesNone of it reaches your competitor.Only the Department does thisReceives your applicationExamines the mark or inventionPublishes it in the bulletinDecides an objectionIssues the registration certificateRecords a renewal or a transferThis column is where rights begin.A seat at the table is not a right you can enforce in Kathmandu.
Membership shapes the rules of the game. It never plays a move in your case.
Body or instrumentWhat it doesEffect in Nepal
WIPOAdministers treaties, classifications and dataFramework only, grants nothing
Paris ConventionNational treatment and prioritySupports a priority claim
Berne ConventionCopyright protection across membersIn force since January 2006
TRIPSMinimum standards through the WTOBinds the state, not private parties
Madrid and the PCTInternational filing routesUnavailable; file nationally
Department of IndustryExamines, publishes and registersThe only source of a Nepali right

Is TRIPS a WIPO agreement?

No. TRIPS belongs to the World Trade Organization, which Nepal joined separately, and it is enforced through the WTO's own machinery.

The two organisations cooperate and the subject matter overlaps, which is why the confusion is common. Keeping them apart matters when someone tells you an obligation is "international" without saying whose.

Does WIPO register anything in Nepal?

Nothing at all, and the Act says so more bluntly than any explainer could. Sec. 21B provides that title to a patent, design or trade mark registered in a foreign country is not valid in Nepal unless it is registered in Nepal by the person concerned.

Under Sec. 16(1), title to a trade mark is acquired upon registration at the Department of Industry. The route runs through Kathmandu whatever a foreign certificate says.

Our note on the Department's role sets out what it actually does.

Does a foreign registration help at all?

It helps a great deal, in a specific way. Sec. 21C allows the Department to register a foreign-registered patent, design or trade mark without conducting enquiries where the application encloses the foreign registration certificate.

The same section says the Department shall provide the registration holder with the facility available under the Paris Convention. That is where Nepal's 2001 accession does visible work.

It is still a Nepali application with Nepali paperwork. Our trademark registration service handles that route for overseas owners.

From a foreign registration to a Nepali rightA five step flow. Step one, search the Nepali register for the mark. Step two, appoint a representative in Nepal with a power of attorney. Step three, file one application per class at the Department of Industry, enclosing the foreign certificate. Step four, the mark is examined and published in the Industrial Property Bulletin, which opens the objection period. Step five, the registration certificate issues and the seven year term begins.From a foreign registration to a Nepali rightThere is no shortcut that skips the national filing1Search the Nepali register for the mark and its near misses.2Appoint a representative here, with a power of attorney.3File one application per class, enclosing the foreign certificate.4Examination, then publication, which opens the objection period.5The registration certificate issues and the seven year term begins.
Step three is where Sec. 21C can shorten the work, but it does not remove the step.

How does a Nepali filing actually run?

  1. Search the published register for the word, the sound-alikes and the logo.
  2. Choose the classes, one application for each, because the Act requires it.
  3. File the prescribed form with four specimens of the mark and the supporting papers.
  4. Answer the examiner on distinctiveness or conflict with an earlier mark.
  5. Follow publication in the Industrial Property Bulletin, which opens the objection period.
  6. Collect the certificate, and diarise the renewal date the same day.

Start the first step with our Nepal trade mark search, which covers marks published in the bulletin, and the NICE class finder for the second.

How long does a Nepali registration last?

Seven years from the date of registration under Sec. 18D. Sec. 23B sets the renewal term: renewal within thirty-five days of expiry, a six-month late window on payment of a fine, and automatic cancellation after that.

A trade mark may be renewed any number of times, seven years at a time. A patent may be renewed twice and a design twice, which is a real asymmetry inside one statute.

Our renewal service tracks the dates, and the renewal calculator works them out from a registration date.

Can you use the TM or R symbol because of WIPO?

No. The symbols have no legal standing in Nepal, and the Nepal Law Commission text of the Act never uses them.

What the Act does contain is the opposite rule. Sec. 18B forbids using a trade mark as a registered trade mark without registering it, and Sec. 19 backs that with a fine and confiscation of the goods involved.

Membership of an international organisation changes none of that. Our note on where those symbols came from explains why they feel more official than they are.

Berne has been in force for Nepal since January 2006, and copyright in Nepal arises under the Copyright Act 2059 (2002) without any filing. Registration with the Copyright Registrar's Office is a separate, voluntary matter.

IP Sewa does not file copyright applications. If your question is about a manuscript, a photograph or software code, that route runs through the Copyright Registrar's Office rather than the Department of Industry.

Common mistakes

  • Believing a Madrid registration covers Nepal. It cannot; Nepal is not a member.
  • Planning a PCT route from Kathmandu, where no receiving office exists.
  • Assuming that using the NICE classes means Nepal joined the Nice Agreement.
  • Treating TRIPS as a WIPO instrument when it belongs to the WTO.
  • Reading a mark in an international database as protected in Nepal.
  • Quoting a treaty status from an undated source.
  • Relying on a foreign certificate instead of filing here, against Sec. 21B.

A worked example

A German instruments company holds registrations across Europe and wants Nepal. This is an illustration, not a real case, but the sequence is the ordinary one.

Its Madrid portfolio is no help, so it appoints a representative in Kathmandu, files one application per class, and encloses the European certificate so that Sec. 21C can apply.

It then waits out examination and publication like everyone else, and diarises the renewal date from the certificate rather than from its home registration.

How long does it take?

Longer than most quoted figures suggest. Our own published-mark data puts the gap between filing and bulletin publication at often fifteen to eighteen months, with a wide spread either side.

Publication then opens the objection period. A published trade mark can be opposed within a ninety-day opposition window from publication; rely on the deadline the Department of Industry states and act before the last day.

In short

WIPO gives Nepal a seat, a framework and a set of shared standards. It gives nobody a Nepali right.

Three treaties are in force here, the filing systems are not, and the classification is used under Nepal's own law rather than under a treaty. The World Intellectual Property Organization keeps the current status tables if you need to re-check a date.

Everything that matters commercially still begins with an application at the Department of Industry. For the wider frame see intellectual property law in Nepal and WIPO and intellectual property in Nepal.

People also search for

If you are working out whether an overseas registration reaches Nepal, or which classes a Nepali filing needs, that is a short conversation with a clear answer. Contact our team and we will map your existing rights onto a Nepali filing plan.

#wipo#treaties#intellectual property#nepal ip#international ip
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