We register the look of your product — its shape, pattern and ornament — at Nepal's Department of Industry, from the novelty check to the certificate.
IP Sewa registers your product's visual appearance — its shape, configuration, pattern or ornament — as an industrial design at Nepal's Department of Industry (DoI). We run the novelty check, prepare the drawings, file under the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965, and manage examination through to your registration certificate and its renewable 5-year term.
Key Takeaways
- An industrial design protects how a product looks — not how it works, which is what a patent covers.
- Designs are registered at the Department of Industry under the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965; Nepal is first-to-file.
- Your design must be new — not published, sold or shown publicly before you file.
- We prepare the formal representations and drawings the DoI needs, so the appearance you claim is clear and complete.
- A registration runs for a 5-year term and is renewable to keep the protection alive.
- Nepal is not part of the international design-filing systems, so you file directly with the DoI.
What industrial design registration protects
An industrial design is the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of a product — its shape, configuration, pattern or the ornament applied to it. Registration at the Department of Industry gives you the exclusive right to that appearance for the article you claim, so a competitor cannot copy the look and sell an imitation. It covers the way a bottle is shaped, the pattern printed on a fabric, the form of a piece of furniture or the styling of a household appliance. What it does not cover is how the product functions, what it is made of, or any technical idea inside it.
Design or patent? Protecting appearance versus function
The single most common question we field is whether a new product needs a design or a patent. The rule is simple: a design protects how a product looks, while a patent protects how it works — the technical invention or functional improvement. A uniquely styled lamp is a design matter; a new mechanism that dims the lamp is a patent matter. Many products carry both kinds of value, and where they do, we advise on filing each right separately so neither the appearance nor the invention is left exposed.
If you are weighing the two, read industrial design vs patent in Nepal for a fuller comparison, then bring us the product and we will tell you which right — or both — fits your case.
What's included in our design service
We handle an industrial design filing end to end, so you are not left drafting technical drawings or reading statute. From the first novelty check to the registration certificate and the reminder to renew, the work below is ours to carry — you provide the product and the decisions, and we do the rest.
The process we run for you
We start by assessing whether your design is new, because novelty is the heart of a design right — a design already published, sold or shown in public cannot usually be registered. We then prepare the representations the DoI needs: clear views of the article that define exactly what appearance you are claiming, since the drawings, not a description, set the scope of your protection. Next we file with the Department of Industry, which fixes your priority date under Nepal's first-to-file rule, and we shepherd the application through formal and substantive examination, answering any objection the examiner raises. When the design is accepted, the DoI publishes it for public information, and any interested person may file an opposition within 35 days; if none succeeds, the design is registered and your certificate issued.
For the step-by-step detail behind each of these stages, see industrial design registration in Nepal. You never have to read the procedure to use the service — but the guide is there if you want to understand exactly what we are doing on your behalf.
What you provide
The documents the Department of Industry needs for a design filing are:
- The completed application form.
- A notarised Power of Attorney, signed by the applicant and attested by two witnesses.
- Four copies of the design and drawings — plan, elevation and side view.
- A notarised copy of the claim of originality for the design.
- For a priority claim: a certified/notarised copy of the foreign filing receipt or application, in English.
- For a design already registered abroad: a certified/notarised copy of the home registration certificate, in English.
To prepare these, we need the product itself or accurate images of it from every relevant angle, the name and address of the applicant who will own the design, and a short account of where and whether the design has been shown or sold. Because novelty matters so much, the most valuable thing you can give us is an early conversation — ideally before you launch, exhibit or post the product online, so a public disclosure does not undercut your own filing. If a disclosure has already happened, tell us; it shapes how and how quickly we file.
How long does registration take?
Timelines depend on the DoI's queue and on whether the examiner raises an objection, so we give each client a realistic schedule at the outset rather than a fixed promise. Preparing the drawings and the application is usually a matter of days to a couple of weeks once we have your images; examination at the Department of Industry then runs on the office's own timetable. A clean, clearly-drawn, genuinely new design moves fastest — which is exactly why we invest in the novelty check and the representations up front, before anything is filed.
The 5-year term and renewal
An industrial design registration in Nepal runs for a 5-year term and is renewable — the shorter cycle is one of the practical differences from the 7-year trademark and patent terms. You keep the exclusive right to the appearance for as long as you renew on time; let the term lapse and the protection falls away, leaving the design open for others to use. We diarise every client's expiry date and prompt you well before it, so a renewal is never missed by oversight. The renewal window and what a lapse means are covered in industrial design renewal in Nepal.
Filing in Nepal — and only in Nepal
Nepal is not a party to the international registration systems that let one filing reach many countries, so a design right granted here protects you in Nepal and must be filed directly with the Department of Industry. If you sell — or plan to sell — the product abroad, each market needs its own filing under its own law and timetable. We flag this early for exporters and manufacturers so the home-market design is secured first and any overseas protection is planned deliberately, not discovered too late.
Why register with IP Sewa
Design applications succeed or fail on two things a non-specialist rarely gets right: a sound judgement of novelty, and drawings that claim the appearance precisely. We do both daily. We run one of Nepal's largest searchable databases of registered industrial property, we know how the Department of Industry examines a filing, and we prepare the representations so your protection is neither too narrow to matter nor so broad it invites an objection. From the first check to the renewal reminder, one team owns your file. Explore our full range of IP services to see how a design fits alongside your trademarks and patents.
Ready to protect your product's design?
If you have a product with a distinctive look worth protecting, the time to act is before it goes public. Start by searching existing industrial property on our register search, then talk to an IP expert about registering your design. Tell us what you have made and where you are in your launch, and we will map the fastest safe route to a registered design.
Ready to get started with Industrial Design Registration?
Talk to an IP professional — we’ll guide you from the first question to a registered right.
Frequently asked
It is protection for the way a product looks — its shape, configuration, pattern or ornament — registered at the Department of Industry under the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965. It gives you the exclusive right to that appearance for the article, and runs for a renewable 5-year term.
A design protects how a product looks; a patent protects how it works — its function, mechanism or technical invention. A uniquely shaped bottle is a design; a new closure mechanism inside it is a patent. Many products carry both, and we advise filing each right separately.
Yes. Novelty is the core requirement — a design already published, sold or shown publicly before you file usually cannot be registered. That is why we assess novelty first and urge clients to talk to us before launching, exhibiting or posting the product online.
With the Department of Industry (DoI), the same office that registers trademarks and patents, under the Patent, Design and Trademark Act 1965. Nepal is first-to-file, so the earliest filing date takes priority in a dispute — filing promptly protects your position.
A registration runs for a 5-year term and is renewable to keep the protection alive. Miss the renewal and the design lapses, leaving the appearance open for others to use. We track each client's expiry date and remind you before the term ends.
The product or accurate images of it from every relevant angle, the applicant's name and address, and a short account of whether and where the design has already been shown or sold. From that we prepare the formal drawings and file the application with the DoI.
It is risky, because a prior public disclosure can defeat the novelty the design right depends on. Tell us exactly when and how the design was shown or sold — it shapes whether and how quickly we can still file. The safest course is always to file before any disclosure.
No. Nepal is not part of the international design-filing systems, so a registration here protects you only in Nepal and must be filed directly with the DoI. Each foreign market needs its own filing under its own law — we help exporters plan overseas protection deliberately.
Cost depends on the design and the work involved, and government fees change over time, so we do not quote figures here. Contact us and we will give you a current, tailored quote after we understand your product and where you are in your launch.
A design succeeds or fails on a sound novelty judgement and drawings that claim the appearance precisely — both are easy to get wrong. Professional help is worth it whenever the product matters commercially, faces a crowded field, or may already have been disclosed. We handle the filing end to end.
