Documents Required for Trademark Registration in Nepal
The documents required for trademark registration in Nepal — Schedule 1(c), four specimens, PAN and registration papers, and the notarised POA foreign filers need.
Most trademark filings in Nepal are delayed not by examination but by paperwork: a missing PAN certificate, specimens printed at the wrong size, or a Power of Attorney that arrives after the filing date it was meant to support.
This checklist sets out the documents required for trademark registration in Nepal — what every applicant files, what domestic and foreign applicants add, and what the DOI asks for at each later stage.
In short
The documents required for trademark registration in Nepal start with the Schedule 1(c) form, four printed specimens of the mark (labels of about 8×8 cm), plus the applicant's identity and business papers — company or industry registration, tax clearance and PAN for domestic filers. Foreign applicants add a notarised Power of Attorney to a local agent and evidence of home registration or Paris Convention priority documents. Renewals, recordals and objections each carry their own short document set.
Documents required for trademark registration in Nepal: the application itself
The filing form is Schedule 1(c) of the PDTA Rules. It states the applicant's details, the mark, the Nice class and the specification of goods or services within that class. Because Nepal requires single-class filings under Section 18A, a brand spanning two classes means two Schedule 1(c) forms — each with its own NPR 1,000 application fee and its own document set.
The form is filed in Nepali. Foreign-language documents attached to it need certified Nepali translations, which is where many foreign-driven filings lose their first weeks.
Specimens of the mark: four prints, roughly 8×8 cm
Four printed specimens of the mark accompany the application — in practice, labels of about 8×8 cm for label-type marks. The specimens should show the mark exactly as it will be used: a composite label files as the composite; a device mark files as the device. What the specimens show is close to what the registration protects, so sloppy prints create real scope problems later.
For word marks the discipline is simpler but the principle holds — the filing should capture the distinctive version of the name, not a marketing layout built around it.
Applicant documents for domestic filers
A Nepali company or firm attaches its company or industry registration, tax clearance and PAN documentation — the papers that tie the application to a real, registered business. A natural person files personal identity documents instead. The applicant name on the form should match these papers exactly; mismatches surface at examination and cost a round of correspondence.
- Company or industry registration: proves the applicant exists as a business
- Tax clearance and PAN: the standard applicant identity set at the DOI
- Exact name match: application name = registration-certificate name, character for character
Foreign applicants: the POA and the home-country papers
Foreign applicants must file through a local authorised agent under a notarised Power of Attorney — and Nepal is outside the Apostille Convention, so foreign documents travel the consular legalisation route rather than the apostille shortcut. Evidence of home-country registration supports the application, and where the Paris Convention's six-month priority is claimed, the priority documents travel with the set.
The POA is the document foreign filers most often get wrong: signatory details, company name spellings and dates must match the application exactly, and it should be in hand before the filing date, not chased afterwards.
Documents at the later stages
The document set changes as the application matures, and each stage has its own short list.
| Stage | Documents |
|---|---|
| Filing | Schedule 1(c), 4 specimens, applicant papers or notarised POA, priority documents if claimed |
| Examination response | Written response or amendment; supporting evidence the objection calls for |
| Opposition | Written grounds with exhibits — prior registrations, use records, comparisons |
| Registration | Registration fee payment; certificate collection against the file number |
| Renewal (Schedule 2(f)) | Certificate or certified copy (NPR 1,000), proprietor papers, POA if an agent files |
| Recordals | Deed or evidence of the change; fee NPR 1,000–2,000 depending on the event |
Practical filing hygiene
Three habits prevent most document-driven delays. First, assemble the full set before the filing visit — an application accepted with missing papers simply stalls. Second, keep certified copies of the certificate; replacements cost NPR 1,000 and renewals route through the certificate. Third, maintain one file per mark — form, specimens, receipts, certificate, renewal confirmations — because every later proceeding, from an opposition to an assignment recordal, draws on it.
If the filing is delegated to an agent, the POA format the DOI accepts is worth confirming in advance rather than discovering at the counter.
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This article is general information, not legal advice.