Foreign Franchise Entry into Nepal: The IP Sequence Before the First Outlet Opens
A foreign franchise entering Nepal must file nationally — Madrid does not cover Nepal. The IP sequence: POA, trademark filings, licence recordal, royalties.
An international franchise brand lands in Nepal the same way every time: a local partner is excited, an outlet site is shortlisted, and the franchisor's global IP team assumes the market is covered because the Madrid registration says so. It is not — Nepal is outside the Madrid System, and an international registration that designates Nepal simply does not designate anything.
What protects the brand here is a short, unforgiving sequence of national steps. Getting the order right is the difference between a clean launch and a squatter problem.
In short
A foreign franchise entering Nepal must file nationally at the Department of Industry — Madrid registrations have no effect here — through a local agent under a notarised, consularly legalised Power of Attorney. The sequence: clearance search, POA and legalisation (2–6 weeks of lead time), Schedule 1(c) filings class by class (NPR 1,000 application + NPR 5,000 registration per class, 7-year renewable term), then the master franchise licence recorded at the DOI (NPR 2,000 per mark) with NRB and FITTA documentation supporting royalty repatriation. First-to-file means the filing precedes the signing; Paris priority (6 months) bridges the gap for fresh home filings.
Step zero: accept that Nepal is a direct-filing market
Nepal belongs to the Paris Convention and the WTO/TRIPS framework, but not to the Madrid Agreement or Protocol. There is no international-registration route and no regional one: a Schedule 1(c) application at the Department of Industry, one class per filing, is the only door to a Nepalese trademark.
The consequence is timing. Nepal's register is first-to-file, and local squatters do not wait for a global rollout schedule — franchise brands are among their favourite targets, because the brand's own marketing announces its arrival. The Nepal filing belongs at the start of the entry plan, not the end of it.
The entry sequence for a foreign franchise, in order
The order is the strategy: clear, legalise, file, claim priority, paper. Signing the franchisee before filing the mark inverts it.
Clear the brand in Nepal's classes
Screen the name across 71,000+ published records — including Devanagari transliterations, which is where foreign brands most often miss a sleeping conflict.
Build the POA and document chain
Notarisation in the origin country, home foreign-ministry authentication, then legalisation at a Nepalese mission — apostilles are not accepted, because Nepal is outside the Apostille Convention. Budget 2–6 weeks and confirm the chain with the local agent before notarising anything.
File the classes the franchise actually uses
One application per class: typically the core goods/services classes plus 35 and 43 for retail and food-service operations. NPR 1,000 per class at filing, NPR 5,000 at registration, term 7 years renewable.
Claim Paris priority where it exists
A Nepal filing within 6 months of the home filing claims the earlier date — the one lever that keeps Nepal synchronised with a global rollout.
Paper the franchise before the doors open
Master franchise or licence agreement executed, and the trademark licence recorded at the DOI — the recordal that anchors the franchisee's use of the mark on the public register.
The money layer: licences, recordals and repatriation
Franchisors discover this layer at audit time: royalties that cannot be repatriated cleanly are royalties the local partner pays reluctantly. The documentation chain — licence, recordal, NRB approvals — is built once, at entry, by the people who understand why each link exists.
| Item | Instrument | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Trademark licence | Recorded at the DOI — NPR 2,000 per mark | Puts the franchisee's authorised use on the register |
| Royalty payments abroad | Nepal Rastra Bank approval chain | Recorded licence documentation supports repatriation |
| Foreign investment and technology | FITTA framework | Governs technology transfer arrangements and protects licensed technology |
| Local agent | Notarised, legalised POA kept current | Renewals, recordals and oppositions all route through it |
The Nepal specifics that surprise global IP teams
Each item is minor alone; together they are why Nepal filings succeed when run by the local agent and stall when run by remote instruction.
- 7-year renewal cycles, not 10 — with the proposed Industrial Property Bill 2082 considering a move to 10-year terms
- Fees differ for foreign applicants from Nepali applicant rates — confirm the applicable rates with the agent before payment
- Documents are filed in Nepali; foreign materials need certified translations
- Register correspondence follows the Nepali address of record, not the overseas head office
- A trademark watch matters more, not less, in a market the global docketing system does not cover
What happens if the sequence is skipped
The failure mode is well documented in Nepal's register: the brand launches, marketing builds the name's reputation, a local party files the mark first, and the franchisor's options shrink to opposition during the 90-day window (if the squatter's application publishes in time), cancellation for non-use after a year of registration, or a negotiated buy-back of its own name. Every one of those costs more than the NPR 1,000-per-class filing fee would have at the start.
The franchise model concentrates the risk further: the master franchisee who loves the brand today is structurally positioned to own the mark tomorrow. Filing in the franchisor's own name, before signing, is what keeps the licence a licence.
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This article is general information, not legal advice.