Patent Filing Process in Nepal, Step by Step: Schedule 1(a) to Grant

Before filing: what can be patented in Nepal

Section 2(a) of the PDTA defines an invention functionally: a new method or process, a method of manufacture, operation or transmission, or an invention based on a new theory or formula. The framework is weighted toward process and utility inventions — food processing, herbal formulations, mechanical adaptations — the inventive activity Nepal's economy actually produces.

Check the two qualifiers before spending anything: the invention must be new against what has been published anywhere in the world, and it must be described in terms of how it works. A disclosure built around appearance belongs in a design filing; a brand belongs in a trademark.

The patent filing process in Nepal, stage one: Schedule 1(a)

The application is filed on Schedule 1(a) at the Department of Industry's Industrial Property Section. The form carries the inventor's name, address and occupation — which the Act requires — and travels with the substance of the filing:

• Full description of the invention, including the process or method by which it is made or carried out — enough detail that a person in the field can understand and reproduce it
• Theory or formula where the invention rests on one
• Maps and drawings where the subject matter needs them
• Assignment evidence where the applicant is not the inventor — the basis of the applicant's right must be clear
• Nepali translation of any foreign-language disclosure; notarised Power of Attorney for foreign applicants

Stage two: technical committee examination

Nepal's examination stage is distinctive. After formality checks, the Department constitutes a technical committee — experts drawn from government technical bodies, academia and institutions such as NAST and RECAST — to examine the application's documents against the disclosure.

The committee's findings come back to the applicant, who may amend the documents; the committee can re-examine the amendments before a final decision forms. Responding within the stated period is where filings live or die — a slow response is the quietest way to lose a year, and a lapsed application generally cannot be revived with novelty intact.

Stage three: publication, opposition and grant

Accepted patents are published in the Nepal Gazette under Section 7A — with exceptions for secret patents and matters against the national interest. Particulars can be inspected, and objections lie within 35 days of publication, fought on the file: prior publication or prior knowledge of the invention is the classic ground.

On a favourable outcome the registration fee is paid and the patent registers for its first 7-year term. Total elapsed time from filing is typically a year or more; amended or technically complex applications run longer.

Priority and foreign applicants

Nepal is party to the Paris Convention and the Patent Cooperation Treaty. A Nepalese application filed within 12 months of a first filing elsewhere can claim that earlier priority date — decisive in a system where published prior art anywhere can defeat novelty. PCT filers enter the national phase with a direct national filing at the DOI.

Foreign inventors must file through a local agent under a notarised Power of Attorney, with translated specifications. Plan the disclosure before the priority clock starts: amendments during examination cannot cure a specification that was thin on filing day.

The three mistakes that cost the most

The consistent failure points: a description too thin to be reproduced (refusal now, or a challengeable patent later); unanswered Department correspondence (months lost, sometimes the application); and forgetting that the term runs from registration, not filing — the date that trips up applicants used to other jurisdictions. From the grant date, renewal is due within 35 days of each term expiry, on Schedule 2(d), with a 6-month grace period carrying a NPR 1,000 fine — beyond grace, cancellation is automatic and permanent.