Patent Renewal in Nepal: Annual Maintenance Requirements
How Nepalese patents are kept alive: per-year renewal fees inside 7-year terms, the 35-day and 6-month windows, the 21-year cap, and why a lapsed patent cannot be revived.
A Nepalese patent is the most deadline-sensitive right on the register. It runs 7 years from registration, renews at most twice, and charges its fees by the year — a structure that turns renewal into an annual discipline with a hard 21-year ceiling at the end of it.
This guide sets out the maintenance schedule, the fees, the windows — and why a lapsed Nepalese patent is usually gone for good.
In short
A Nepalese patent runs 7 years from registration and is renewable at most twice, for 7 years each — 21 years maximum (Section 23B). Renewals are filed on Schedule 2(d) within 35 days of each term's expiry, with a 6-month grace period carrying a NPR 1,000 fine. Fees are per year: NPR 5,000/year in the first renewal term and NPR 7,500/year in the second. A lapsed patent is cancelled automatically and generally cannot be revived — novelty is consumed, so refiling is rarely possible.
The structure: annual fees inside capped terms
Unlike trademarks, which renew in one 7-year payment, patents in Nepal pay annually within each renewal term: NPR 5,000 per year across the first renewal term (years 7–14) and NPR 7,500 per year across the second (years 14–21). Each year's fee keeps the patent in force for that year.
The ceiling is what makes the schedule strategic: two renewals, then it is over (Section 23B). By year 21 the invention is public domain in Nepal — no extension, no revival, no re-file, because the specification published at grant has consumed the novelty.
| Period | Status | Annual fee (NPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Years 0–7 | First term, from registration | — |
| Year 7 (+35 days window) | First renewal due (Schedule 2(d)) | 5,000/year for years 7–14 |
| Year 14 (+35 days window) | Second — final — renewal | 7,500/year for years 14–21 |
| Year 21 | Ceiling reached | Invention enters the public domain |
The windows: 35 days, then six months, then nothing
Each renewal falls due within 35 days of the term's expiry; a six-month grace period follows with the NPR 1,000 fine. Beyond grace, cancellation is automatic. There is no discretionary extension and no revival mechanism — which is why the patent calendar should be maintained with the same rigour as the invention deserves.
The practical rhythm for an organised portfolio: diarise each year's fee at the start of the renewal term, pay early in each window, and treat any Departmental correspondence about the patent as urgent — correspondence delays and renewal lapses compound each other.
- 35-day post-expiry window at the normal annual fee
- Six-month grace with NPR 1,000 fine — per event
- No revival: a lapsed patent is cancelled and stays cancelled
Legal references
- Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, 2022 (1965) — English translation (PDF) — WIPO Lex
- Department of Industry — Industrial Property Section — Government of Nepal
Why lapsing is terminal for patents
A trademark that lapses can sometimes be re-registered if nobody has taken it; a lapsed patent usually cannot be recovered at all. The grant published the invention — the disclosure is now prior art against its own refiling. Whatever commercial value the patent had, the monopoly component is unrecoverable once the annual fees stop.
That asymmetry should drive the maintain-vs-lapse decision each year. Renewal is worth paying while the invention is being worked — commercialised, licensed, imported under the patent's protection, or held defensively against competitors. When none of that remains, letting the patent lapse deliberately is sound management, not negligence; the failure is the accidental lapse.
- Published specifications make refiling impossible — the disclosure is its own prior art
- Maintain while the patent is worked, licensed or held defensively
- Deliberate lapse at the right year is strategy; accidental lapse is loss
Foreign proprietors and the register
Renewals for foreign-owned patents run through the local agent of record under the Power of Attorney on file — keep that mandate current, because a lapsed POA at renewal time is a self-inflicted wound. As with all patents, the renewal is only complete when the register (Section 22) reflects the paid-up term; the register is what licensees, investors and enforcement rely on.
Plan end-of-life early: a patent entering its final term should trigger the licensing and product decisions that the 21-year ceiling was always counting down to.
Legal references
- Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, 2022 (1965) — English translation (PDF) — WIPO Lex
- Department of Industry — Industrial Property Section — Government of Nepal
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This article is general information, not legal advice.