Restaurant Chain Expansion in Nepal: File the Trademark Before the Second Outlet
Restaurant chains in Nepal should file the trademark before the second outlet opens. The classes, costs and filing sequence that protect a growing food brand.
The first restaurant runs on hustle and a good name. The second outlet is where the name starts paying rent for other people: suppliers copy it, delivery apps list knock-off kitchens beside yours, and an ex-manager opens a branch of his own — under your brand.
Nepal's trademark system is first-to-file. If the chain has not registered its name and logo by the time expansion begins, the brand everyone recognises may belong to whoever files first.
In short
A restaurant chain in Nepal should register its trademark before expansion, class by class: Class 43 for restaurant services, Class 30 for packaged staples, Class 35 for distribution and franchise management. Each class is a separate application — NPR 1,000 to file and NPR 5,000 to register — examined separately and renewed on its own 7-year clock. Sequence the filings around the expansion plan, record any franchise licences, and watch the Bulletin for lookalike applications.
Why the second outlet is when trademark problems start
A single restaurant with an unregistered name has one exposure: someone else files first. A chain has several, because every new outlet multiplies the surfaces where the brand lives — signage, menu boards, packaging, delivery-app listings, social pages — and the number of people who see it and think of copying it.
The Department of Industry examines and registers applications class by class, and Nepal's practice is one class per application. The name on your storefront and the name printed on your retail chutney jars are different filings, different fees and different renewal clocks. Chains that budget "one trademark" as one filing discover the real structure halfway through expansion.
The stakes are concrete. A registration not renewed within its 35-day window — plus a 6-month grace period carrying a NPR 1,000 fine — is cancelled automatically. And a mark not used within one year of registration can face a Departmental use inquiry under Section 18C, which is why dated evidence of use (menus, invoices, app listings) belongs in the chain's files from day one.
The pre-expansion filing sequence
Run the filings in the order the revenue arrives, not the order the org chart grows.
Clear the name before the site survey
Screen the name and its Devanagari form against registered marks and published applications in your classes. Transliteration is where food brands trip: a name that reads clean in English may collide with an existing Devanagari mark that sounds the same.
Map the classes to the expansion plan
List what each new outlet and product line actually sells: dine-in service, packaged goods, delivery, merchandise. Map each item to its Nice class before any filing is drafted — the specification wording decides the scope.
File the core class first
File Class 43 (restaurant services) before launch, on Schedule 1(c) with four printed specimens of the mark, roughly 8×8 cm labels in practice. Filing is NPR 1,000 per class; registration, after acceptance, NPR 5,000.
Back-fill the adjacent classes
Add Class 30 when packaged products ship, Class 35 when distribution or franchise services begin. Each filing stands alone — a conflict in one does not touch the others.
The class map for a growing restaurant chain
The class heading is only the door — the goods and services wording is the room. "Restaurant services" protects the dining experience; "franchise management services" is what gives the head-office brand teeth when a partner city opens.
| Class | Covers | File when |
|---|---|---|
| 43 | Restaurant, café and catering services | Before the first outlet opens |
| 30 | Packaged staples: sauces, spices, tea, bakery lines | Before retail products ship |
| 35 | Distribution, retail, franchise management services | Before the franchise or wholesale model starts |
| 9 / 42 | The ordering app and platform, if the chain runs one | Before the app is marketed under the brand |
What the numbers look like for a three-class chain
A chain filing Classes 43, 30 and 35 pays 3 × NPR 1,000 at filing and 3 × NPR 5,000 at registration — NPR 18,000 in government fees across the set. Each application is examined separately, published in the Industrial Property Bulletin, and opens a roughly 90-day opposition window; an unopposed registration typically completes in around 12–18 months from filing.
The renewal arithmetic matters more over time: 3 × NPR 3,500 every 7 years, each class on its own anniversary. Chains that let a class lapse mid-growth hand that slice of the brand to whoever files next.
Franchise and licence paperwork that follows the expansion
When the chain licenses its brand to a partner outlet, the licence agreement should be recorded at the Department of Industry — NPR 2,000 per mark in current practice. Recordal puts the licensee's authorised use on the register, supports royalty flows, and stops the licensee from later arguing the brand was free for the taking.
Quality-control clauses belong in the same instrument: specifications the licensee must meet, signage approvals, and a right to terminate the licence while keeping the registration. The registration stays with the chain; the licence is the partner's permission, nothing more.
Watching the register while the chain grows
Expansion makes the brand more visible, and visibility invites lookalike applications. Accepted applications publish in the Bulletin — roughly monthly — and open about 90 days for opposition. A watch that reviews each issue catches the copycat application while an opposition is still cheap; discovering it after registration leaves only cancellation routes.
The chains that scale cleanly treat the trademark like a store lease: filed before opening, renewed on calendar, and policed continuously.
Want this handled for your brand?
IP Watch monitors new trademark publications in Nepal and alerts you to potentially conflicting marks — with the context needed to review them.
This article is general information, not legal advice.