Travel Agency Trademark in Nepal: Class 39 First, Then the Rest of the Journey
Which classes a travel agency trademark in Nepal needs, what filing at the DOI costs, which documents to prepare, and the traps tour and trekking operators hit.
Thamel alone holds hundreds of tour and trekking operators, many trading under names that differ by a syllable. For a travel business, the brand is the shopfront — and under Nepal's first-to-file system, the operator who registers the name owns it, not the operator who has used it longer.
A travel agency trademark in Nepal is mostly a class question. Get the class map right and the filing is routine; get it wrong and you can hold a certificate that does not cover the services you sell.
In short
A travel agency trademark in Nepal starts with Class 39 — transport, packaging and storage of goods, and travel arrangement — because Nepal files one application per class under Section 18A of the PDTA. Adjacent classes (35 for retail-type selling, 43 for owned lodges, 9 or 42 for booking apps) are separate applications at NPR 1,000 each, plus NPR 5,000 registration per class and NPR 3,500 per class every 7-year renewal. File with company registration, PAN and tax clearance, expect a roughly 6–12 month journey through examination and the 90-day opposition window, and put the mark into real use within a year of registration.
The travel agency trademark class map in Nepal: Class 39 and its neighbours
Class 39 covers transport; packaging and storage of goods; and travel arrangement — the natural home for tour operations, ticketing and trekking arrangement. Nepal applies the Nice Classification's 45 classes under Section 18A of the PDTA, and the rule that shapes every filing is one application per class: no multi-class consolidation exists.
That turns class selection into the geometry of your protection. Two Thamel agencies with identical names can coexist if their classes never overlap — and the same name two classes apart can collide once the goods or services do.
| Business activity | Class(es) | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Tour, trek and ticketing operations | 39 | Transport and travel arrangement services |
| Selling packages and retail-type distribution | 35 | Bringing goods and services to the consumer |
| Operating hotels, lodges or homestays | 43 | Food, drink and temporary accommodation services |
| Booking app or online platform | 9 / 42 | Downloadable software vs. online service provision |
| Branded gear or souvenirs | 25 / 16 | Apparel and printed goods sold under the brand |
What filing costs when the brand spans two classes
Per-class arithmetic is the budget line most operators miss. Two classes mean two applications: 2 × NPR 1,000 at filing and 2 × NPR 5,000 at registration — NPR 12,000 in government fees across the journey, before professional fees. Each class is examined separately, published separately, and renewed separately: NPR 3,500 per class every 7 years, due within 35 days of expiry, with a six-month grace route at NPR 4,500 including the NPR 1,000 late fine.
The planning rule: file the revenue-critical class immediately, add the adjacent class as that line of business actually launches. Idle classes cost fees now and renewals forever.
The documents, and the filing sequence
Domestic applicants attach the company or industry registration, PAN and tax clearance to the Schedule 1(c) application. The form states the applicant, the mark, the class and the specification, and travels with four printed specimens of the mark — in practice, labels of about 8×8 cm. Foreign travel brands entering Nepal file through a local agent under a notarised Power of Attorney, and can claim Paris Convention priority within six months of a first filing abroad.
Search before you spend
Screen the proposed name against registered marks and published applications — including Devanagari sound-alikes, which Nepalese examiners treat as conflicting.
Fix the class and the wording
Draft the services specification in commercial terms — 'arrangement of tours and trekking', not 'quality travel services'.
File on Schedule 1(c) and pay per class
NPR 1,000 per class records the darta date; examination follows at the Department of Industry in Tripureshwor.
Examination, publication and the 90-day window
Accepted applications publish in the Industrial Property Bulletin, opening roughly 90 days for opposition; unopposed marks proceed to the NPR 5,000 registration fee and certificate.
What the DOI examines on a Class 39 application
Refusals cluster under Section 18 of the PDTA. The dominant ground is an identical or deceptively similar earlier mark for the same or similar services — in a bilingual market, names that sound alike across English and Devanagari count as conflicting even when no spelling matches. The second ground is descriptiveness: a name that says only what the business is ('Nepal Trekking and Travel') invites objection, while a distinctive coined or suggestive name generally does not.
The realistic timeline for an unopposed application is roughly six to twelve months. An opposition stretches it — which is why the search happens before the fee, not after the objection.
After registration: use the mark, or risk it
Registration is not a trophy to shelve. A mark not brought into use within one year of registration can face a Department inquiry and cancellation under Section 18C — keep dated evidence: brochures, signage, bookings carrying the mark. Watch the Bulletin so a later conflicting application is met with an opposition while the 90-day window is open, and diarise the renewal cycle: 7 years, a 35-day window, and no second chance beyond grace.
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.