Trademark Priority Claim in Nepal: Using Your Home Application as the Base
How a trademark priority claim Nepal filers make from a home application works: the 6-month Paris Convention window, the documents, and single-class mechanics.
A foreign brand files at home in January and wants Nepal protection without losing its date. The mechanism is the Paris Convention priority claim: file in Nepal within six months of the home application and the Nepalese filing is treated as made on the home filing date.
In Nepal's first-to-file register, that earlier date is usually the whole argument in any conflict — which is why the claim is worth getting right, and why a missed window has no second chance.
In short
A trademark priority claim in Nepal lets an application filed within 6 months of the first (home) application claim that earlier date under the Paris Convention. The claim is made in the Nepal filing, supported by a certified copy of the home application with translation, and attaches per application — so a brand in three classes files three Nepal applications, each claiming priority inside the same six-month window. Miss the window and Nepal's first-to-file rule counts from the Nepal filing date only.
What a trademark priority claim does in Nepal
Nepal is a party to the Paris Convention, and the right it gives is narrow and powerful: an application filed in Nepal within six months of the first application for the same mark in another Paris Convention country can claim the earlier date as its priority date. For examination and for conflicts, the Nepalese application is then treated as if it were filed on that earlier day.
The structural reason it matters: Nepal's register is first-to-file. When two similar applications for the same goods meet, the effective date decides who is 'earlier'. A local application filed in month five loses to a foreign application with a month-zero priority date — even though the local application reached the DOI first in calendar terms.
The six-month window and what starts it
The clock runs from the home application's filing date — not from the home registration. There is no need to wait for a certificate at home; the priority right attaches to the first application itself. Six months is a hard boundary, counted in calendar months, and the priority documents take time to obtain, so the claim should be planned at the moment the home filing is made, not in month five.
| Right | Priority window from first filing |
|---|---|
| Trademarks | 6 months |
| Industrial designs | 6 months |
| Patents | 12 months |
How the claim is made at the DOI, step by step
File at home first
The priority right runs from the first application for that mark, in any Paris Convention country. The home filing date becomes the anchor.
File in Nepal through a local agent
Foreign applicants file through a Nepalese authorised agent under a notarised Power of Attorney, on Schedule 1(c), one class per application, with the NPR 1,000 application fee per class.
Declare the priority claim in the application
The application states the claim: the country, the date and the number of the home filing. An undeclared claim is hard to retrofit.
Supply the priority document
A certified copy of the home application is provided, with a certified Nepali translation where it is not in Nepali. Names, the mark and the class must match the Nepal filing exactly.
Confirm the priority date on the record
Once accepted, the effective date is the home filing date — the date that will decide any later conflict.
Single-class filings mean claiming class by class
Nepal examines one class per application under Section 18A, so priority attaches application by application. A brand filed at home in Classes 30, 35 and 43 that wants the same date in Nepal files three applications within the same six-month window, each claiming priority from the corresponding home filing.
The corollary: a class added to the Nepal plan after the window has lapsed files without priority — its date is the Nepal filing date. Sequencing the class list inside the window is part of the claim.
When the priority date decides the case
The classic scenario the claim exists for: a local filer registers or applies for a foreign brand it has watched enter the market, betting the owner will file late. A priority-claimed Nepal application filed months behind still takes the earlier date, and the squatter's position collapses in examination or opposition. It is the same first-to-file logic that makes filing early in Nepal the default advice — the claim is simply the filing-early mechanism available to brands whose first move was made abroad.
The mistakes that void the claim
- Filing in month seven: the window is six calendar months; there is no extension and no cure
- Claiming from the wrong base: priority runs from the first application for that mark by that owner — not from an unrelated earlier trademark
- Mismatched documents: the certified copy must match the Nepal filing's mark, owner and goods
- Assuming the home registration date counts: the priority date is the home application date; a certificate at home is not required to claim
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.