Types of Intellectual Property in Nepal, Explained
The types of intellectual property in Nepal explained: trademarks, patents, designs, copyright, trade secrets and GIs — what each protects and where it is filed.
'Do I need to copyright my logo or trademark it?' 'Is my recipe intellectual property?' The confusion is understandable: Nepal has six distinct IP categories across three legal sources, and they overlap in exactly the places businesses care about.
This guide explains the types of intellectual property in Nepal — what each one protects, where it lives in law, what it costs, and which overlaps matter.
In short
The types of intellectual property in Nepal are six: trademarks (brands — DOI, 7-year renewable term), patents (inventions — DOI, 21-year maximum), industrial designs (product looks — DOI, 15-year maximum), copyright (creative works — automatic under the Copyright Act 2059, with voluntary registration at the Copyright Registrar's Office), trade secrets (confidential business information — contract-based, statutory protection proposed in Bill 2082), and geographical indications (origin products — framework proposed in Bill 2082). Most real products combine two or three types, which is why the overlaps matter more than the categories.
Trademark: the brand right
A trademark protects the sign that distinguishes your goods or services — the name, logo, label or composite mark — under the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, 2022 BS (1965), filed at the Department of Industry. Nepal registers one application per class under the Nice Classification, examines for conflicts under Section 18(1), and publishes accepted marks with a 90-day opposition window.
The term is 7 years from registration, renewable indefinitely — NPR 1,000 per class to file and NPR 5,000 to register at current practice, NPR 3,500 per class per renewal. It is the right most Nepalese businesses need first, because the brand is what competitors copy first.
Patent and industrial design: the invention and the look
A patent protects how something works: the PDTA's Section 2(a) covers processes, methods of manufacture, operation or transmission, and inventions based on new theories or formulas. The term is 7 years from registration, renewable twice — 21 years maximum — with annual maintenance fees that make holding one a yearly commercial decision.
An industrial design protects how something looks: shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation applied to an article. It registers fastest and cheapest of the DOI rights (NPR 1,000 + NPR 7,000 at current practice) and runs 5 years, renewable twice — 15 years maximum. The dividing line: a chair's folding mechanism is patent territory; the chair's silhouette is a design; the name on the backrest is a trademark.
Copyright: the automatic right
Copyright protects creative expression — code, books, music, films, artwork, photography — under the Copyright Act, 2059 (2002), and it begins automatically from creation: no filing, no formality. The general term is the author's life plus 50 years; moral rights (attribution, integrity) stay with the author permanently.
The one Nepal-specific habit to learn: ownership vests in the human creator first — there is no work-for-hire doctrine — so companies secure their works through written assignments, and use voluntary registration at the Copyright Registrar's Office as the dated public evidence of that chain.
Trade secrets and GIs: the rights without registers (yet)
A trade secret is confidential business information — formulas, processes, customer lists, pricing — that is secret, valuable because secret, and protected by reasonable steps. Nepal has no standalone trade-secret statute today: protection runs through NDAs, employment clauses and access controls. The proposed Industrial Property Bill 2082 would add statutory protection.
A geographical indication ties a product's quality or reputation to its origin — Ilam tea, Jumla apples, Juju dhau. Nepal has no GI register yet; the Bill's GI chapter is the headline proposal that would create one, while certification and collective marks serve producers meanwhile.
The types of intellectual property in Nepal, compared
The six types on one page — the map most readers come for.
| Type | Protects | Where | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trademark | Brand names, logos, labels | DOI — PDTA 1965 | 7 years, renewable indefinitely |
| Patent | Processes, methods, inventions | DOI — PDTA 1965 | 7+7+7 — 21-year max |
| Industrial design | Product appearance | DOI — PDTA 1965 | 5+5+5 — 15-year max |
| Copyright | Creative works, code, content | Automatic — Act 2059; NCRO registration voluntary | Life + 50 years (general) |
| Trade secret | Confidential business information | Contract and conduct today | While secrecy lasts |
| GI | Origin-product names | Proposed — Bill 2082 | Framework awaited |
The overlaps that matter in practice
Real assets rarely sit in one category, and the overlaps are where Nepalese businesses either protect properly or double-pay. A logo: copyright subsists in the artwork automatically, while the logo functions as a trademark once registered — the assignment from the designer is what makes either usable. Packaging: the label can be a device mark, the pack shape an industrial design, the text on it copyright. Software: code is copyright, the app name is a trademark, the novel method behind it is a patent-or-secret question.
The practical rule: decide what each asset's commercial value actually rides on, protect that layer first, and let the overlaps be deliberate rather than accidental.
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This article is general information, not legal advice.