Trademark Application Status in Nepal: What Happens After You File
Trademark application status in Nepal stage by stage: filing, examination, Bulletin publication, the 90-day opposition window, registration, certificate.
The application is filed, the NPR 1,000 per class is paid, the darta date is stamped — and then, for many Nepali applicants, months of silence that feels like limbo but is actually a defined sequence.
Trademark application status in Nepal moves through fixed stages at the Department of Industry, each with its own documents, deadlines and failure points. Here is the whole journey, stage by stage.
In short
Trademark application status in Nepal moves through defined stages after filing: the DOI examines formality and substance (Section 18 grounds, especially conflicting earlier marks), issues written objections where needed, publishes accepted applications in the Industrial Property Bulletin for a roughly 90-day opposition window, and registers the mark on payment of NPR 5,000 per class. An unopposed application commonly completes in six months to around a year; the trail is traceable through application numbers, Bulletin entries and the agent of record.
Stage one: filing and the darta date
The process starts when the Schedule 1(c) application is lodged with its fee per class and its document set — four printed specimens of the mark in practice, plus the applicant's papers. The Department records the filing: that darta (दर्ता) date is the application's birthday, the anchor for first-to-file priority and the date every later document references. The file receives an application number — the key that unlocks status tracking from here on.
Stage two: examination and objections
The DOI examines formality and substance: whether the mark falls within Section 18's refusal grounds and, above all, whether an identical or deceptively similar earlier mark exists for the same or similar goods. Objections issue in writing and are answered, or the application amended, within the stated period — and slow responses are the most common way applicants lose months. Most refusals trace to two preventable causes: a conflicting earlier mark and a badly chosen class, both visible in a pre-filing search. Survivors of this stage move to publication.
| Stage | What happens | Your move |
|---|---|---|
| Filing (darta) | Application recorded; date fixed; number issued | Keep the receipt and number |
| Examination | Section 18 review against earlier marks and grounds | Answer objections within the stated period |
| Publication | Accepted application prints in the Industrial Property Bulletin | Note the publication date — it starts the 90-day window |
| Opposition window | Anyone with grounds may oppose (~90 days) | Monitor; respond if opposed |
| Registration | NPR 5,000 per class paid; mark enters the register | Collect the certificate; start the renewal calendar |
Stage three: publication and the 90-day window
Accepted applications publish in the Industrial Property Bulletin — the Department's official record of trademark events, printing mark, applicant, class, goods and dates in BS and AD. Publication opens the window in which any interested party may oppose: roughly 90 days from the publication date. Unopposed applications proceed; opposed ones enter a separate proceeding that pauses the registration. Two practical notes: Bulletin dates print in Bikram Sambat, so deadlines convert to AD before they enter a commercial calendar; and the window is only usable by those watching — publication is not a personal notification.
Stage four: registration and the certificate
When the window closes without opposition, the registration fee — NPR 5,000 per class — is paid, the mark enters the register, and the certificate issues. The term runs 7 years from registration, renewable indefinitely in 7-year terms, with renewal due within 35 days of each expiry and a 6-month grace period carrying a NPR 1,000 fine. The certificate's details — proprietor, mark as registered, classes — are now the reference for everything: recordals, enforcement, licensing. An unused mark carries its own clock too: non-use within a year of registration can invite Department inquiry and cancellation under Section 18C.
Tracking trademark application status in Nepal
The status trail is traceable if you keep the right handles: the application number (searchable against published records), the agent of record (through whom DOI correspondence flows — the register points at the Nepali address on file, not your inbox), and the Bulletin itself, where the application's publication marks the transition from examination to window. Timelines vary with the Department's queue — six months to around a year for clean, unopposed applications, longer where objections or oppositions land — but every stage leaves a document. An application followed properly is a file you can read; one left to silence is a black box until the certificate or a problem arrives.
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This article is general information, not legal advice.