Nepal’s renewal provisions run on a shorter cycle than the rest of the region and on a different logic. Most systems open a window before expiry and allow a grace period after it. Nepal’s statutory window opens at expiry.
Quick reference
| Term | Seven years from the date of registration |
| Renewal window | Within 35 days from the date of expiry |
| Late renewal | Within six months after that time limit, on payment of a fine |
| The fine | One thousand rupees, under section 23B(2) |
| If not renewed | The registration is automatically cancelled |
| Number of renewals | Unlimited for trademarks — the cap in section 23B(3) applies to patents |
| Per class | Each registration renews on its own date |
| Published | Renewals and cancellations are published under section 21A |
The term
Section 18D: the title of the person in whose name a trademark has been registered under section 18 shall remain valid for a period of seven years from the date of registration, except where it is renewed.
Seven-year cycles put Nepal alongside Bangladesh’s first term and apart from the ten-year norm. Unlike Bangladesh, Nepal does not switch to ten years on renewal — the cycle stays at seven.
The window opens at expiry
Section 23B(1): a patent, design or trademark holder shall renew the registration within a period of 35 days from the date of expiry of the term, by submitting an application in the prescribed format and paying the fee.
Read that carefully, because it is the reverse of the usual arrangement. The statutory period for renewal runs from the expiry date, not up to it.
For a portfolio manager that has two practical consequences.
A diary alert set for “three months before expiry” has no statutory window to act in. It is still the right alert — you want the instructions, the fee and the agent in place — but the filing itself belongs in the 35 days after expiry.
Thirty-five days is short. For a foreign owner, the chain of instruction, funds and local filing has to run inside five weeks, which means the preparation genuinely has to happen beforehand.
Late renewal, with a fine
Section 23B(2): renewal may be made by paying a fine of one thousand rupees within six months after the expiry of the time limit under subsection (1).
So the outer boundary is six months after the 35 days. Within that period, renewal remains available on payment of the fine.
Then automatic cancellation
The same subsection finishes the point: in case it is not so renewed, registration of the patent, design and trade-mark shall automatically be cancelled.
“Automatically” is the operative word. There is no discretion to exercise, no restoration application, and no provision in the Act for the Department to reinstate a registration cancelled for non-renewal. Compare Bangladesh, where restoration is available within a year at the Registrar’s discretion, or Pakistan, where a removed mark can be restored on application within six months.
In Nepal, past the outer limit, the route back is a fresh application — with a new date, a new seven-year term, and a new one-year clock under section 18C.
No cap on trademark renewals
Section 23B(3) provides that notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), a patent may be renewed not more than twice for a period of seven years at a time.
That limit is expressed for patents only. Trademarks are not subject to it, so a Nepali trademark registration can be renewed in seven-year cycles indefinitely.
It is worth stating because the three rights share one renewal section, and the cap is easy to read across by mistake.
Renewals are published
Section 21A requires the Department to publish the designs registered under section 14 and the trademarks registered under section 18, as well as particulars of their renewal or cancellation, for the information of the public.
Any person with an objection to the published particulars may file a complaint within 35 days of publication, and the Department takes action after inquiry.
So renewals and cancellations both enter the public record, and both carry that 35-day complaint window. For a brand owner watching a competitor’s position in Nepal, the publication of a cancellation is the signal that a mark has become available — subject to whatever the Department does with any complaint.
See trademark opposition in Nepal.
Per class, per renewal
Because section 18A requires a separate application for each category of goods or services, a brand held in four categories is four registrations with four renewal dates.
Each runs seven years from its own date of registration. Categories added later under section 18A(3) are separate registrations renewing on separate dates, so a staged filing programme produces a staggered renewal diary by design.
See trademark classes in Nepal.
Renewal is not the only thing that ends a registration
Two other provisions cancel a Nepali registration, and neither has anything to do with renewal dates:
Section 18C — where a registered mark is not brought into use within one year from the date of registration, the Department shall inquire and cancel the registration.
Section 18(3) — the Department may cancel where satisfied that any of the refusal grounds in the proviso to section 18(1) exists, after giving the holder a reasonable opportunity to show cause.
A renewal diary alone therefore does not protect a Nepali portfolio. See trademark cancellation in Nepal.
A diary that works for Nepal
- Record the date of registration for every mark, per class.
- Set an alert at four months before the seven-year date — to get instructions, funds and the agent in place.
- Treat the 35 days after expiry as the filing period, not the grace period.
- Keep a hard backstop at six months after that, beyond which cancellation is automatic.
- Keep a separate entry for the one-year use obligation on every new registration.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a Nepali trademark registration last? Seven years from the date of registration, renewable in seven-year terms.
When do I file the renewal? Within 35 days from the date of expiry, under section 23B(1). The statutory window runs from expiry rather than up to it.
What if I miss the 35 days? Renewal is still possible within six months after that time limit, on payment of a fine of one thousand rupees.
What happens if I miss that too? The registration is automatically cancelled. The Act provides no restoration route, so the mark would have to be applied for afresh.
How many times can a trademark be renewed? There is no limit. The cap of two renewals in section 23B(3) applies to patents, not trademarks.
Does renewal protect against everything? No. A registration can also be cancelled for not being brought into use within one year of registration, or on the refusal grounds after a show-cause opportunity.
Useful official resources
- Department of Industry, Nepal
- Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, 2022 (1965) — sections 18, 18A, 18C, 18D, 21A, 23B
- Nepal Law Commission
See our related notes on trademark cancellation in Nepal, trademark classes and trademark protection in Nepal.
Carrying Nepali renewals on a standard ten-year diary? Talk to us.