Provides advice on IPR protection, including information on the registration of patents and trademarks.
Last Published: 8/1/2019

Nepal finalized a new Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy in March 2017.  This policy has been used as the foundation to prepare a draft Law on IPR, which is undergoing review. There is reason to expect that the new legislation will represent a substantial improvement over existing laws and regulations.  Under the existing IPR regime, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation oversees copyright issues while the Ministry of Industry looks after patent and trademark issues.  However, the new policy calls for a single government entity to enforce the range of IPR issues. 

Registration of a patent under the Patent, Design, and Trademark Act does not provide automatic protection to foreign trademarks and designs.  Similarly, Nepal does not automatically recognize patents awarded by other nations.  There is recognition that this is a shortcoming in Nepal’s IPR regime, and it is likely that it will be reformed along with the new IPR Law. The Copyright Act of 2002 covers most modern forms of authorship and provides adequate periods of protection.  Most of these policies are expected to be updated in accordance with new IPR Policy.  Nepal faces serious challenges in preventing the sale of counterfeit goods.  Enforcement of IPR violations is sporadic at best.  Law enforcement officials do not receive adequate training on IPR issues and offenders can often pay a small bribe to avoid prosecution. 

In any foreign market, companies should consider several general principles for effective management of their intellectual property.  For background on these principles please see Protecting Intellectual Property and Corruption.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office covers Nepal out of New Delhi:
Ms. Shilpi Jha
Senior Legal Counsel for Intellectual Property
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Attaché Office
American Center, 24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001
+91 11-2347-2000 x2101
Shilpi.jha@trade.gov

 

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