Trademark Cancellation in Nepal: Grounds, Process & Legal Effects

Trademark Cancellation in Nepal: Grounds, Process & Legal Effects

A trademark registration in Nepal can be cancelled after it has been granted. The Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, 2022 (1965) gives the Department of Industry (DOI) power to cancel a registration where the mark was never brought into use (Section 18C), where a ground that should have blocked registration in the first place still exists (Section 18(3)), or through DOI's necessary action after inquiry into a complaint about the published registration particulars (Section 21A(2)). A registration also ends automatically when renewal deadlines are missed (Section 23B(2)), and DOI's Trademark Guideline adds a further ground: a certificate never collected. Cancellation is a post-registration remedy — it removes an existing registration, which is what distinguishes it from opposition, which targets a mark before registration is finalized.

Trademark Cancellation in Nepal: Quick Answers

What Cancellation Is and Is Not

Cancellation belongs to the post-registration stage of a mark's life. Three boundaries keep this page distinct from the rest of the cluster:

• Cancellation is not opposition. Opposition is a third-party complaint against a mark that has been published but not yet registered, governed by DOI's Trademark Guideline (§12) and, on one reading of the Act, Section 21A. Cancellation removes a mark that is already registered. If the mark you are concerned about is still at the application stage, our guide to trademark opposition in Nepal is the right reference.

• Cancellation is not an examination objection. An objection is raised by DOI's own examiners while an application is being examined, before registration. By the time cancellation is in play, examination is long finished.

• Cancellation is not non-renewal. Missing renewal deadlines ends a registration automatically under Section 23B(2) — a deadline problem, not a merits problem. That route is covered in our guide to trademark renewal in Nepal; this page covers cancellation on the merits.

One more source-level caution carried over from the rest of this cluster: the Act's Section 21A(1) speaks of DOI publishing registered marks "as well as particulars of their renewal or cancellation," with a 35-day complaint window in Section 21A(2), while the Guideline (§12) directs pre-registration publication and opposition. Read together, these address different stages — the Guideline's 90-day pre-registration opposition window, and the Act's 35-day complaint mechanism attached to post-registration publication. Complaints about the published particulars of registered marks belong to the second of those.

How a Nepalese Trademark Registration Ends: Grounds, Complaints and Automatic Termination

The sources do not create one unified "cancellation procedure." They create three different things, and keeping them apart is the key to reading the framework correctly:

• Two true cancellation grounds, where DOI exercises a merits-based power to cancel an existing registration: non-use (Section 18C) and invalid registration (Section 18(3)).

• One complaint mechanism, where any person may complain about published particulars and DOI takes necessary action after inquiry (Section 21A(2)). The provision does not say the outcome must be cancellation — it says the Department takes necessary action after holding inquiries.

• Two automatic or administrative terminations, where the registration ends without any merits inquiry at all: non-renewal (Section 23B(2)) and the Guideline's uncollected-certificate rule (§13).

1. Non-use: a true cancellation ground (Section 18C)

Section 18C provides that if a trademark registered at DOI is not brought into use within one year from the date of registration, the Department "shall conduct necessary inquiries and cancel such registration."

Three features matter in practice:

• The clock starts at registration, not filing. The trigger is one year from the date of registration — the same reference point as the seven-year validity term in Section 18D, and not the filing date that DOI's guideline certificate note uses for validity. Consistency across the Act favours the registration date.

• Inquiry is mandatory, and the owner must be heard. The Act requires DOI to conduct necessary inquiries before cancelling; it does not make cancellation automatic. DOI's Trademark Guideline (§16(3)) is explicit on the owner's side of that inquiry: before cancelling a registration for non-use, the Department must give the owner an opportunity to clarify (सफाइको मौका). In practice, this is where use evidence is presented — prudent owners keep it ready before anyone asks.

• What counts as use is defined in the Guideline. Under Guideline §16(2), a trademark is treated as used where it is used by the owner itself in connection with the goods or services, brought into use by others under the owner's ownership and control, or used under licence — as well as where goods are supplied into Nepal through a trade network even if produced abroad, and where the mark is made public through information technology. A brand used by a licensee, a distributor or a group company can therefore still be "in use," provided the evidence connects the mark to the registered goods or services in Nepal.

This is the ground most relevant to brand owners who watch the Bulletin and find a registered mark sitting unused on their market — and to owners who registered defensively and never launched.

2. Invalid registration: a true cancellation ground (Section 18(3))

Section 18(3) allows DOI to cancel a registration if it is satisfied that any of the circumstances in the Section 18(1) proviso exists. Those circumstances are the refusal grounds that should have blocked registration in the first place:

• the mark may hurt the prestige of any individual or institution;

• it may adversely affect public conduct or morality;

• it may undermine national interest;

• it may damage the reputation of the trademark of another person; or

• it has already been registered in the name of another person.

Because these grounds mirror the examination-stage refusal criteria, a Section 18(3) cancellation is in substance a late correction of a registration that should not have been granted — for example, a mark registered despite an earlier conflicting registration, or one that trades on another brand's reputation. DOI's own Schedule-5 examination form tests many of these same points during examination, which is why surviving examination is not a permanent shield: Section 18(3) keeps the question open after registration.

The proviso to Section 18(3) is the owner's protection, and it is the only hearing right the Act spells out for this ground: before cancelling, DOI must give the holder a reasonable opportunity to show cause why the registration should not be cancelled.

3. Complaint about published particulars: the Section 21A(2) mechanism

Under Section 21A(1), DOI publishes registered trademarks, together with particulars of renewal and cancellation, for the information of the public. Under Section 21A(2), any person who objects to the particulars published under Sub-section (1) may file a complaint with DOI within 35 days of the publication, and the Department "shall take necessary actions after holding inquiries into such complaints."

That is what the provision says — a complaint right, an inquiry duty, and necessary action as the outcome. It does not establish a standalone cancellation petition, and it does not prescribe what the "necessary action" must be in any given case. What makes this mechanism worth knowing is its openness and its anchor: any person may complain, and the trigger is a publication event — which is why monitoring the Industrial Property Bulletin matters to both challengers and owners. The complaint process is examined further in the "Who Can Apply" and "Procedure" sections below.

4. Automatic termination for non-renewal: Section 23B(2)

If a registration is not renewed within the 35-day window after expiry nor in the additional six-month late period, it is cancelled automatically by operation of Section 23B(2) — no complaint, no inquiry, no show-cause. This is a deadline failure rather than a merits challenge, so it is covered in depth in our trademark renewal guide — but anyone researching how Nepalese registrations end should know it exists, and should know that the only way back after it is a fresh application under Section 17, examined afresh.

5. Certificate never collected: Trademark Guideline §13

DOI's Trademark Guideline (§13(1)) provides that where a trademark has been published in the Industrial Property Bulletin, no successful claim or opposition stands in the way (or the opposition has been decided), and the applicant does not collect the registration certificate within one year of the decision, the Department will cancel the trademark. An unusual provision, but a real one — and entirely avoidable: certificates are collected at Tripureshwor through the Industrial Property Section.

Who Can Seek Cancellation

The answer depends on the route:

• Section 18C (non-use): the inquiry is DOI's own. The Act does not describe a third-party application mechanism for this ground; in practice, information about an unused mark reaches DOI through complaints or its own records, and the statutory inquiry follows.

• Section 18(3) (invalid registration): cancellation is exercised by the Department "if it is satisfied" the ground exists — again a DOI decision, typically informed by complaints, Bulletins and register records rather than a formal petition.

• Section 21A(2) (published particulars): this mechanism is expressly open to any person — the Act's words are "any one." In practice, complaints that proceed are backed by documentary interest: an earlier registration, evidence of reputation, or proof that the published particulars are wrong.

• Section 23B(2) and Guideline §13: no applicant at all — both operate by force of the law or the guideline itself.

For the complaint routes, DOI's Industrial Property Section page lists the service "for industrial-property complaints" (औद्योगिक सम्पत्ति सम्बन्धी उजुरी) with a short checklist: the complaint application, supporting evidence, and a fee receipt. The page does not state the fee amount, and the current Citizen Charter — which itemises fees for registration, renewal, name transfer, record amendment and duplicate certificates — lists no standalone trademark cancellation service or fee. Treat the cost question as one to confirm with DOI before filing, and be wary of any source that quotes a firm cancellation fee without pointing to a current schedule.

Procedure: How Cancellation Proceedings Run

No single statute-named "cancellation procedure" exists; the shape of a case follows the route. The sequence below is what a complaint-based case typically looks like; for DOI-initiated inquiries under Sections 18C and 18(3), the process begins at the inquiry stage instead.

1. Identify the registration and the ground. Pull the registration particulars from DOI's register (Section 22) and the relevant Bulletin issues. The search method for working through the Bulletin archive — exact match, then similar names, in both Roman and Devanagari script — is set out in our guide to trademark search in Nepal.

2. File the complaint with DOI's Industrial Property Section, Tripureshwor, Kathmandu — complaint application, grounds, evidence and fee receipt, normally through a representative holding a power of authority.

3. DOI holds inquiries. Under Section 21A(2), the Department takes necessary action "after holding inquiries into such complaints"; under Section 18C, the Act itself requires necessary inquiries before cancellation; under Section 18(3), the Department must be satisfied the ground exists.

4. The owner is heard where the route provides. For Section 18(3), the express proviso requires DOI to give the holder a reasonable opportunity to show cause before cancelling. For non-use, the Act requires inquiry, and DOI's Guideline (§16(3)) requires the owner to be given an opportunity to clarify before the registration is cancelled. These safeguards attach to those provisions — the application-stage defence rights in Sections 17(1) and 18(1) govern examination, not cancellation, and should not be assumed to carry over.

5. DOI takes its decision or necessary action. Where the outcome is cancellation, it is reflected in the register (Section 22) and published with the other particulars under Section 21A(1).

6. Appeal within 35 days. Section 27 of the Act allows an appeal against a Department order within 35 days. The section's reference to the "Appellate Court" is legacy terminology from before Nepal's current court structure — confirm the presently competent appellate forum, and how the period is computed, before filing.

Timeline expectations: the 35-day window in Section 21A(2) attaches to complaints about a specific publication, but the inquiry-to-decision phase has no fixed statutory clock. Plan in months, not weeks.

On either side of a cancellation file, evidence and timing matter. If you have found an unused or improperly registered mark blocking your brand, Company Darta Nepal can assess whether a complaint is supportable, assemble the grounds and documentary evidence, and file and prosecute it through DOI's inquiry. If your own registration is under threat, we can prepare the show-cause response with supporting use evidence and represent you through the decision and any appeal. Decisions rest with DOI, and appeals with the courts; no representative can guarantee an outcome — but a file that is complete, on time and properly evidenced is in the strongest position. See Trademark & IP Protection services.

Evidence in Cancellation Proceedings

Because the merits routes turn on DOI inquiries, the strength of a case usually rests on the quality and organisation of its documents.

For a complainant challenging a registration:

• For non-use (Section 18C): evidence that the mark is absent from the market — dated market surveys, retail checks, advertising reviews, import and sales records where obtainable. The complaint should cover the registered goods or services specifically, not the market generally.

• For invalid registration (Section 18(3)): the earlier registration certificate or pending application, Bulletin records establishing priority, and dated proof of reputation for reputation-based grounds. A mark "already registered in the name of another person" is the most documentary of all the grounds — the register itself is the evidence.

• Against the published particulars (Section 21A(2)): the published particulars themselves, the registration record, and documents showing the particulars are inaccurate or conflict with earlier rights.

For an owner defending a registration:

• Use evidence is the principal answer to a non-use challenge: invoices, packaging photographs, advertising and catalogue pages, distributor records and licence agreements showing the mark in use in Nepal on the registered goods or services, with dates running back toward the registration date. Under Guideline §16(2), use by others under the owner's ownership and control, or under licence, is treated as use of the mark — so a licensee's or distributor's use can support the owner's case, provided the connection is documented.

• For reputation or prior-rights grounds: registration certificates, the original application file, examination correspondence and market evidence showing independent adoption.

• Procedural discipline: the address for service on the power of authority is where DOI's notices land. Owners who change representatives without updating the record discover the problem when a decision is already made.

Legal Effects of Cancellation

• The register records the cancellation under Section 22. From that point the registration no longer exists as a source of title — ownership of a cancelled mark confers no registered rights in Nepal.

• Use after cancellation is regulated, not uniformly prohibited. Section 19 is specific in scope: it punishes anyone who brings into use a trademark that was cancelled under Section 18(3) — a fine of up to NPR 100,000, with articles and goods connected with the offence liable to confiscation on the orders of the Department, depending on the gravity of the offence. For marks cancelled on other routes, Section 19's offence does not apply by its terms; what applies to every cancelled mark is Section 18B: no mark may be used as a registered trademark in Nepal without registration, and a cancelled mark is no longer registered. Unregistered use of the word or device as such is a different question, governed by general law rather than by Section 19.

• Cancellation removes that registration — it does not clear the field. The cancelled registration no longer stands in the way of new applications, but any new application for the same or a similar mark is examined in the ordinary way under Sections 17 and 18 and can still run into other earlier rights or refusal grounds. And where the cancellation was merits-based, the very ground that defeated the registration — an earlier mark, a reputation conflict — can face a new application for the same sign again. Where the registration ended for administrative reasons (non-renewal or an uncollected certificate), the only route back is a fresh application under Section 17, examined from scratch and without priority over anything filed in the meantime.

• Downstream records follow. A cancellation affects licensees, transferees and anyone holding documents that assume the registration exists — one more reason portfolio housekeeping (recorded transfers, current addresses for service, collected certificates) belongs on a calendar rather than in a drawer.

Cancellation proceedings run on evidence and deadlines, and the quality of the file usually shapes the outcome. Company Darta Nepal's Trademark & IP Protection service covers cancellation assessments and complaint preparation on the challenger side, and show-cause responses, evidence assembly and appeals on the owner side. To understand the registration that cancellation puts in question, start with our complete guide to trademark registration in Nepal.

Sources

• Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, 2022 (1965) — Sections 17, 18, 18A–18D, 19, 21A, 22, 23B, 27 (WIPO Lex)

• DOI Trademark Guideline (2072) — §12 (publication and opposition), §13 (certificate non-collection), §16 (use, deemed use and non-use cancellation)

• DOI Citizen Charter — current Industrial Property Section service and fee schedule (no standalone cancellation service listed)

• DOI Industrial Property Bulletin — publication of registered marks and renewal/cancellation particulars under Section 21A(1)