BANGLADESH
Any Bangladeshi or foreigner acting alone or in partnership with another individual may submit a patent application. The application must be submitted to the Department of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks (DPDT) in the required format. The application must include a statement that the applicant owns the invention for which he seeks a patent and for which he, or in the case of a joint application, at least one of the applicants, claims to be the authentic and original inventor, the legal representative, or the assign of such inventor. The application must also include a complete specification.
Following the law, the Department of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks (DPDT) grants patent holders registration and 16 years of patent protection in exchange for payment of specified fees. The length of protection may be extended one more. A patent grants the owner the sole right to manufacture, market, and utilise the invention throughout Bangladesh while granting others the same rights.
PATENT IN BANGLADESH
What kind of inventions are eligible for patent protection in Bangladesh?
The following requirements must generally be met for an innovation to qualify for patent protection. It must be helpful in real life and exhibit some originality, i.e., a new quality not already known in its technical sector’s corpus of current knowledge. The term “prior art” refers to this body of previous knowledge. The invention must demonstrate an inventive step that a person with average technical expertise could not have predicted. Its subject matter must also be recognised as “patentable” by the law. Scientific theories, mathematical techniques, plant or animal types, natural substance discoveries, commercial tactics, or medical treatment procedures (as opposed to medical products) are frequently not patentable in many nations.
Patent Registration Procedure in Bangladesh
Step 1: Submitting Patent Application
Submitting a patent application is the first step in obtaining a patent. The title of the invention and a description of it in sufficient detail so that someone with average technical knowledge could use or reproduce the invention must be included in the patent application, along with a description of the invention’s technical field. Such descriptions are frequently supplemented with visual resources like drawings, blueprints, or diagrams to explain the idea further. There are also several “claims” in the application, which are pieces of information that specify the extension of the protection the patent will grant.
Step 2: Grant of Provisional Patent
An invention may be used and published without jeopardising its patent between the filing date of an application and the date the patent is sealed on that application. This provisional protection from the effects of use and publication is known as such in this Act.
In this section, the term “date of an application for a patent” refers to the date on which the application is made, as opposed to the date it is post-dated or ante-dated by this Act for applications.
What are the documents required for a patent application in Bangladesh?
Documents required for Patent Application filing:
- Three copies of the Patent specification and claims in the English language;
- Three copies/sets of drawings (if any) – one document/set of which should be printed on tracing paper or cloth as formal drawings.
- Complete details regarding the applicant(s) and inventor(s) (names, nationality and address);
- Duly executed Power of Authority for the Agent;
- A certified copy of the priority document (if any). A verified English translation must be filed at the Bangladesh Patent Office if the document is in a language other than English.
How long does a patent application take to be approved in Bangladesh?
An application is generally accepted within 18 months of filing unless an appeal has been filed.
With the caveat that if the Registrar receives a request for an extension of time before, or within three months of, the expiration of the said period of eighteen months, the application will be continued, upon payment of the prescribed fee, for any period so requested, as long as it does not exceed in total three months from the expiration of the said period of eighteen months.