Trademark Registration in Bangladesh
PayrollBD files trademark applications with the Registrar of Trademarks in Bangladesh and carries them through publication, opposition and certificate. We run the availability search first, prepare the application against the class your goods or services actually fall in, and answer the Registrar when an objection follows.
What is trademark registration?
Trademark registration is the entry of a mark on the register kept by the Registrar of Trademarks, which gives the proprietor an enforceable statutory right in it. In Bangladesh the register is administered under the Trademarks Act 2009. Registration is not what creates a brand; it is what makes the brand defensible against someone else adopting it, and it runs on dates the statute fixes rather than on your launch date.
What documents open a file?
Six items open a file. Bring what you have and we name what is missing rather than returning the list. The mark itself and the class are the two that decide everything downstream, so those are settled before an application is drafted rather than after the Registrar raises a query.
- The mark itself as a word, logo, device or combination, in the exact form it will be used
- Applicant name and address, and the nationality of the proprietor
- Company documents where the applicant is a company rather than an individual
- The goods or services the mark will cover, described well enough to place them in a class
- Date of first use where the mark is already in use, or a statement that use is proposed
- Power of attorney where the application is filed through an agent or lawyer
Where does an application start?
How does registration work?
Five stages, and only the first two are inside your control. The three after them run on the Registry’s timetable rather than on ours, which is the reason we quote a sequence rather than a delivery date. Where the applicant is a company still being formed, the corporate documents come first and that sits under corporate secretarial services.
- Search the register. We check the register for identical and closely similar marks in the classes your goods or services fall in.
- Settle the mark and the class. The mark is fixed in the exact form it will be used, and the goods or services are described well enough to classify.
- File with the Registrar. The application goes to the Trademarks Registry with the power of attorney where an agent files on your behalf.
- Examination and publication. The Registry examines the application and, if accepted, publishes the mark in the Trademarks Journal.
- Opposition and certificate. The opposition window runs from publication. Where no opposition succeeds, the mark proceeds to registration.
Where do applications go wrong?
Applications fail on preparation far more often than on the merits of the mark. Four failures account for most of what we are asked to rescue, and three of them are settled before filing at almost no cost. Each one below costs more to unwind than to prevent, because the remedy usually means filing again from the start rather than correcting what is already on the register.
- Filing without a search. An identical mark already on the register stops the application after the fee is paid, not before.
- The wrong class. Goods and services are classified, and a mark registered in the wrong class protects nothing you actually sell.
- A mark that differs from the one in use. The registered form is what is protected, so a logo redrawn after filing sits outside it.
- Missing the renewal. The first renewal falls seven years from the application date, and the deadline is not announced to you.
How long does a registration last?
Four dates govern a Bangladeshi trademark, and three of them are fixed by statute rather than by agreement. The table sets out what each one is and where it comes from. The renewal row is the one proprietors most often miss, because the first renewal falls seven years after filing rather than after the certificate.
| What it is | The period | Runs from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial term of registration | Seven years | The date of application |
| Each renewal term | Ten years | Expiry of the previous term |
| Opposition window | Two months | Publication in the Trademarks Journal |
| Governing statute | Trademarks Act 2009 | Act No. XIX of 2009 |
These figures come from the Trademarks Act 2009, Act No. XIX of 2009, which is the statute the register is kept under, and the register itself is administered by the Registrar of Trademarks in the Trademarks Registry Wing of the Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks under the Ministry of Industries. Where a date is not fixed by the Act we say so rather than estimating it. Reviewed by Eicra Binte Islam
Why work with PayrollBD?
Four conditions define how this work is run. None is a claim about ranking or reputation, and each is checkable against the file rather than against a description of it. Companies entering the Bangladeshi market usually run this alongside business advisory and employer of record work.
- Search before fee. The availability search happens before an application is drafted, not after an objection arrives.
- The Act, not a summary. Every date named on this page is tied to the Trademarks Act 2009 so it can be checked.
- Sequence, not a promised date. Examination and publication run on the Registry’s timetable, so we quote stages rather than a delivery week.
- Objections answered. Where the Registrar raises a query or an opposition is filed, we respond on the record already prepared.
What do applicants ask first?
These six questions come up before nearly every filing, so each one is answered here in full. Every answer states the position first, then names what it rests on, so the point can be checked against the Trademarks Act 2009 rather than taken on trust.
What is a trademark?
A trademark is a sign that distinguishes one trader’s goods or services from another’s. It can be a word, a letter, a numeral, a device, a logo, a label, a shape, a combination of colours, or a combination of those. What matters legally is not what the mark looks like but whether it distinguishes, because a sign that cannot distinguish your goods from anyone else’s is not registrable however attractive it is.
Should every mark be registered?
Not every mark, but every mark you intend to defend. Registration is what puts the mark on the register kept under the Trademarks Act 2009 and gives the proprietor an enforceable statutory right in it. An unregistered mark may still attract common law protection through use, but enforcing it costs more and proves harder, because the register is the thing a court and the Registry both read first.
What does registration actually give you?
An entry on the register of trademarks maintained under the Trademarks Act 2009, and the statutory rights that entry carries in Bangladesh. It is a national right, not a worldwide one, so a Bangladeshi registration does not protect the mark in another country. Where a mark is used across borders, each jurisdiction is filed separately, and we say so at the enquiry rather than after the certificate issues.
What does trademark registration cost?
The cost has two parts: the official fees payable to the Trademarks Registry, which depend on how many classes the application covers, and the professional fee for preparing and prosecuting it. Neither is quoted before the search, because the number of classes is what moves the figure and the class is not known until the goods and services are described. Send the mark and what it will be used on, and the quote follows.
What happens after an application is filed?
The Registry examines the application. If it is accepted the mark is published in the Trademarks Journal, and an opposition window runs from that publication during which a third party may object. Where no opposition is filed, or an opposition does not succeed, the mark proceeds to registration and a certificate issues. Each of those stages runs on the Registry’s timetable rather than on a schedule we control.
What cannot be registered as a trademark?
Broadly, a sign that does not distinguish, one that is deceptive or likely to confuse, one that conflicts with an earlier mark on the register, and one that is contrary to law or morality. Marks falsely suggesting a connection with a person, an institution or a national symbol also fall outside registration. Where a proposed mark sits close to any of those lines, we say so before an application is drafted.
Protect the mark before someone else files it
Send the mark, the goods or services it will be used on, and whether it is already in use. We run the availability search, name the class the goods fall in, and quote the official and professional fees against that class before an application is drafted. Wider outsourcing of company administration sits under business process outsourcing.